Insight: Buescher's 'building a notebook' at JTG

Chris Buescher stood in what shade he could find on a sweltering pit road at Daytona and kept an eye on the big screen to see if he would make the second round of qualifying.

When the No. 37 JTG Daugherty Chevrolet was bumped from a position to advance, Buescher offered a "so close" to his public relations representative as the two headed back to the Monster Energy Series garage.

The best was yet to come, however. Buescher was one of the few to outlast the carnage of Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 to score a 10th-place finish. Not only was it Buescher's first top 10 of the season, but it was a milestone for a team that had only been put together during the 2016 offseason. JTG expanded its operation from one car to two, bringing in Buescher as a teammate to AJ Allmendinger.

"I would say it's going a little better, honestly," Buescher told RACER of what he expected at this point in the season. "You always hope to be running top 10 right out of the gate, but with as late of a start that we got and as new as everything is, realistically we've been trying to run top 25. We've been able to do that and a little better. That part of things has been really good."

Buescher has an average finish of 22.5 with eight top-20 finishes, offering validation of Buescher's belief the team has molded together well. He and crew chief Trent Owens, a veteran of the sport, also continue to find common ground for the balance of their cars.

Like any new team, for every good week there are also those where it is apparent improvement is still needed.

"But we're building notebooks, you know?" Buescher said. "We're trying to get notes on the cars that we have."

Unfortunately, this isn't a new position for Buescher. A year ago he was working with Front Row Motorsports, having graduated from the Xfinity Series and Roush Fenway Racing. Feeling as though every year he's starting fresh, Buescher admits it's hard to get into a rhythm. Now halfway through this season, Buescher says his team has begun to hit a good stride.

The week prior to Daytona, Buescher had a top-10 car at Sonoma (pictured). Leaning heavily on road course ace Allmendinger, Buescher qualified ninth and ran solidly in the top 15. A long green-flag run to end the race and different pit strategies saw him fade to a 19th-place finish. Yet it was a weekend everything clicked for the group.

"(Sonoma) was really good for us. ... Our best qualifying effort, my best effort ever in Cup, so that was pretty cool. Strategy won the race, but we had a good plan and if the race would have played out a little differently we were in a really good spot," Buescher said.

The second half of the season brings a repeat of certain venues, and with it being Buescher's second year in the series, he's prepared to make improvements. There are a few tracks he's particularly looking forward to because of that.

"Bristol is one that I keep circled all the time. Unfortunately, I did a poor job there earlier this year, and we didn't get a result out of it (but) that's always a place I look at," said Buescher. "Martinsville (below), we had a really good run (he finished 11th). It was kind of the start of our season taking a turn for the best, starting clicking off a lot of top 20s and so I think that one has been pretty decent for JTG as an organization.

"And you look at a couple others. Kentucky I'm kind of excited about – ran good there last year. Trent ran good there last year with Aric (Almirola), so that's a place we look at as a potential to get a good run."

The future for Buescher is as bright as the Florida sun he was looking to escape as he fielded one last question – a question he'll surely face again as the season goes on: With ties still to Roush Fenway, which will have a third charter next year, when does he start discussing 2018?

"I think you try and discuss it as soon as possible but realistically we're so early on in Silly Season, it's just too soon to tell," Buescher said. "This has been a great, great move for me this season. Thankful to be at JTG Daugherty Racing and have the opportunity to be as competitive as we have been.

"We're working hard to get it better and hopefully, we can build that up, and we'll see what comes (next)."