Roush Fenway Racing will farm out Xfinity Series reigning champion Chris Buescher to Front Row Motorsports as part of an expanded alliance with the counterpart Ford team.
Roush will supply engineering, pit support and equipment to Front Row in the 2016 season as part of the deal that will put Buescher in the No. 34 Ford.
“We are thrilled to announce this alliance,” Roush Fenway president Steve Newmark said in a release. “Not only will it foster increased communication within the Ford camp, it will allow our newest champion Chris Buescher to continue to hone his skills with substantial seat time behind the wheel in the Sprint Cup Series in top-grade equipment.
“We look forward to working more closely with Front Row on many levels and we believe it is a relationship that will be mutually beneficial for both parties.”
Buescher, 23, won his first Xfinity title in his second season on the circuit, winning races at Iowa Speedway and Dover International Speedway.
He also made six starts in Sprint Cup with Front Row, which rotated drivers through the No. 34 after David Ragan left the team.
“We’ve grown a lot and accomplished a lot as an organization in our six years of full-time Sprint Cup racing, and I’m proud of our progress,” Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins said. “We’re ready for the next step, and this partnership with Roush Fenway Racing is going to take us there. Chris Buescher is a champion, and he’s a driver that we’ve worked with already and have great respect for, so he’s the perfect guy to bring into our line-up.”
Front Row, which also fielded David Gilliland in a full-time ride last season for the sixth consecutive year, said it would announce a second driver at a later date.
Roush Fenway Racing, which fields Greg Biffle, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in NASCAR’s premier series, missed qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup last year for the first time in the playoff’s 12 seasons.