NASCAR, Rain, Then Fog, Then Unlikely Winner

In NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, or anything for that matter, it doesn't make any difference how you get your first win. Once you achieve a mark in the win column, you rank with the best.

That was the case for Chris Buescher, driver of the number 34 Ford, Monday at the rain delayed race at Pocono Raceway. The race on Sunday had already got pushed to Monday due to rain. Then fog stopped racing on Monday with 22 laps to go.

After a "wait and see what the weather's going to due" period, Mother Nature made it clear that no more racing was going to run and NASCAR officials got her message and passed it on to the rest of the world that the race was over.

Buescher was the unlikely race leader at that point of the event, and therefore declared the winner. It may have not been Mother Nature, but instead Buescher's prayers being answered.

The red flag came out over the speedway after 138 of the scheduled 160 laps because of fog. Buescher out front then did every mental rain dance he could think of to get the race called. And it worked, producing his first Cup victory.

Buescher, who drives for Front Row Motorsports, ended up out front by staying on the track and outlasting the faster cars who pitted behind him. The same strategy worked for Regan Smith's team as they came in third.

Brad Keselowski was sandwiched in between for second. Kevin Harvick ran fourth, followed by Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Tony Stewart. See where your driver finished.

Buescher is the first Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate to win a Sprint Cup race since Joey Logano accomplished the feat in 2009. Coincidentally, Logano’s victory came in a rain-shortened race at New Hampshire.

Source: NASCAR.com

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