Chris Buescher wins Xfinity Series title
Chris Buescher finished 11th on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the Xfinity Series championship.
Buescher entered the weekend with an 18-point lead on defending series champion Chase Elliott. The lead meant Buescher simply needed to keep Elliott within 16 places (at worst) to win the title. It happened as Elliott finished three spots ahead in eighth.
Ty Dillon and Regan Smith were also mathematically eligible for the title. Dillon finished seventh and Smith was ninth. Kyle Larson won the race after passing Austin Dillon with three laps to go. Dillon scrubbed the wall and Larson moved by to take the lead for the final time. Larson led a race-high 118 of 200 laps.
Buescher had two wins and 20 top-10 finishes in 2015. He won at Iowa in the 10th race of the season and at Dover in the 12th. He finished seventh in the Xfinity Series in 2014 and made six Cup Series starts in 2015 for Front Row Motorsports.
His teammate Ryan Reed also made history. Reed won the season-opening race at Daytona and never finished in the top 10 the rest of the season. He’s the first driver to run a full season and the Xfinity Series and win one race with no other top 10. Only two other drivers have driven more than 10 races in a season, won a race and never finished inside the top 10. Justin Labonte won in 17 races in 2004 and Jeff Purvis had a win in 12 races in 2002.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
