Pocono NASCAR recap: Chris Buescher’s surprise win alters Chase playoff field

Oftentimes races are won by sheer speed. Other times it comes at the expense of a competitor who experienced misfortune.

Then there are races such as the Pennsylvania 400 where happenstance, sound strategy and the timely intervention of Mother Nature contribute to rookie Chris Buescher capturing an out-of-nowhere victory Monday at Pocono Raceway.

With rain looming, the race past halfway and thus official, and with nothing to lose, crew chief Bob Osborne figured he would gamble. And why not? Although talented, Buescher had enjoyed a trying freshman season better known for flipping over in May at Talladega Superspeedway than anything else. If a good result was attainable, then it was worth aggressively pursuing,

Largely, though, Buescher’s struggles weren’t so much about a young driver acclimating to NASCAR’s top rung. More so it was team in Front Row Motorsports lacking the necessary resources to maintain competitiveness. The two-car organization isn’t flush in capital nor high-dollar sponsorships, and doesn’t have a deep bench of personnel.

That Front Row landed a driver of Buescher’s caliber was a matter of convenience more than anything else. On the strength of having won the 2015 Xfinity Series championship, the 23-year-old had proven to be deserving of a promotion. But Roush Fenway Racing, which holds Buescher’s contract, didn’t have a Sprint Cup ride readily available.

Instead, Roush Fenway worked with Ford to secure Buescher a seat with Front Row for 2016. A deal that included Roush Fenway supplying Front Row with cars and parts and the sharing of technical data, along with the services of Osborne, a longtime Roush Fenway crew chief who had won 18 races and nearly the 2011 championship with Carl Edwards.

Still, even with increased support, Front Row is no Roush Fenway and its deficiencies would limit just what to expect out of Buescher. In a rookie class that also consisted of Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney -- two equally talented drivers, albeit with vastly superior teams -- it made Buescher a bit of an afterthought.

Expectations would be muted, the chances to contend largely scarce.

But one such opportunity materialized on Monday.

Plagued by inclement weather all weekend, heavy rain forced Pocono track officials to postpone Sunday’s race 24 hours and even then, the forecast remained ominous. When the green flag did eventually wave, conventional wisdom was that it would be surprising if the Pennsylvania 400 made it to the halfway mark, the point NASCAR needed to make it an official event.

That placed an onus on crew chiefs to devise various strategies to take advantage of the circumstances. As a front closed in with fewer than 32 laps remaining, Osborne elected to keep Buescher on the track during a sequence of green flag pits, jumping him into the lead. Six laps later, thick fog rolled in requiring NASCAR to stop the race in hope conditions would improve.

Eighty minutes later, with rain bearing down and lightning in the area, the race was called, making Buescher the unlikeliest winner of the season.

“We had pretty steep odds coming into this one,” Buescher said. “But we’ve been heading in the right direction, and there’s no mistaking that. We’ve been qualifying better. We’ve been racing better. We’ve had better speed, better averages. We’re just getting to the point now where we need to be able to finish them.”

It was a very stunning outcome. Buescher hadn’t finished better than 14th all year, while Front Row had shown no indication of a forthcoming breakthrough.

Yet races aren’t always decided by speed. Strategy is an equally important element. And at Pocono, Osborne’s game plan was the difference with Buescher conserving enough fuel to make it happen effectively.

“Everybody knows it’s not just a pure run to the end and all-out speed,” Buescher said. “There was a lot of other things going on today. But you take advantage of every situation that’s presented to you, and that’s what we did.”

Beyond a young driver earning a first career victory and an underfunded team finding a way to snatch a trophy away from the sport’s juggernauts, there are potentially far-reaching implications.

With the victory, Buescher is suddenly on the cusp of qualifying for NASCAR’s playoffs. To make it he must move inside the top 30 in the standings before the regular season wraps in five races.

Now a scant six points behind 30th-ranked David Ragan, Buescher is well positioned to do just that. His earning Chase for the Sprint Cup eligibility would then bump several notable names with equally notable teams out of the playoffs.

“We talked about it at the beginning of the season, and the plan was always to try and make the Chase,” Buescher said. “That was the goal. We’re that much closer now. ... We’re in a good spot, and the cars have been getting faster each and every weekend.”

Those negatively impacted by Monday’s events are Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson, who provisionally hold the final two spots via points, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne, and the more heralded Blaney of Wood Brothers Racing.

It’s an astonishing development that only heightens the drama over the next five races. All thanks to Buescher’s transformation into NASCAR’s newest Cinderella.