Pieces of the puzzle for JTG Daugherty Racing’s second NASCAR Premier Series team are coming together.
Late Monday afternoon, the organization announced that Prosper, Texas native Chris Buescher will pilot the No. 37 Chevrolet SS next season for his sophomore run at the sport’s elite level.
Buescher, 23, joins JTG alongside teammate A.J. Allmendinger who’ll embark his fourth season with the team owned by Tad and Jody Geschickter and former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Brad Daugherty.
The 2012 ARCA Racing Series champion is again on loan from Roush Fenway Racing. At the beginning of the year, RFR loaned the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion to Bob Jenkin’s Front Row Motorsports to drive the team’s No. 34 Ford.
Rookie Buescher stunned the motorsports world when a gutsy fuel gamble paid off at Pocono Raceway in August with his first career Sprint Cup win when the event was called for inclement weather 22 laps from its slated distance.
Sending Front Row Motorsports into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the Statesville, North Carolina-based team was eliminated following the opening round and despite finishing 16th in the overall standings, the team soaked up two top-five finishes and two top-10 finishes.
JTG has leased the No. 16 charter from Roush Fenway Racing previously driven by former driver Greg Biffle. Without sponsorship, the No. 16 team ceased operations shortly after the Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway last month.
The No. 37 last appeared in the NASCAR Premier Series in 2014, when it was used by the now-defunct Tommy Baldwin Racing and drivers Mie Bliss (six races), J.J. Yeley (three) and Bobby Labonte (one).
According to FOX Sports.com, In 483 Premier Series races, the No. 37 visited Victory Lane once.
In 1968, late NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Isaac drove Nord Krauskopf’s No. 37 K&K Insurance Dodge to his second of 21 victories in Columbia, S.C.
Sponsorship and a named crew chief are still pending for Buescher’s team.
The BIG Reveal… You have been asking and guessing what car # @Chris_Buescher will be driving in 2017, it will be the #37. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/WcLl3JWIv8
— JTG Daugherty Racing (@JTGRacing) December 12, 2016
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
