Chris Buescher won the NASCAR Cup Series’ Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday, Sept. 17.
It took a two-tire pit stop with about 60 laps remaining to get clean air for the No. 17 RFK Racing driver.
Buescher became the 19th driver to win in 2022.
Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick ended up below the cut line after the race.
Multiple cars, including several playoff contenders, encountered issues throughout the night.
It started with the Fords, as several incurred flat right-front tires in stage one. First Harrison Burton and JJ Yeley had flats, while Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney suffered down right-front tires later on.
Blaney’s issues continued throughout the early portion of the race (which included a tire coming off on pit road), and he eventually went behind the wall for repairs on the rear end of the car. He came back out on the track on lap 266.
All these problems brought the caution out several times, allowing for differing pit strategies. The RFK Racing duo of Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher were among those who had stayed out, and the clean air really helped them stay up front. Keselowski ended up winning stage one.
Buescher stayed out, as did many others, and held off advances from Kevin Harvick to maintain the lead through about lap 237.
During this period, four Toyotas and one Chevrolet (Alex Bowman) reported power steering problems, including both 23XI Racing drivers, Bubba Wallace and Ty Gibbs. The pair’s pit crews worked on the cars behind the wall and sent them back out late in the race (lap 290 for Wallace; lap 317 for Gibbs).
A couple of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates also had power steering troubles: Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin. Truex’s, unfortunately, was terminal, as it said it blew the seals out. Hamlin, meanwhile, had a right-front tire go down around lap 235, which also brought out the caution. He was able to keep going, though.
A third JGR cohort, Christopher Bell, inherited the lead when Buescher pitted on lap 237, going on to win stage two.
Bell ended up leading the next 100 laps, while the fourth JGR Toyota of Kyle Busch had an engine failure around lap 270. This once again brought out the yellow flag.
Then shortly after the next restart, the Bristol Big One occurred when Daniel Suarez got loose and tagged the No. 47 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. As cars stacked up, several got into each other, including Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Frontstretch…