It has been a strong 15-race stretch for JTG Daugherty Racing’s Chris Buescher. Over that stretch, the 26-year old driver has tallied some rather impressive results, and he has not finished outside the top-20 in any race during that span.
As he heads into Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Buescher sits an impressive 20th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings. Obviously, not in the Playoffs, but much closer than anyone expected the No. 37 team to be heading into the 2019 campaign.
Friday, Buescher — who is on a year-to-year deal with his current team was asked about how contract negotiations are going for next season.
“Yeah, we’re getting there,” Buescher said. “Working through everything. It’s a heck of a question to start off (laughs), but we’re in progress. I hope everything stays on track and we can get to the point where we are good to go. But it’s just that time of year again. It seems like more and more, it’s just a year-by-year thing for a lot of people. So, it’s just where we are at right now.”
Book-ending his media availability were questions about his future. At the end of the session, Buescher was asked specifically whether he was talking to other teams about driving opportunities in 2020. Buescher’s response was quite intriguing.
“We are talking and trying to get through this process,” Buescher explained. “For me, it’s more of a private situation and we’re going through the motions here. We’ll know something in the next couple of weeks. It’s getting to that point.”
While, Buescher didn’t come out and say for sure he is chatting with other teams, he certainly didn’t deny the question. And saying that for him, it’s a private situation definitely suggests that he could be on the move for 2020, if he can find a deal that works better than whatever JTG Daugherty has to offer for next year.