Beyond the Flag
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NASCAR: Winners And Losers From Bristol

By Cole Mentzel

Aug 20, 2016; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson (42) and driver Kurt Busch (41) lead a pack of cars during the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 20, 2016; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson (42) and driver Kurt Busch (41) lead a pack of cars during the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Aug 1, 2016; Long Pond, PA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Chris Buescher stands on pit road during a red flag during the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O
Aug 1, 2016; Long Pond, PA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Chris Buescher stands on pit road during a red flag during the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O /

Winner: Chris Buescher

It’s been one of the most unexpected stories of the entire NASCAR season.

Coming into the year, Chris Buescher was set to compete in his first full-time Cup Series season after winning the Xfinity Series championship in 2015. However, racing at Front Row Motorsports meant that he most likely wouldn’t be a weekly contender–and for the most part, that was true.

Then at Indy, something changed. Buescher was able to log the best finish of his Cup Series career when he placed 14th in the Brickyard 400.

The next weekend at Pocono, his success grew even larger.

During green flag pit stops, heavy fog rolled in and left Buescher in the lead as the cars were pulled down pit road in an attempt to wait out the weather. Eventually, NASCAR called the race and gave Buescher the first win of his career.

Skip ahead a few weeks to Bristol, where he made his way to the front of the pack and finished fifth–just the second top-5 in his Cup Series career.

That moved him into the top-30 in the points standings and clinched a spot in the Chase for the No. 34 team, which is getting help from Roush Fenway Racing.

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Buescher now has a win and a spot in the Chase for a his rookie season. You can say that his win at Pocono involved a little bit of luck, but there was nothing lucky about his impressive outing on Sunday.

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