Buescher victorious in Iowa

Chris Buescher needed someone to screw up.

Two drivers involved in a scary incident Saturday teamed up for another crash that gave Buescher the break he was looking for.

Buescher pulled away on a restart in a green-white-checkered finish Sunday to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.

Buescher raced to his first victory of the season and gave Roush-Fenway Racing its fifth Iowa win in 11 starts.

It also put Buescher atop the points standings by eight points over Ty Dillon.

“I’m not sure what it is about this place that the Roush cars seem to run so well at. But this is a big step for us,” Buescher said.

Chase Elliott appeared poised for an easy win, but a late caution caused when Jamie Dick and Ross Chastain wrecked instead forced overtime.

Buescher was the beneficiary. He took advantage with a perfectly executed restart – aided greatly by a push from teammate Bubba Wallace.

“When that happened, I knew we had a great shot on the restart,” Buescher said.

Elliott finished second after leading a race-high 114 laps. Erik Jones was third, followed by Brian Scott and Ryan Blaney.

As the first Xfinity event of the year that didn’t share a track with a Sprint Cup race, Iowa gave series regulars a chance to run without being overshadowed by the sport’s more established stars.

NHRA

Tim Wilkerson raced to his first Funny Car victory since 2011, beating Ron Capps in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia.

Wilkerson had a 4.318-second pass at 260.31 mph in his Ford Shelby Mustang for his 18th career win.

Antron Brown won in Top Fuel, Jason Line in Pro Stock, and Hector Arana in Pro Stock Motorcycle.