Chris Buescher is reuniting with team owner Jack Roush in 2020. This comes at the expense of the current driver of the 17, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It was announced today that Chris Buescher, driver of the 37 chevrolet for JTG Daugherty Racing, would replace Ricky Stenhouse next year at Roush Fenway Racing.
What Does This Mean For Chris Buescher?
Buescher is going to move into a car that has the speed to contend for a playoff spot. The other Roush car, the 6 of Ryan Newman, has made the playoffs this year and is in a position to move on to the round of 12. Buescher has never had a chance to drive for Roush in cup, but it is certain to be an improvement in equipment from JTG Daugherty.
Buescher did win an Xfinity Series championship with Roush in 2014 and since then, he has been with Front Row Motorsports and JTG Daugherty. He has one career win at Pocono in 2016 in the 34 car for Front Row Motorsports. A big thing Buescher has done is overperform in the cars he’s been in. In 2017, Buescher had two top 5s and this year he has four top 10s.
Buescher Compared to Stenhouse
Buescher keeps the car on the racetrack with only 13 DNFs in his 142 career starts. Stenhouse has 22 DNFs since 2016 and that is a big reason why this move is happening. Buescher is also outrunning Stenhouse this year. Currently, Buescher sits 20th in points while Stenhouse sits 23rd in the points. A move had to be made to improve the performance of the 17 since Stenhouse has not been able to get the car to run the same way his teammate Ryan Newman has been able to.
What is Next For Ricky Stenhouse?
There are only a couple potential landing spots for him in the cup series. Stenhouse could replace Buescher in the 37 car next year, but Daniel Hemric is also going to be strongly considered for that ride. The other option for Stenhouse could be replacing David Ragan in the 38 car next year. It would keep him in a ford ride and it could be used to hold him over and see if he can overperform and earn himself a better ride in the years to come.
Similarities to the Past
Roush is not new to making this type of move. He did the same thing last when he had Matt Kenseth come in for Trevor Bayne part time and ultimately sent Trevor Bayne packing for veteran Ryan Newman. Ever since that move was made, the performance of the 6 car has improved and Roush is hoping for the same with Buescher in the 17 car. Chris Buescher should be able to give Roush a chance to compete for wins next year and put both cars in the playoffs.
