XFINITY champ Chris Buescher soaks up time in spotlight
Being a NASCAR champion certainly has its perks. Roush Fenway Racing's Chris Buescher found that out this week, as he made a whirlwind tour to Philadelphia and New York to celebrate his first NASCAR XFINITY Series title.
"I'm wore out," Buescher told FOXSports.com. "It's not really what I imagined."
Buescher went nonstop from Sunday until Tuesday, getting on the field for the Philadelphia Eagles game, running up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps made famous by the film "Rocky," trying both Pat's and Geno's cheesesteaks (he preferred Pat's) and visiting the Comcast building, Empire State Building and 9/11 memorial.
"We've been running around like crazy. It's been chaotic at times," Buescher said during a phone interview. "Once it calms down, I'm looking forward to some rest."
One of the biggest highlights of his tour of the Northeast was visiting the Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia, a big partner of series sponsor Comcast XFINITY.
"It was fun to be goofing off, playing games and talking about the importance of staying out of trouble and in school," Buescher said.
With XFINITY the new title sponsor of NASCAR's No. 2 series in 2015, Buescher became the first series champion to take part in this tour of two of Comcast's biggest markets -- Philly and NYC.
"It's a pretty amazing honor to represent XFINITY as the first champion in NASCAR," Buescher said. "Comcast is having a blast as well."
However, Buescher will not remain in the series next year. Last week, the Texas native was introduced as the newest driver for Front Row Motorsports' Sprint Cup Series team.
The 23-year-old is eager to get his feet wet in NASCAR's top division and hopes FRM's new technical alliance with his former team, Roush Fenway Racing, will help both organizations move forward.
"The alliance will be good for both teams, plus we're blessed to have Ford behind us 100 percent," he said. "Nobody is happy with the performance at Roush Fenway Racing right now. They've brought in new people to help with the competition department, and they have restructured how they build and structure the race cars. Good things are coming down the pipeline at Roush Fenway Racing."
Buescher, who drove six Sprint Cup races with Front Row Motorsports in 2015, knows the small team has struggled to keep up with the bigger teams up until this point, but hopes the new technical alliance will turn things around.
Chris Buescher visits the Empire State Building in New York City.
"They were lacking resources, information and technical data," said Buescher. "They have that now with Roush Fenway Racing. It's truly an open book."
Three years removed from his ARCA Racing Series championship in 2012, Buescher has made a big splash in NASCAR in a short amount of time. The young up-and-comer worked tenaciously to remain in a seat at Roush Fenway Racing, often working on other drivers' cars and helping out wherever he could at the shop.
Now poised to make a run for the 2016 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year Award after celebrating his first NASCAR title in the XFINITY Series, Buescher is finally starting to take it all in.
"It's been really quick," he said. "It's amazing how quickly things can change," he said. "Things have progressed way beyond my expectations."
