​RICHMOND, VA. (Sept. 11, 2016) – Chris Buescher raced his way to a berth in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup after finishing 24th in the Federated Auto Parts 400 Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway. The finish kept Buescher within the top 30 in championship points and, combined with his August 1 win at Pocono Raceway, earned him one of 16 spots in the series' playoffs.

The Chase berth is the first for Front Row Motorsports and will guarantee the highest-ever points finish for a Front Row driver in the team's history. Buescher will start the playoffs ranked 13th and, as a Chase competitor, can finish the season no lower than 16th. The 23-year-old Prosper, Texas, native joins Chase Elliott in the 2016 Chase class as the first rookies to make the Chase since Denny Hamlin in 2006.

The result didn't come without its challenges. Buescher and his No. 34 CSX "Play It Safe" Ford recovered from a mid-race flat tire as well as damage suffered during a late-race multi-car accident that resulted in a 20-minute red-flag period.

“It's obviously a big night for Front Row Motorsports and Bob Jenkins for a small team like we are to be able to pull it off and get that win at Pocono and find ourselves in the Chase right now," Buescher said after the race. "It's pretty special. Everything worked out the way we needed it to pull this night off the way we needed to."

The Chase for the Sprint Cup is a 10-race playoff, with four drivers eliminated every three races until four remain to race for the Championship in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 20.

"This is a big day for our team, and I'm incredibly proud of everybody who worked so hard to get us here," team owner Bob Jenkins said. "Everybody at FRM, Roush Fenway Racing, Roush Yates and Ford worked together toward this one goal and it's so gratifying to see all that work pay off and see our No. 34 car competing for the championship."

The "Round of 16," the first segment of the Chase, begins Sept. 18 at Chicagoland Speedway and also includes races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway.
  
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Contact:
Shari Spiewak
Front Row Motorsports
office: 704-873-6445 x215
cell: 704-200-1779
sspiewak@frontrowmotorsports.com

Chris Buescher • No. 34 CSX 'Play It Safe' Ford
  
NSCS Richmond Starts: 1
Best Richmond Finish: 34th

"Obviously this is a big weekend for us. We have a spot in the Chase right now, and we want to keep it that way. So, we need to keep with our strategy of being aggressive where it makes sense while being cautious and playing a little defense at the same time. We feel pretty good about where we're at, though, and look forward to Saturday night in our CSX 'Play It Safe' Ford.

"Richmond is one of those places that changes on you pretty quick. It puts down a ton of rubber throughout the course of a race. This was probably the one track in this final stretch that we knew we needed to focus on to be better. The good thing is the last couple months have been pretty good for us. We had several packages that we ran at different race tracks that we talked about a lot, and I feel like we'll be good for Richmond. We'll have something we can run better with and get more speed and be more consistent through a run."
  
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Contact:
Shari Spiewak
Front Row Motorsports
office: 704-873-6445 x215
cell: 704-200-1779
sspiewak@frontrowmotorsports.com

Chris Buescher • No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford

NSCS Darlington Starts: 0
Best Darlington Finish: N/A

"It's my favorite race track we go to. I love Darlington Raceway. It's got so much history behind it. It's completely unique compared to anyplace else we go. It's just an absolute blast. I love racing there. I haven't been there in a Cup car, and I am curious as to how it's going to differ from the XFINITY side. But I think it's going to be a great race and probably the most anticipated track for me since coming to the Cup side.

"We've got a cool throwback paint scheme from Love's Travel Stops. It's the same colors and branding that they used on the fuel canopies of the first travel stop they opened in 1981 in Amarillo, Texas. Now they've got almost 400 locations across the country. We'll try to keep it clean. It's already got stripes on it, so we don't need to add a Darlington stripe."
  
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Contact:
Shari Spiewak
Front Row Motorsports
office: 704-873-6445 x215
cell: 704-200-1779
sspiewak@frontrowmotorsports.com