Buescher ends 222-race winless streak with shock Bristol win

On a final round of pit stops on Lap 438 of 500, Buescher was the first off pit road thanks to a two-tire pit call but he also got a little help.

Two of the top contenders for the win – Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin – both had problems during their respective stops that shuffled them back in the field.

On the restart with 57 laps to go, Buescher got a big jump on Elliott and quickly cleared him for the lead. He then deftly navigated lapped traffic before clearing Elliott by 0.458 seconds for the win.

The victory ends a 222-race winless streak for Buescher, whose last victory – and first of his career – came in a rain-shortened race at Pocono Raceway in 2016.

Buescher, 29, becomes the 19th different race winner of the 2022 season, tying a NASCAR record. He also is the third straight non-playoff driver to win in the first three races of the 10-race playoffs, also a first.

“It’s so special here. I love this race track,” Buescher said. “I love the fans. I love every time we come here. It’s so special. It’s pretty awesome.”

Asked if he was worried about the two-tire call on his final stop, Buescher said, “I wasn’t a bit. It was up to me at that point. I made it work and we had a really fast (car). We knew we had a really fast race car in practice and didn’t quite get the job done in qualifying – but what a race car.

“We got (Roush Fenway Keselowski) Racing for the first time. I don’t know what all to say right now. I’m out of breath. This place will wear you flat-out and I love that about it.

“It’s just a special night.”

Four drivers – Kyle Busch, Harvick and both Richard Childress Racing drivers, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick – were eliminated from further contention for the series championship.

Advancing to the Round of 12 which begins next weekend at Texas are Christopher Bell, William Byron, Hamlin, Elliott, Larson, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez and Austin Cindric.

Byron ended up finishing third in the race, Bell was fourth and Larson rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 were Chastain, A.J. Allmendinger, Cole Custer, Hamlin and Harvick.

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, several lead-lap cars pit but Bell remained on the track and in the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 260. He was followed by Elliott, Byron, Larson and Harvick.

On Lap 270, smoke began pouring out of the No. 18 Toyota of Busch. He hit the wall and then drove his car directly to the garage, brining an early end to his night.

The race returned to green on Lap 277 with Bell still in command.

Entering Turn 3 on the restart, Suarez got loose and hit Ricky Stenhouse Jr. which triggered a multi-car wreck that also collected Austin Dillon, Reddick and Bowman.

The race returned to green on Lap 287 with Bell once again out front followed by Larson and Byron.

With 200 laps to go, Bell held almost a 1-second lead over Larson as Brad Keselowski moved into third.

Erik Jones had a flat and tagged the wall on Lap 352 to bring out the 10th caution of the race.

All the lead-lap cars pit with Larson first off pit road. On the restart on Lap 361, Larson was followed by Bell, Keselowski, Harvick and Logano.

On Lap 168, Keselowski finally ran down Larson and returned to the lead.

With 102 laps remaining, Logano was forced to pit under green for a flat right-front tire. He returned to the track in 23rd and three laps down.

On Lap 414, Bell inherited the lead when Keselowski was forced to pit under green with a flat tire.

While leading, sparks began pouring out of the back of Bell’s car on Lap 436 and he tagged the wall with a flat right-rear tire, which brought out the 11th caution of the race.

The lead-lap cars pit with Buescher first off pit road. Harvick had a left-front wheel come off during his stop and Hamlin overshot his stall and had to back up on pit road before completing his stop.

On the restart on Lap 444, Buescher was followed by Elliott, Byron and Larson. Harvick lined up 10th and Hamlin 11th.

With 30 laps to go, Buescher maintained about a half-second lead over Elliott as Byron ran third.

With 10 to go, Buescher remained on track to become the 19th different winner of the 2022 season.

Stage 2

Bell cleared for the lead on a restart with 10 laps to go and held off Chastain to take the Stage 2 win.

Briscoe was third, Elliott fourth and Busch rounded out the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, most of the lead-lap cars pit with Briscoe first off pit road.

Buescher was among those who stayed out and inherited the lead. He led the way on the restart on Lap 134 followed by Harvick, Hamlin and Bubba Wallace.

Harrison Burton spun down the frontstretch on Lap 139 to bring out the fourth caution of the race. Buescher remained on the track and in the lead on the restart on Lap 146.

On Lap 176, Wallace was forced to pit under green with a power steering issue.

Ty Gibbs, Wallace’s teammate at 23XI Racing, was forced to pit under green on Lap 186 also with a power steering problem.

Burton had another tire go down and hit the wall on Lap 196 in an incident that also collected Erik Jones.

Several lead-lap cars elected to pit with xx first off pit road. Buescher remained on the track and in the lead. Under the caution, Martin Truex Jr. was forced to take his No. 19 Toyota to the garage, also with a power steering issue.

