Scott Lagasse Jr. driving No. 31 this weekend
CONCORD, N.C. -- Former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher said Thursday that his plans for the rest of the season with NTS Motorsports are uncertain.
Buescher, 25, entered the first three races of the season for NTS, but the team used Scott Lagasse Jr. in the No. 31 Chevrolet last weekend at Kansas Speedway. Lagasse is scheduled to compete for the team again this weekend in Friday night's NC Education Lottery 200 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, PRN, SiriusXM) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Buescher, who netted his first truck series title with a four-win season in 2012, was a full-time participant in what is now called the NASCAR XFINITY Series last year. He transferred back to the Truck Series this season with team owner Bob Newberry, but Buescher indicated Thursday in a statement on his Twitter account that plans to participate this weekend fell apart.
"I want to thank all my fans for continuing to stick behind me," Buescher said in the statement. "I was looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the No. 31 NTS Motorsports Chevy but unfortunately plans changed. I want to thank Bob Newberry and everyone at NTS Motorsports for giving me an opportunity early this season; we had a great run going and I was looking forward to seeing how it was going to turn out.
"At this point, I'm not sure when I'll be back at the track but when I do return I look forward to being a threat to win every single time out."
Buescher had two top-10 finishes in his three events with NTS this season. Wednesday night, he tweeted that he was "devastated" that he would not be driving for the Newberry-owned team this weekend at Charlotte. After Thursday night's final practice, Newberry indicated that Buescher's time out of the No. 31 ride was only temporary.
"It's not a departure," Newberry said. "When we started the season off, we knew that James was going to be a part-time situation. And then there for a little bit, it was looking real exciting, looking like it was going to be a full-time scenario. He's still going to be in the truck. James will be back in the 31 this season. He's doing a great job for us and he and I, we stayed in contact all week long, literally all through last night we were still trying to get the deal done and I'd have brought a third truck here if I had to, just to get him in here and run because I think he's an asset for the team and everything.
"I care about James a lot and know he cares about us, so we're doing our best. We're working our tails off as well as he is to get him back in the seat."
The Kernersville, North Carolina-based team also fields a full-time entry in the Camping World Truck Series for Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Daniel Hemric.