Texas native talks racing at home ahead of Texas Motor Speedway NASCAR race
Chris Buescher sits in seventh place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rankings and the Prosper native will be looking for his first win of the season Sunday when he races in the WÜRTH 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Buescher talked about his season to date and where he’s looking to improve as the season progresses.
“I think our year has been strong for sure. You know, we’re we have to take a small step yet to truly be in the hunt for wins, and we’ve been close... last week to run second. You know, we’ve led laps at a handful of races this year. We’re certainly close. So I’d say that we’re, we’re in a good spot, but we’re not, we’re not sitting still,” said Buescher, “We’ve had some rotten luck in Texas, and that hurts being a home track for sure. But I’m really excited, because I know we’re going to be fast when we get there. There’s no doubt in my mind. It’s, ‘can we take that speed and it truly be good enough to be in the hunt for a win, and can we execute the day.’”
Having his first win of the season at his home track in front of friends and family would be special for Buescher, who’s had success in other races at TMS.
“I tell people all the time that I don’t really bucket list races. I don’t have, you know, I just want to win this one and this one and this one. It’s not hand-picked. There’s some exception to that... one is winning at your home track, right? And, and winning in front of hometown, in front of all the friends and family that are still out there, it would be be big. We’ve won on the fifth mile out back before it was dirt. We’ve won on the quarter mile and the road course in the infield and you know, it would be big to be able to get a win...after going there since, I mean, honestly, since going to that racetrack, since ‘97.”
His best NASCAR performance at TMS was a third place finish at the NASCAR All-Star Open in 2021, and he talked about his history with the speedway.
“Family had season tickets out there, so we came out for trucks, it was O’Reilly series. It was [NASCAR Sprint Cup Series], it was IROC, IndyCar, we came out there for two Goodguys’ car shows every year. I mean, we were, we spent a lot of time with that speedway, and that was before we even started racing out there. So, yeah, it’s been, it’s been a home track for a long time.”
Buescher remembers racing being the path less traveled in a football-crazed state like Texas, including him having to be homeschooled in high school to accommodate racing. He talked about some of his favorite memories at the Speedway just being hanging out with friends.
“I’ve stayed with some friends that have camped through the weekend, and been able to stay in the infield and just kind of live that experience, too young to to do it the way you would be able to as an adult, but certainly a good time, right? Like to be able to hang out with friends and just kind of ride bikes all around the infield and be out way too late, then get up, go up in the stands the next day and watch whatever race it was, to do it all again the next night.”
For fans looking to see Buescher compete, or want to create their own memories tickets for the WÜRTH 400 can still be purchased from the Texas Motor Speedway’s website.
