Buescher wins again at Kentucky, fourth season win for Turner Chevrolet team
Photo by: Getty Images
Winning at Kentucky becoming habit for Buescher
As the No. 7 Red Horse Racing Toyota of Parker Kligerman, the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Ty Dillon and the No. 22 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Joey Coulter battled for runner-up honors in the 201-mile NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway on Friday night, James Buescher drove his No. 31 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet to the checkered flag and his fourth win of the season. The victory was a sweep for Buescher, who won at Kentucky when the series last visited the track in Sparta in July.
"To be able to win races when you have an opportunity is really cool," Buescher said.
Kligerman pulled away from the RCR teammates to win the battle for second. Dillon finished third and Coulter was fourth.
To be able to win races when you have an opportunity is really cool.
"Wish we could have been battling for the win there," Coulter said of racing teammate Dillon at the end.
Coulter started on the pole and led the opening 15 laps of the race before Todd Bodine spun in the No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota, bringing out the first of seven cautions in the 134-lap event.
Coulter lost the lead on pit road, and watched drivers including Buescher, Ryan Blaney in the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ram and Brian Scott in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota lead laps during a period of the race that saw no green-flag runs of more than 15 laps.
Coulter got back to the lead by passing Blaney on a restart following a caution that came out on lap 54. Coulter then began to pull away, building up a lead of nearly three seconds by the time Kligerman brought out a caution with a spin on lap 80.
"We came back," Kligerman said of rebounding from caution maker to race runner-up. "I'm proud of these guys."
Coulter gave up his lead during the caution by taking four tires when a few others, including Buescher, took only two. Buescher reclaimed the lead with his two-tire stop, and led the rest of the way.
"(Crew chief) Michael Shelton) made a great call to take two there at the end," Buescher said.
Both Coulter and Dillon took advantage of their four fresh tires to make their ways toward the front. While they were unable to catch Buescher, they were able to get by Kligerman multiple times in the final 30 laps. The three drivers swapped second through fourth spots several times before Kligerman claimed second for good with seven laps to go, leaving Coulter and Dillon to duke it out for third.
The runner-up finish is the fifth-career second-place showing for the still winless Kligerman. The series record for number of seconds before a first-career win is six.
"That's a horrible statistic," Kligerman said.
Scott finished fifth. Johnny Sauter battled back from an incident on lap 21 to finish sixth in the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Toyota. Miguel Paludo was eighth in the No. 32 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet, Matt Crafton ninth in the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota and the No. 09 Robby Benton Racing Toyota of John Wes Townley rounded out the top-10.
Story by: Amanda Vincent, NASCAR Correspondent
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