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 The lone exception?
Chase Elliott, who, fully fueled, had powered to a commanding lead
and near-certain win in Sunday's NASCAR XFINITY Series 3M 250 at
Iowa Speedway.
Two laps remained. Elliott's trip to Victory Lane loomed. Then, it
happened.
Jamie Dick, running mid-pack, hit the wall and spun, drawing a
caution flag.
Buescher -- his No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford packed with fuel and
four fresh tires -- smiled, charging hard and low on the restart to
cap a temper-tinged and thrill-filled race with a
green-white-checkered triumph at the 7/8-mile short track.
"When that happened, I knew we had an awesome shot at it," said
Buescher, who raced to the series standings lead by eight points
over Ty Dillon, who finished 14th.
Buescher had on-track help -- namely from Roush Fenway teammate,
Darrell Wallace Jr., who provided a strong nudge as the race went
green.
Maybe more than a nudge.
"(He) gave us a heck of a shot on the restart," said Buescher, who
relegated Elliott to second while notching his first win of the
season and Roush Fenway's fifth in 11 XFINITY Series races at Iowa.
"It was a hard hit. That was almost a crash. It was exactly what we
needed to get going and get to the inside and be able to pull this
win off."
Elliott took the runner-up finish in stride. He led 114 laps. His
car ran fast all day long. The late-race pit strategy -- partly
because of minor right-side damage, he pitted on lap 177 while other
leaders stayed out -- nearly paid off.
"That's racing some days," said Elliott, who like Buescher enjoys a
series-leading five top-five finishes this season. "You make a
decision -- and I think it was a good one. We had some right-side
damage and it was good to come in and make sure that was OK rather
than to face the opposite of that, cutting down a tire and have a
day like we did in Talladega. So I think it was the right move."
Erik Jones climbed from 35th to take third. Brian Scott and Ryan
Blaney completed the top five.
Jones started near the rear of the field because Drew Herring
qualified the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota on the pole while Jones
remained in Charlotte.
By the Lap 60 competition caution, Jones had raced into the top 10,
but couldn't find enough speed in the ensuing laps to advance past
third.
"We worked ourselves into a good position," Jones said. "A long day
coming from the back."
Buescher -- who raced outside the top 10 in both XFINITY Series Iowa
races last season -- merely needed to come from the second row.
He'd reluctantly accepted the waning laps would mostly entail
driving in "points mode," as Dillon had pitted late after running in
the top eight most of the day.
"I hate points racing," Buescher said. "I despise it. When that
caution came out -- watched it happen right in front of me -- it was
like, 'All right, this is it. This is what we need. We need to come
in and get some tires and get back rolling here.'"
That he did, right to the top, for now, at least.
"This is big," Buescher said.
Black Flag: The race was marred by a temper-stoked wreck. Brennan
Poole -- who felt rival J.J. Yeley had struck him intentionally
early in the race -- spun Yeley out on lap 153. Yeley's car
sustained damage, but he was unharmed. Poole drew the black flag and
told the Motorsports Racing Network, "it happens." Yeley said the
early-race encounter was unintentional and described his mood as
"very furious."
"Hopefully NASCAR gets ahold of him before I do," Yeley added.
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race -- 3M 250
Iowa Speedway
Newton, Iowa
Sunday, May 17, 2015
1. (4) Chris Buescher, Ford, 259, $91509.
2. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 259, $70020.
3. (1) Erik Jones(i), Toyota, 259, $57688.
4. (3) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 259, $40566.
5. (13) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 259, $36811.
6. (8) Darrell Wallace Jr, Ford, 259, $33637.
7. (14) Ben Rhodes, Chevrolet, 259, $32286.
[to top of second column] |
8. (5) Brandon Jones(i), Chevrolet, 259, $31236.
9. (10) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 259, $30106.
10. (11) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 259, $30123.
11. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 259, $28617.
12. (16) Ryan Reed, Ford, 259, $28062.
13. (18) John Wes Townley(i), Chevrolet, 259, $27532.
14. (9) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 258, $27003.
15. (19) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 258, $26873.
16. (20) David Starr, Toyota, 258, $26321.
17. (21) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 257, $26094.
18. (2) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 257, $27042.
19. (24) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 257, $25615.
20. (25) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 257, $25888.
21. (15) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 257, $25261.
22. (23) Blake Koch, Toyota, 256, $25130.
23. (40) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, 256, $18978.
24. (29) Todd Bodine, Chevrolet, 255, $24828.
25. (30) Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, 255, $24852.
26. (22) Boris Said, Toyota, 254, $24575.
27. (31) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 253, $24449.
28. (33) Peyton Sellers #, Chevrolet, 252, $18298.
29. (36) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 247, $18171.
30. (37) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 247, $18345.
31. (39) John Jackson, Dodge, 247, $17889.
32. (17) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, Accident, 215, $23778.
33. (27) Eric McClure, Toyota, Accident, 160, $23662.
34. (26) JJ Yeley, Toyota, Accident, 151, $23551.
35. (32) Ryan Ellis(i), Toyota, Electrical, 99, $17436.
36. (35) BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 68, $15678.
37. (28) Harrison Rhodes #, Chevrolet, Suspension, 42, $14678.
38. (12) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, Parked, 39, $19678.
39. (34) Charles Lewandoski, Toyota, Brakes, 4, $12678.
40. (38) Carl Long, Toyota, Electrical, 0, $11678.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 94.242 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 24 Mins, 17 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.523
Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 54 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: 0; D. Suarez # 1-48; C. Buescher 49-66; C. Elliott
67-144; C. Buescher 145-180; R. Blaney 181; C. Buescher 182-219; C.
Elliott 220-255; R. Reed 256-257; C. Buescher 258-259.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): C. Elliott 2 times
for 114 laps; C. Buescher 4 times for 94 laps; D. Suarez # 1 time
for 48 laps; R. Reed 1 time for 2 laps; R. Blaney 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher -- 368; T. Dillon -- 360; C. Elliott
-- 337; D. Wallace Jr -- 331; B. Scott -- 326; R. Smith -- 320; E.
Sadler -- 317; R. Reed -- 288; B. Gaughan -- 283; D. Suarez # --
281.
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