FORT WORTH, Texas — There’s a glaring hole in Chris Buescher’s resume — one he’s determined to fill.
Buescher grew up in Prosper, Texas, 37 miles north of Dallas. By default, Texas Motor Speedway is his home track on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit.
It’s also a track that has baffled him throughout his career. In 15 starts at the challenging 1.5-mile speedway, Buescher has yet to post a top 10.
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In fact, he has finished on the lead lap in only two of the 15 starts — his two most recent — and he has led just two of the 4,735 laps he’s completed.
It’s not that Buescher hasn’t had the speed to belie his record at Texas.
“Since Texas has been reconfigured, we’ve been a lot better there from a speed standpoint, but haven’t really closed the deal to (finish) better,” Buescher said. “We’ve had really good runs that just haven’t ended well.
“All that being said, you want it to be better, being a home track and having so many friends and family come out to that one. It takes a little extra out of you not to be able to seal the deal there.”
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To conquer Texas, NASCAR Cup teams must find a workable setup balance between the two ends of the track, which are markedly different. Turns 1 and 2 are flatter (maximum 20 degrees of banking) and consequently slower than Turns 3 and 4, which are banked at 24 degrees.
Conventional wisdom suggests a trade-off is required, but negotiating Turns 1 and 2 with speed is critical to a fast lap. With the Gen 7 car, introduced in 2022, the trade-off isn’t as extreme as it used to be.
“It was a lot at first, but with this car and the ability to shift (from fifth to fourth gear in the first two corners), that took away a lot of the compromise,” Buescher said. “You’re able to drop a gear and keep that momentum up in Turns 1 and 2 a lot better.
“It’s taken away that old Kentucky feel, where you had to set up for one side or the other. The (Turn) 1 and 2 (end) is not the crawling corner that it was with the last generation car.”