If there’s been one driver who has been dominant at 1.5-mile tracks in the Camping World Truck Series in 2012, it’s James Buescher.
After picking up his first win in the Truck Series at Kansas Speedway back in April, Buescher followed up with wins at Chicagoland Speedway and Kentucky Speedway in July.
Posting four-straight top-seven finishes after winning Chicagoland, Buescher slipped late in last weekend’s race at the Iowa (Newton) Speedway, finishing the night in the 17th position.
As the trucks returned to Kentucky Speedway, Buescher, who entered the weekend third in points, looked to pick up the season sweep at the track which he led 119 of the 150 laps while picking up the win.
After staring the race in the eighth position, Buescher took the lead of the race for the first time on lap 34.
Through a rash of caution flags, pit stops and even threats of weather in the area, the No.31 team stayed within striking distance of the lead, taking it for the third time on the night on lap 84.
Much like the first half of the race, cautions played a factor with the final restart of the night coming with 24 laps remaining.
Jumping out to an advantage, Buescher was able to withstand a closing Ty Dillon immediately following the restart, opening his lead near 2 seconds as the laps wound down.
With Parker Kligerman closing in the second position, Buescher never bobbled in leading 64 of the 134 laps to take the season sweep at Kentucky Speedway, winning Friday night’s Kentucky 201.
“We’ve had some tough breaks this year, so to win races when you have the opportunity is really cool,” said Buescher in victory lane.
“Michael Shelton (crew chief) had the awesome call to take two tires at the end to get track position. Clean air was certainly important and once we got out front, it was on kill.”
By picking up his series-leading fourth win of the 2012 season, Buescher elevates himself into the second position in points: four points behind leader Dillon heading into the next race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 29.
While Buescher was able to rebound from a rough end to his night at Iowa Speedway one week ago and Dillon able to maintain his points lead following Kentucky,the two Red Horse Racing truck in the title battle of Timothy Peters and Kligerman needed to have solid finishes to keep them in championship contention over the final six races.
Having a fast truck throughout the night, Kligerman spun while battling John Wes Townley for a spot in the top-five. Avoiding damage, Kligerman was able to race his way back through the field and ultimately finishing in the second position.
For Peters, the night was anything but ideal after a crash on lap 55 severely damage his Toyota. Although his crew was able to get him back onto the track, Peters was only able to salvage a 21st place finish.
Peters finished the night 26 points back of Dillon in third, while Kligerman sits 30 points back in fourth.
Kentucky 201 Unofficial Results
1: James Buescher
2: Parker Kligerman
3: Ty Dillon
4: Joey Coulter
5: Brian Scott
6: Johnny Sauter
7: Justin Lofton
8: Miguel Paludo
9: Matt Crafton
10: John Wes Townley
11: Ryan Blaney
12: Nelson Piquet Jr.
13: Jake Crum
14: Ron Hornaday Jr.
15: Norm Benning
16: Jennifer Jo Cobb
17: Jeff Agnew
18: Tim George Jr.
19: Cale Gale
20: Jason White
21: Timothy Peters
22: Ryan Sieg
23: Max Gresham
24: Travis Miller
25: John King
26: David Mayhew
27: Brennan Newberry
28: Ross Chastain
29: Bryan Silas
30: Todd Bodine
31: Dakoda Armstrong
32: Johnn Chapman
33: Chris Jones
34: Chris Fontaine
35: Dennis Setzer
36: Blake Koch
