Chris Buescher wins 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship

In a race won by Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Larson and dominated by full-time Cup drivers, 23-year-old Chris Buescher put the finishing touches on his Cinderella run to the 2015 XFINITY Series title.

With an 11th-place finish, the Roush Fenway Racing driver captured his first championship in NASCAR’s No. 2 division in just his second full season as an XFINITY driver.

Entering Saturday's race with an 18-point lead over 2014 series champion Chase Elliott, Buescher was guaranteed of clinching the title -- no matter how Elliott fared -- by finishing 13th or better without leading a lap, 14th or better while leading at least one lap, or 15th or better while leading the most laps.

“That was such an amazing race,” said Buescher, who gave team owner Jack Roush his fifth championship in what is now the XFINITY Series. "I was just being careful. We had good speed; we just had to be careful out there. ... I’m just so glad we could pull it off."

Elliott finished eighth in the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 300, leaving him 15 points behind Buescher in the final standings. Two other drivers in title contention at Homestead -- Ty Dillon and Regan Smith -- finished 18 and 22 points behind Buescher, respectively.

Elliott, of course, is moving on next year to the Sprint Cup Series where he will take over the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that Jeff Gordon will drive for the final time when he competes for the Cup title at Homestead on Sunday afternoon.

“Congratulations to Chris and those guys,” said Elliott, a second-year JR Motorsports driver who last year became the XFINITY Series' youngest champion. "They just outran us fair and square. They just beat us."

Driving the No. 60 Mustang, Buescher delivered what will be Ford’s only title among NASCAR’s three major series competing at Homestead on Ford Championship Weekend. In winning the championship, Buescher denied Elliott -- the son of 1988 Sprint Cup champion Bill Elliott -- his second title in as many seasons in NASCAR’s second-tier division.

“Chalk it up to we got beat and didn't win enough races,” said Elliott, who went to Victory Lane just once in 2015. “That's the bottom line. The most important thing in this sport is being able to win and give yourself chances to win a race every weekend. We race from February to November, and we didn't give ourselves enough chances.”

Buescher, a laid-back, unassuming Texan, has been one of the lone bright spots for Roush Fenway in a year when the once-heralded organization failed to put a driver in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the first time in the playoff format’s 12-year existence.

Buescher got his big career break with Roush Fenway in 2009 when as a teenager he signed with the organization's driver development program and competed part-time in the non-NASCAR-sanctioned ARCA Series.

Four years later, Buescher made seven XFINITY starts for Roush Fenway, leading to a full-time ride in 2014.

“Chris is a smart race-car driver,” said 2013 XFINITY Series champion Austin Dillon, who is now a full-time Sprint Cup driver but continues to dabble in the XFINITY Series. “I think that's what won him a championship. I said it ‑‑ I noticed it earlier on in the year. I've noted it from when he was driving ARCA against Ty (Austin’s younger brother). Him and Ty had good battles then, and Chris is always smart with his equipment.  I think he knows the ability of the equipment, uses it to its ability every time, and finishes races well. So I think Chris is going to be good.”

Buescher, however, has yet to be told the details of his immediate future at Roush Fenway.

"We're still not sure what his arrangement's going to be next year," team co-owner Jack Roush said after Saturday's race. "He will be involved in a Cup car to some extent, but whether it's a part-time program or a full program, we're still in the midst of finalizing the conditions. We've got a number of possibilities."

While Buescher and Roush Fenway celebrated the drivers championship at Homestead, Team Penske reveled in its third consecutive XFINITY Series owners title -- a result of the combined efforts of drivers Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Alex Tagliani.

"Having three in a row is an amazing feat and to think we did it with four different drivers in the same car just shows the continuity and (crew chief) Greg Erwin and the team and what they were able to put together week after week," team owner Roger Penske said. "We fought hard to win this championship."