Buescher claims third win of the season at Chicagoland Speedway

Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

With three wins this season, James Buescher is now emerging as the favorite to win the championship - if he can knock Timothy Peters out of the points lead.

The American Ethanol 225 at Chicagoland Speedway started off with many headlines: Todd Bodine's 200th Truck race gave him the honor of the first driver with 200 starts in each of the top three series in NASCAR. Additionally, David Starr marked his 300th Truck start and in a pre-race interview made sure to state that he is not going anywhere anytime soon.

The race belonged to Brendan Gaughan, racing the No. 2 Truck and performing double duty this weekend for Richard Childress Racing as part of a limited schedule.

Gaughan dominated the race, leading a total of three different times for 83 laps, but lost the lead on a restart. "We were the class of the field...I spun my tires on the restart...this should have been mine," Gaughan said after the race.

The restart was costly for Gaughan but James Buescher and Timothy Peters were both able to capitalize on his mistake. Both drivers had fought hard to be in the lead, Peters started in the rear of the field after an engine change and mid-race Buescher's team had to change a carburetor putting him 2 laps down at one point. It took the lucky dog pass and numerous cautions for Buescher to catch up and be in contention for the win.

Visibly disappointed, Gaughan's finish was his second top-10 of the 2012 season and was the most laps he has led since Las Vegas Motor Speedway, September 27, 2003 - where he led 106 laps.

Buescher's Turner Motorsports teammates were not as fortunate, both Miguel Paludo and Nelson Piquet Jr. were involved in accidents and would finish outside the top-15.
Race results:

1. James Buescher
2. Brendan Gaughan
3. Timothy Peters
4. Matt Crafton
5. Parker Kligerman
6. Ron Hornaday
7. Cale Gale
8. Jason Leffler
9. Jason White
10. David Starr
11. Rick Crawford
12. Ty Dillon
13. Ross Chastain
14. John Wes Townley
15. Joey Coulter
16. Dakoda Armstrong
17. Miguel Paludo
18. Todd Bodine
19. Paulie Harraka
20. Chad McCumbee
21. Justin Lofton
22. Johnny Sauter
23. Jennifer Jo Cobb
24. Bryan Silas
25. Norm Benning
26. Nelson Piquet Jr.
27. Chris Fontaine
28. Clay Greenfield
29. C.E. Falk
30. Ryan Sieg
31. Chris Jones
32. Blake Koch
33. Dennis Setzer
34. T.J. Bell
35. Jeff Green
36. Johnny Chapman

Timothy Peters leads the points battle, 23 ahead of Ty Dillon. Justin Lofton, James Buescher and Parker Kligerman round out the top 5 in points contention. The Trucks are off next weekend, heading to Pocono on Saturday, August 4th at 1pm ET.