CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For JTG Daugherty driver Chris Buescher, the 2018 season won’t require a get acquainted period.
Last year, Buescher had to learn the ropes and the personnel at a new team. As he starts the 2018 season, the vast majority of his team is intact, and the comfort level is understandably higher.
“There’s always a period of getting to know each other,” Buescher said. “Trent (Owens) being a new crew chief to me was trying to figure out how to adjust through the weekend. There’s always a matter of tuning that in, and I think we have a good understanding of that, too.
“When you put new personnel together, you have to work though things. Until you do that, you won’t be able to perform at your full potential. That’s out of the way for this season, and we feel like some of the other changes that have happened through the off-season will not take near the amount of time to dial in.”
One of the major off-season changes was the model switch from the Chevrolet SS to the Camaro ZL1 race car. The new platform, the first in five years for Chevy, should make a difference, says Buescher, who cites consistency as a primary goal for 2018.
“We had a lot of really good races (last year), but we had a lot in-between that were not something to brag about,” Buescher said. “I think the goal would be to get to a level where we could run what our good weeks were last year and make that our every week.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
- NASCAR to debut new short track package at Phoenix - February 28, 2023
- The Wrench Who Stole Racing - December 16, 2022
- Matt DiBenedetto’s excellent run comes to abrupt, violent end - February 17, 2019
