KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Chris Buescher finished eighth in the ARCA Racing Series finale Friday night at Kansas Speedway to take the season title, and Alex Bowman raced to his second straight victory at the track.
The 19-year-old Buescher edged nine-time champion Frank Kimmel by 75 points. Kimmel finished sixth in the 99-lap race on the 1.5-mile track. Brennan Poole was third in the standings, and Bowman ended up fourth.
Buescher, the series rookie of the year last year, had four victories this season in Roulo Brothers Racing's No. 17 Ford. He's the second-youngest champion in series history.
"This is definitely exciting," said Buescher, from Prosper, Texas. "It's definitely going to take a little while for this one to sink in. It's hard to race that way, trying to conserve tires. We had a couple issues, but I was just trying to do everything I could so nothing crazy happened there.
"Hats off to the Roulo Brothers and Roush Fenway. (Sprint Cup driver) David Ragan's been a huge part of my career, and there are a lot of others that mean a lot to my career."
Buescher, the cousin of NASCAR Truck Series title contender, become the first driver in ARCA history to complete every lap in a season.
"I'm so proud of this team," Gary Roulo said. "Chris Buescher has done an amazing job this season as our driver and everyone at Roush Yates engines have helped along the way. We couldn't be happier about this championship."
Bowman started from the pole in Cunningham Motorsports' No. 22 Dodge en route to his fourth victory of the season. Kevin Swindell was second in the race, followed by Grant Enfinger, Brennan Poole and Brennan Newberry.
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