Chris Buescher moving up to No. 34 car in Cup Series
Chris Buescher has a Sprint Cup Series ride for 2016.
The 2015 Xfinity Series champion will drive the No. 34 car for Front Row Motorsports in 2016. Buescher will continue to be under contract with Roush Fenway and Roush will form a technical alliance with Front Row.
“We are thrilled to announce this alliance,” Roush Fenway president Steve Newmark said in a statement. “Not only will it foster increased communication within the Ford camp, it will allow our newest champion Chris Buescher to continue to hone his skills with substantial seat time behind the wheel in the Sprint Cup Series in top-grade equipment.
“We look forward to working more closely with Front Row on many levels and we believe it is a relationship that will be mutually beneficial for both parties.”
Front Row fielded the Nos. 34, 35 and 38 cars in 2015. Buescher drove the No. 34 car in six races in 2015 with a best finish of 20th at Auto Club Speedway. He split time in the car with David Ragan and Brett Moffitt. Ragan left the No. 34 car to drive the No. 18 for Joe Gibbs Racing in place of Kyle Busch and then the No. 55 for Michael Waltrip Racing while Brian Vickers was sidelined with blood clots.
Calling Roush’s equipment “top-grade” may be a bit of optimistic thinking by the team. Roush’s Greg Biffle finished 20th in the 2015 standings while Ricky Stenhouse was 25th and Trevor Bayne was 29th. Front Row’s two full-time drivers, Cole Whitt and David Gilliland, were 31st and 32nd.
Roush once got all five of its team cars into the then-10-car Chase for the Sprint Cup Series field in 2005.
Ragan, a former Roush driver, does not have a ride for 2016 lined up. Neither does Moffitt, who got a top 10 driving the No. 55 at Atlanta Motor Speedway early in the season.
Buescher, 23, has run full-time in the Xfinity Series for the past two seasons for Roush. He has three wins and 36 top-10 finishes in that timeframe. He also ran full time in the ARCA Series in 2011 and 2012 and won the 2012 title.
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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!
