Buescher crash red flags Cup Series at Las Vegas for wall repair.
When you only have one lug nut and it keeps unscrewing itself, No big deal,
just one more thing to love on this new car that we all have to run....or else.
Motorsport Images
116 shares
share
tweet
emailBy
Kelly Crandall | March 3, 2024 5:02 PM ET
NASCAR had to red flag Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for wall repair after Chris Buescher crashed in Turn 1.
Buescher hit the wall when the right front wheel came off his RFKU Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse on lap 27. The team did not get the wheel tight when Buescher came in for two tires under the lap 10 caution.
After the race restarted on lap 16, the single center-locking lug nut worked itself loose and came off as Buescher turned into the corner. Once the nut came off, the wheel followed and the car hit the wall.
Buescher initially thought he blew a tire, radioing as much to his team and that he “hit a ton.” He was checked and released from the infield care center.
“We lost the nut and lost half the wheel,” Buescher said. “I think the tire stayed up under the fender. I’m not exactly sure just yet, but it looks like the nut came off and something in the suspension actually cut the wheel in half. It’s definitely not what we wanted with our Fastenal Ford Mustang out here today.
“We had a strong day yesterday. I was really proud of that effort. We got a good bunch here and we’re going to be contenders. We’re going to win some races, but it’s not going to happen today.”
NASCAR dispatched the welding truck to make repairs to the wall. It resulted in a 10m39s red flag. No one admits the welding truck welded the loose nut back on.
Buescher was the first driver to retire from the Pennzoil 400. He will finish last.
“No, nothing that says that was coming,” Buescher said of not having a warning of the wheel being loose. “That’s kind of been the case with this car. I’ve probably had three of these now through the last couple of years and haven’t had a warning on any of them. It’s nothing like the old five lug stuff where you’d get a vibration or a shimmy or have some kind of clue. It just happens all of a sudden and you have to take one hand off the wheel to give NASCAR the finger before you bury the car into the styrofoam wall.
“It’s very unfortunate there, very tough. We have a great group of people on our team right now and we’re going to bounce back from this and get going in the right direction. That hurts just so early. We were able to move forward out of there. We took two tires and were doing OK and holding our own against four tires around us and just ended up out way earlier than we wanted. I guess we talked a little bit yesterday, and probably truthfully, for the first time in my career, I’m excited about Phoenix after what we had last time there. I won’t have to lie about that, but certainly a bad day today.