USA TODAY International Edition
Harvick not only winner at Bristol
Top- five puts Buescher in Chase position
BRISTOL, TENN. Kevin Harvick did dueling burnouts with team owner Tony Stewart after Harvick’s win Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, much to the delight of fans who stuck around nearly 24 hours after the race’s originally scheduled start.
But as smoke billowed from Stewart’s and Harvick’s tires, spectators cheering over the engine noise, a 23- year- old named Chris Buescher climbed from his car on pit road and smiled like he was a winner, too.
Buescher’s surprising fifthplace run for Front Row Motor- sports, the second of his young career, leapfrogged him past David Ragan for 30th place in the Sprint Cup standings. That won’t get the same amount of headlines as 2014 champion Harvick’s second victory of the season, but it’s
more important in relation to this fall’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. That’s because 30th or better in the standings is one of two requirements for an automatic playoff berth; the other is a win.
Buescher now has both, thanks to a weather- shortened victory this month at Pocono Raceway, where his underdog team played pit strategy perfectly to put him at the front of the field when fog rolled in.
But that win wouldn’t mean much if Buescher wasn’t able to finish the regular season in the top 30. He was three points behind heading into Bristol. Now he has a provisional spot in the field — with three races remaining — and his presence brings clarity to NASCAR’s playoff picture.
“That’s Chase eligibility ( gained) in one race out of the four we had to do it,” Buescher said Sunday. “Now we have to hold on to it.”
If Buescher stays in — and he’s 13 points to the good — there’s one fewer spot for a winless driver to make the postseason on points. Twelve drivers have won races and are in the top 30, meaning there are only four drivers who can make it on points alone.
Those drivers are Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman — and no one else is close. After Newman, there’s a giant 35- point gap back to Trevor Bayne.
That means drivers such as Bayne, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson, A. J. Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Blaney are all likely in a win- or- go- home scenario in the next three weeks.
And after Bristol, a short track that can shake up the running order by promoting parity and wrecks, there are few opportunities left for an unusual winner.
Stenhouse knows that all too well, and that made his secondplace finish Sunday bittersweet.
“We really wanted to get that win this time at Bristol,” he said. “We knew this was probably our best shot.”
Sure, someone could take a fuel mileage gamble next weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Perhaps there could be a pit strategy play at Darlington Raceway or Richmond International Raceway, the regular- season finale Sept. 10.
But those tracks don’t set up well for unusual winners, which puts much of the spotlight for the final Chase spot on Buescher.
After all, just because he’s in after Bristol doesn’t mean he’ll stay there.
But the rookie says he isn’t feeling the pressure — yet, anyway.
“It’s still relief,” he said. “It’s a good scenario. We’ve got some good tracks coming up for us that we’re ready for.”