James Buescher took the lead from Timothy Peters on the last lap, then held off a charge from Brendan Gaughan to win the NASCAR Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday night in Joliet, Ill.
It was Buescher’s third career win, with all three coming this season. Buescher previously won at Kansas and Kentucky.
Gaughan finished second after dominating the majority of the race. Peters was third, followed by Matt Crafton and Parker Kligerman.
It was the 200th career start in trucks for Todd Bodine, making him the only driver with at least 200 starts in all three of NASCAR’s national series. Bodine finished 18th.
Buescher and Peters went side-by-side on the final restart with two laps to go, and Buescher took the lead on the last lap. Gaughan surged to second but couldn’t catch Buescher.
Buescher’s win came despite a lengthy pit stop just past the race’s halfway point because of an apparent mechanical issue.
ELSEWHERE
IndyCar Series points leader Ryan Hunter-Reay won the pole in qualifying at Edmonton, Alberta, but he’ll start today’s race 11th after being penalized for an unapproved engine change. Dario Franchitti will start first. … Colombian rookie Carlos Munoz picked up his first career win in the Indy Lights Series, beating countryman Sebastian Saavedra by more than eight seconds in Edmonton. … Championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari set the fastest lap in wet conditions to edge two-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel and secure the pole position for today’s German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, Germany.
