Smokescreen start turns into clear comeback for Buescher at Indy
SPEEDWAY, IN. — Chris Buescher finished 10th in Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit to cap off a remarkable comeback that began after a wild mechanical mishap in stage one.
On Lap 12, in stage one, Buescher’s rockerbox started on fire and filled the cockpit with smoke. Although the crew extinguished the fire, the extinguisher’s residue meant Buescher couldn’t see and had to be guided to pit road.
On pit road, Buescher and the crew cleaned the interior to finally regain his visibility for Stage Two. Buescher stayed two laps down, in 34th, throughout the stage but mounted a comeback in the final stage.
A Lap 62 caution put Buescher back to one lap down and a caution away from getting back on the lead. He received that caution on Lap 78 and restarted 29th. After a chaotic restart that bred another one in overtime, Buescher gained 19 spots and finished 10th.
Buescher has now finished top-10 in the last three NASCAR Cup Series road course races — something only Michael McDowell and Austin Cindric have also done.
Buescher has also earned six top-10 finishes after 22 races, the most of his career at this point in the season.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com