Buescher battles for 13th-place finish at home track of Texas

Advancing to the final round of knockout qualifying for the third week in a row, James Buescher and the RAB Racing, No. 99 Rheem team started in the 11th position for the O'Reilly's Auto Parts 300 Friday night. When the green flag released the 40-car field, Buescher quickly moved up in the running order to the eighth running spot. It was on lap nine however that Buescher first radioed to the Rheem crew that his Toyota Camry was loose on both ends of the 1.5-mile Speedway.

Holding onto a top-15 running position the Rheem team got their first opportunity to adjust on their car when they came down pit road on lap 43 to get four Goodyear Eagle tires, Sunoco fuel and a wedge adjustment. The race would next endure a couple short green-flag runs to get them past the half way mark of the 200-lap event. After reporting the car was still too loose for the liking, the Rheem team got their second opportunity to tighten up the No. 99 Rheem Camry when they ducked down pit road on lap 101 for a green-flag pit stop. This time the Rheem team made gains on their Camry allowing for the handling to stay neutral for the first portion of the next run. Buescher, pleased with the progress the team was making with the handling, he was also holding strong in the 13th position when the yellow was displayed on lap 170. The Rheem team got their final opportunity to give Buescher some rear grip in their Camry and they did just that during the last round of pit stops. For the first time all night, Buescher was reporting a tight-handling race car during the last 30 laps of the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300. Buescher battled door-to-door to the checkered flag to hold on for the team's third top-15 of the year with a 13th-place finish at his home track of Texas Motor Speedway.

James Buescher Quote:
"We had our ups-and-downs for sure but overall we had a pretty decent night for us in the Rheem Toyota. We fought a loose condition most of the night and we threw some pretty big adjustments at it. The run after the green-flag pit stops it was pretty decent but after the last pit stop we over adjusted on it. The good thing is we got it tight for once but it was just a little too tight. We were racing pretty hard there at the end for position and by the time we got clear the field got away from us. We made gains on it all night, now we just need to fine tune on our adjustments and I think we'll be pretty good."

RAB Racing