FONTANA, Calif. – Pre-qualifying technical inspection issues for 13 cars Friday afternoon at Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway proved to be a big gain for Chris Buescher and his JTG Daugherty Racing team.
Two strong runs during the opening rounds of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at the 2.0-mile oval propelled the former Xfinity Series champion to the final round of qualifying – where Buescher guided his No. 37 Chevrolet Camaro to the 12th quickest lap.
The Plano, Texas native credited his strong effort to the team’s decision to start the weekend off in qualifying trim.
“We unloaded in qualifying trim for the first time this season,” said Buescher. “First time in a really long time, just based on this racetrack how long it takes to make a lap and how hard it is on tires it seemed like the best way to do it. I think it worked out really well.
“We had good speed with our Healthy Choice Power Bowls Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, but we got everything rolling in and felt like we had good speed throughout all those qualifying runs. I think we made four runs, and it felt like we had a chance to go to the third round, obviously, some of the stuff that happened made it a little easier to get there and we picked up a lot our second run.”
Buescher’s performance was his best qualifying result since last July when he qualified ninth at Sonoma Raceway, another track in California.
“That was really cool, just got a little tight that third run, so listening to some of the other guy’s talk, it’s a good thing to put in the notes that it is going to get a little tighter by the time you get late into that third round,” he added.
After starting the season with a fifth-place finish in the Daytona 500, Buescher and his team have struggled to keep the momentum going since.
Finishes of 25th, 15th and 29th respectively at Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix have dropped the seasoned driver from ninth to 19th in the point standings in four races.
However, with his best start at Auto Club Speedway in his fourth attempt at the 2.0-mile, Buescher’s solid start to the weekend could be the best medicine to get his third full-time season on the Cup tour back on track.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