On the restart on Lap 206, Buescher continued to lead followed by Harvick, Hamlin and Chastain.

With 30 laps remaining in the stage, Buescher held about a half-second lead over Harvick as Hamlin ran third.

Hamlin had a right-front tire go down on Lap 234 and hit the wall to bring out the sixth caution of the race.

Most-lead lap cars pit but Bell remained on the track and inherited the lead. On the restart on Lap 241, Bell was followed by Chastain, Briscoe, Busch and Elliott.

Stage 1

Keselowski edged Bell by 0.335 seconds to take the Stage 1 win, his first stage victory of the 2022 season.

Busch was third, Briscoe fourth and Larson rounded out the top-five.

Aric Almirola started on the pole and quickly moved out to the lead as Hamlin took over second.

On Lap 36, Blaney got around Almirola to move into the lead as Hamlin ran second and Almirola dropped to third.

NASCAR displayed a caution on Lap 43 for debris on the backstretch after both Burton and J.J. Yeley scrubbed the wall.

Most of the lead-lap pit with Hamlin first off pit road. Keselowski was among those who stayed out and led the way on the restart on Lap 50. Hamlin lined up seventh.

With 50 laps remaining in the stage, Keselowski maintained about a 1-second lead over Buescher as Wallace ran third.

On Lap 85, Cindric was forced to pit under green with a flat right-front tire that sent him into the wall. He returned to the track in 36th and three laps down.

On Lap 92, Blaney hit the wall and Almirola spun to bring out a caution. While Blaney was on pit road, the left-rear wheel came off his No. 12 Ford and went rolling down pit road – which will likely be a costly penalty.

Several cars elected to pit but Keselowski remained on the track and in the lead when the race resumed on Lap 100. He was followed by Reddick, Bell and Briscoe.

Blaney was forced to pit under green on Lap 112 to address continued issues with the rear-end of his car.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Laps Led
1	17	Chris Buescher		Ford	500	3:01'06.717			169
2	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	500	3:01'07.175	0.458	0.458
3	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	500	3:01'08.384	1.667	1.209
4	20	Christopher Bell		Toyota	500	3:01'08.526	1.809	0.142	143
5	5	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	500	3:01'10.405	3.688	1.879	34
6	1	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	500	3:01'10.823	4.106	0.418
7	16	A.J. Allmendinger		Chevrolet	500	3:01'12.711	5.994	1.888
8	41	Cole Custer		Ford	500	3:01'14.365	7.648	1.654
9	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	500	3:01'14.601	7.884	0.236
10	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	500	3:01'15.138	8.421	0.537
11	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	500	3:01'16.121	9.404	0.983
12	31	Justin Haley		Chevrolet	500	3:01'16.572	9.855	0.451
13	6	Brad Keselowski		Ford	499	3:01'20.199	1 Lap	1 Lap	109
14	14	Chase Briscoe		Ford	498	3:01'09.032	2 Laps	1 Lap
15	7	Corey Lajoie		Chevrolet	497	3:01'07.454	3 Laps	1 Lap
16	21	Harrison Burton		Ford	497	3:01'08.098	3 Laps	0.644
17	51	Cody Ware		Ford	497	3:01'09.317	3 Laps	1.219
18	38	Todd Gilliland		Ford	496	3:01'16.793	4 Laps	1 Lap
19	99	Daniel Suarez		Chevrolet	494	3:01'07.738	6 Laps	2 Laps
20	2	Austin Cindric		Ford	493	3:01'22.855	7 Laps	1 Lap
21	43	Erik Jones		Chevrolet	492	3:01'09.791	8 Laps	1 Lap
22	77	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	492	3:01'14.210	8 Laps	4.419
23	15	J.J. Yeley		Ford	491	3:01'18.859	9 Laps	1 Lap
24	78	B.J. McLeod		Ford	491	3:01'21.966	9 Laps	3.107
25	8	Tyler Reddick		Chevrolet	469	3:01'13.611	31 Laps	22 Laps
26	42	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	457	2:53'24.432	43 Laps	12 Laps
27	22	Joey Logano		Ford	437	2:52'03.251	63 Laps	20 Laps
28	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	418	2:36'38.962	82 Laps	19 Laps	36
29	45	Bubba Wallace		Toyota	408	3:01'17.482	92 Laps	10 Laps
30	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	338	3:01'07.330	162 Laps	70 Laps	9
31	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	279	1:59'17.730	221 Laps	59 Laps
32	48	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	277	1:48'35.909	223 Laps	2 Laps
33	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Chevrolet	276	1:48'03.098	224 Laps	1 Lap
34	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	269	1:42'34.767	231 Laps	7 Laps
35	23	Ty Gibbs		Toyota	265	2:30'16.097	235 Laps	4 Laps
36	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	198	1:10'36.433	302 Laps	67 Laps