Young Roush Fenway drivers look to continue early-season success at Phoenix

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In: Xfinity Series News

Despite its struggles so far this season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Roush Fenway Racing has enjoyed early success in the NASCAR XFINITY Series as a result stellar performances from its young stable of drivers.

Chris Buescher, 22, Ryan Reed, 21, and Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., 21, rank second, third and fourth respectively in the XFINITY Series standings.

While Reed has the trio’s lone win (Daytona), Buescher leads the group into Saturday’s Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200 at Phoenix International Raceway (4 p.m. ET on FOX) with two top-five finishes and a 106.4 driver rating. Sunoco Rookie of the Year frontrunner Wallace notched his first top 10 of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend where he finished seventh.

“We are gaining,” said Wallace following Las Vegas. “I think that has been our motto all weekend long really. We are learning as a team and our Ford EcoBoost Mustang was right there as a top-10 car all day and it paid off for us. We got some breaks there with the lucky dog and have some momentum heading into Phoenix. I am excited to see where things are going for us.”

Buescher’s strong performance has placed him just six points behind Ty Dillon for the standings lead. He finished 15th and 12th in his two starts at Phoenix last season.

“Phoenix is a challenging race track,” Buescher said. “It is different from anywhere that any of us ever grew up racing and anywhere that we’ll ever go. It’s always a place that we go to and really have to work hard to get the car set up right, and take the balance and make it as good as possible in both corners, versus just one.

“It’s going to be a tough one, but we are looking forward to getting out there.”

Looking to join his young comrades atop the standings is 39-year-old RFR elder statesman Elliott Sadler. He won the 2012 spring race at Phoenix and claims six top 10s in 12 starts at the one-mile track.

“This weekend at Phoenix will be a perfect example of which race teams have their ducks in a row this early in the season,” Sadler said. “Many teams can run well at higher speeds, but teams that can change their setups and adapt to this one-mile race track, will be the ones to watch at the beginning of the year.”

NASCAR Wire Service
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