HARD-HITTING WRECK BRINGS OUT RED FLAG AT THE GLEN

Four cars were caught up in a wreck on Turn 5 of Lap 52 in the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen on Sunday, which brought out the red flag at Watkins Glen International.

The No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun and careened across the track to start the incident.

Stenhouse's car impacted with the interior wall, and then made contact with the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson, the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Dillon and the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Greg Biffle.

"The car kind of bounced and got loose," Stenhouse Jr. said.

Johnson added: "Cars started checking up in front of me, and they all moved out of way, and suddenly the 17 was in front of me."

The six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion was marked officially out of the race with significant damage to his Chevrolet.

This story will be updated.

FOLLOWING POCONO 'BIG MOMENT,' BUESCHER STEADIES CHASE FOCUS

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Chris Buescher has seemingly embraced the spoiler role of his upset victory last weekend at Pocono Raceway, saying he's "throwing a wrench at a lot of people's brackets" in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.

In the five remaining races that will determine the 16-driver postseason field, though, the 23-year-old rookie has work to do -- namely making up the six-point deficit to reach the required top-30 threshold in the series standings. Before Friday's on-track activity at Watkins Glen International, Buescher said he was confident that he and his Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford team could cross the points portion off the checklist.

"They are hustling and working extremely hard to make sure we make this Chase," Buescher said about his team's efforts to make the tight turn from weather-delayed Pocono to Watkins Glen ahead of Sunday's Cheez-It 355 at the Glen (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). "We are going to get there. I have a ton of confidence in these guys. I love where our program was heading previous to Pocono. We have been on the right path and we will make up those points."

Buescher, last year's XFINITY Series champion, said he hasn't had much chance to celebrate last Monday's surprise win in the Pennsylvania 400, saying that the short week between Pocono and Watkins Glen was consumed by road-racing practice in Utah on Tuesday and making the media rounds with a full schedule of phone interviews the last two days.

"It is a really good problem to have," Buescher said. "I killed my phone battery twice in one day, which is a new record for me. It has been wild how everything has played out and I haven't had time for it to settle in and feel like we won a race. It has been so crazy."

Though Buescher's performance has lagged behind fellow first-year drivers Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney this season, his Pocono breakthrough has given him a feather in his cap that his fellow rookies can't claim on their portfolios. His first victory came in his 27th Sprint Cup start, making him the first rookie winner since Joey Logano converted the feat in 2009.

Buescher's first full season in NASCAR's premier series coincides with the first year of a technical alliance between Roush Fenway Racing and the Bob Jenkins-owned Front Row organization, a partnership that he hopes pays dividends in the push to the playoffs. In the meantime, the momentum from a maiden trip to Victory Lane can't hurt.

"It is just a matter of getting the team jacked up and everybody on the same idea going forward that this is for real, a big moment," Buescher said. "This win with the Chase being the way it is and the point system different from last year in XFINITY, a win basically turns our whole season around. It changes everything. It is no longer one win and you move up a spot or two in points. It is one win and you potentially have a spot in the playoffs of our sport.

"We are not there yet because we have to get into that top 30, but with that win it gets everybody excited to get to that point."