Buescher Re-Ups with JTG Daugherty Racing with Multi-Year Deal

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor

After bouncing around from team to team over the last few years, Chris Buescher’s future looks much more stable after announcing that he has signed a multi-year contract to stay behind the wheel of the No. 37 Chevrolet with JTG Daugherty Racing for the foreseeable future.

Buescher first came on the scene in the ARCA Series back in 2009 and he was able to win the championship in that series in 2012 before getting picked up by Roush-Fenway Racing to drive in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2014.

After two seasons in the Xfinity Series, which included three wins and the championship in 2015, Buscher made the jump to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2016, where he raced for Front Row Motorsports. That season, Buescher won his first race in a fog-shortened event at Pocono Raceway, propelling him into the playoffs and he would finish the season 16^th in points.

Though he remained under contract with Roush-Fenway, Buescher then moved over to JTG Daugherty for his sophomore season in NASCAR’s premier series, where he has scored three top-10 finishes through the first 23 races of the season.

With 2018 looming large, there were questions on whether Buescher would stay with JTG for next season or if he would move back to RFR or some other destination. Friday’s announcement solidified that he will be staying put with JTG as long as they will have him.

“Really excited to be able to get everything worked out to be able to drive for JTG Daugherty Racing for the next handful of years,” said Buescher. “We have been able to make a lot of progress this season and everyone knows how hard it is to fire off at the beginning of the year with everything being completely new. Not only just new to me, but adding a second team is a pretty major undertaking.  So, to be able to get everything in place as smoothly as we have been able to and be able to get the results that we have this soon in the season, I think has been a really great thing.  For me, that continuity at the end of the season is excellent.  It’s something that I haven’t had for a little bit.”

“To be able to build off of something that you worked an entire year trying to get up and get ready to go that is nice to be able to carry over that into 2018 and seasons beyond.  Really looking forward to next season, really neat to be driving the new Chevy Camaro ZL1.  It looks like a pretty excellent body that they came out with and cool to see Camaro back in NASCAR at the Cup level.  Lots of good things coming.  We are really happy that we could make this announcement and get everything worked out.  I’ve had a blast over here with everybody, Tad and Jodi, thank you, and Gordon (Smith) and Brad (Daugherty) who I have only gotten to talk to a handful of times at this point, but just want to say thank you to all of them for allowing me the opportunity to be able to come out of here and be competitive in these races.”

Team owner Tad Geschickter shared Buescher’s enthusiasm for the future and noted that he has been impressed with the dedication that the Texas native has shown in his first season with the team.

“As I think about Chris, there are three things that led to this decision it is trust, it is the talent and it is his tenacity,” said Geschickter.  “If you look at the person he is, he is humble, he is kind, but I think the word that gets used by our sponsors the most and by the fans and all of you who meet him is he is sincere.  I think that is a great quality for us and for the sponsors that are on our car.  If you look at him at (age) 24 and I remember 24 long ago.  How far he has come just through determination and hard work.  He has an ARCA championship, he’s got an Xfinity championship and just in his short time with us he’s become a top fixture in the top 20 in the running order.”

“He just keeps getting better every week. We are just still learning. Probably last, but not least, his tenacity.  This guy is in the shop more than any other driver we have ever worked with.  He stays in the hauler, he looks at his throttle traces, his Dartfish.  He is always talking with his team about how he can make his car as competitive as possible each week.  He is just a great leader.  I’m excited that we are going to work together for a long time to come and I’m excited to see where we can take the No. 37 together.”