Looking to continue his move to the top of the standings, James Buescher came into the Pocono Mountains 125 at Pocono Raceway with a great history at the track, having recorded second and third-place finishes in the two previous years. With qualifying rained out on Saturday morning, the field was set based on speeds from the weekend’s only practice session. Starting the race in the eighth spot, Buescher ran just outside the top five most of the 50-lap race until contact with another competitor sent Buescher spinning, relegating him to a 21st-place finish.
After a great day of practice on Friday and the field being set by practice times, Buescher and his No. 31 Rheem Chevrolet started the Pocono Mountains 125 in the eighth spot. As soon as the green flag fell on the 36-truck field, the yellow was displayed for a competitor spinning in Turn 1. After the lap four restart, the field settled down and saw a long green-flag run. On lap eight, Buescher radioed to his crew that his No. 31 Rheem truck was tight from the center to the exit of the corner. On lap 24, Buescher gave up his sixth-place running spot and ducked down pit road for a green-flag pit stop, receiving four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. The race’s second yellow flag was displayed on lap 43 for debris and would set up a shootout to the finish. Restarting in the sixth spot, Buescher began to battle his way forward when contact with his Turner Scott Motorsports teammate resulted in a caution. After the green flag waved for the first of two green/white/checkered restarts, two competitors came together entering Turn 2, bringing out another yellow flag. On the second green/white/checkered restart, Buescher restarted in the sixth spot once again and made a daring three-wide move into Turn 1, vaulting him into the top five. Entering Turn 3, Buescher got tangled up with another competitor, which sent him spinning. Buescher limped back to the start/finish line in the 21st position.
“Unfortunately, we ran into some bad luck at the end of the race,” said Buescher. “We had a great run going and we looked like we were going to capitalize with a good points day, but we got tangled up coming to the checkered flag. We’ve been having some great runs as of late, we just haven’t been able to get the finishes we’ve been looking for. We’ll put this behind us and my Turner Scott Motorsports team will go into Michigan looking to rebound.”
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