Larson Wins Homestead, Buescher Wins Championship

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Chris Buescher wins first championship

HOMESTEAD, FL – RIS – It had been 18 long months since Kyle Larson had won a NASCAR race.  The young driver who had been given the label of “can’t miss” was having a winless season until Saturday.  Larson hadn’t won since October, 2014 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but on this day he was in a fierce battle with Kyle Busch.

Busch finally succumbed to tire problems and Larson’s main rival was Austin Dillon.  He held off Dillon to get his first victory of 2015 in the Ford Ecoboost 300 NASCAR Xfinity race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the final Xfinity race of the 2015 season.

After the race, Larson elected not to do a celebratory burnout, saying he deferred to Chris Buescher, who earned his first NASCAR title.

“All these guys prepared a great car for me. From the moment we unloaded off the truck, I don’t think we made any adjustments. The car was just amazing,” said Larson, who earned his third career series win.

“It was just a matter of me getting in front of (Busch) in the short runs. I was really good in the long runs. I about gave it away on the last restart. It got pretty hairy there and I almost wrecked myself with Erik Jones trying to get after it.”

Buescher, 23, ended up with a 15-point margin over Elliott as he clinched Ford Racing’s only championship this weekend.

“I was a little nervous. All things considered that was exactly what we needed to do and we knew that and knew we were capable of doing it,” Buescher said. “I am glad we could pull it off for all the (sponsors) that were on board all year and all the fans.

“I know the weather wasn’t ideal today but they hung in there with us and we made it through this thing and get to celebrate.”

Buescher was vocal in his dislike for “points racing” but understood the necessity to look at the bigger picture as the season drew to a close.

“Points racing is not the most fun way to run the last 10 races of the season but it is important,” he said. “This is what we have been fighting for since February and Daytona and these guys have done such a great job and stuck in there with us all year and had no mechanical failures or DNFs. It is a huge accomplishment for our team.”

Buescher held the No. 1 spot for the final 24 weeks of the season. He won twice at Iowa and once at Dover on his way to providing team owner Jack Roush his eighth championship in NASCAR’s three national series – Cup, Xfinity and Trucks.

Jones finished third in the race, Brian Scott was fourth and Ryan Blaney was fifth.

While Larson and Buescher were celebrating, almost unnoticed was Daniel Suarez’s fine season with led to a Rookie of the Year award for the Xfinity Series.  Suarez was a Mexican driver who signed on with Joe Gibbs Racing in late 2014.  He finished sixth in the Ford Ecoboost 300.

While Beuscher and Larson were celebrating, one other team had reason for celebration.  Team Penske gained its third consecutive team owner’s championship.  Chevrolet won the manufacturer’s championship making every manufacturer with a large participation in the series won. 

 Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 9 42 Kyle Larson(i) Crest Chevrolet 200 0 146.3 $85,343 Running 6 118
2 3 33 Austin Dillon(i) Rheem Chevrolet 200 0 118.8 $62,858 Running 1 16
3 7 20 Erik Jones(i) Gamestop/Star Wars Battlefront Toyota 200 0 115.6 $57,863 Running 1 1
4 4 2 Brian Scott Shore Lodge Chevrolet 200 40 106.6 $48,941 Running
5 5 22 Ryan Blaney Hertz Ford 200 39 107.0 $42,390 Running
6 2 18 Daniel Suarez # ARRIS Toyota 200 38 105.5 $37,076 Running
7 10 3 Ty Dillon Yuengling Light Lager Chevrolet 200 37 93.2 $32,254 Running
8 13 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 200 36 94.1 $32,524 Running
9 14 7 Regan Smith TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet 200 35 94.7 $30,930 Running
10 21 6 Darrell Wallace Jr. # Roush Performance Products Ford 200 34 83.2 $33,365 Running
11 11 60 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 200 33 86.8 $29,785 Running
12 6 98 Aric Almirola(i) Carroll Shelby Engine Company Ford 199 0 94.2 $23,580 Running
13 8 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Ford 199 31 81.2 $29,229 Running
14 16 39 Ryan Sieg UncleBob'sSelfStorage/PullAPart Chev 199 30 83.8 $28,918 Running
15 19 43 Dakoda Armstrong WinField Ford 199 29 73.6 $29,156 Running
16 20 01 Landon Cassill Florida Lottery Chevrolet 199 28 67.7 $28,846 Running
17 17 16 Ryan Reed Lilly/American Diabetes Association Ford 199 27 72.8 $28,459 Running
18 25 8 Blake Koch LeafFilter Gutter Protection Toyota 199 26 60.5 $28,323 Running
19 24 4 Ross Chastain # Corporate Caterers/Watermelon.org Chevrolet 199 25 66.2 $28,161 Running
20 18 88 Ben Rhodes Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet 198 24 71.0 $28,550 Running
21 15 28 JJ Yeley JGL Racing Toyota 198 23 63.3 $27,940 Running
22 22 51 Jeremy Clements AllSouthElectric/RepairableVehicles Chev 198 22 61.3 $27,825 Running
23 12 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Chevrolet 198 21 69.8 $27,687 Running
24 28 0 Harrison Rhodes # Corporate Caterers Chevrolet 197 20 54.1 $27,576 Running
25 33 44 David Starr Zachry Toyota 197 19 56.3 $27,565 Running
26 26 97 Mason Mingus(i) VroomBrands Chevrolet 195 0 50.8 $27,304 Running
27 30 55 Anthony Kumpen Nexteer Automotive/LeasePlan Chevrolet 193 17 45.2 $21,193 Running
28 34 70 Garrett Smithley(i) Segpay/E-hydrate Chevrolet 192 0 43.7 $21,072 Running
29 36 24 Eric McClure Reynolds Wrap Toyota 190 15 42.5 $26,921 Running
30 1 54 Kyle Busch(i) Monster Energy Toyota 185 0 117.1 $28,110 Accident 5 64
31 37 40 Josh Reaume # Braille Battery/Grafoids Chevrolet 185 13 37.4 $20,679 Running
32 29 52 Joey Gase Ole Country/DB Sales Company Chevrolet 180 12 45.3 $26,568 Ignition
33 40 74 Tim Viens(i) RaceDaySponsor.com Dodge 156 0 32.8 $26,528 Running
34 31 90 Mario Gosselin BuckedUp Apparel Chevrolet 88 10 44.2 $26,466 Suspension
35 39 13 Derek White Mohawk Market Dodge 81 9 33.3 $26,416 Engine
36 38 15 Carlos Contreras bybextreme.com Chevrolet 59 8 28.8 $24,246 Engine
37 23 14 Mike Bliss Toyota 44 8 1 39.5 $23,246 Vibration 1 1
38 32 92 BJ McLeod(i) BuckedUp Apparel Chevrolet 36 0 26.8 $16,246 Vibration
39 35 26 TJ Bell(i) JGL Racing Toyota 23 0 30.2 $15,246 Vibration
40 27 19 Jeff Green Premier Barter Exchange Toyota 3 4 23.2 $14,246 Transmission