New Brockton native Brandon Lee part of team cherishing NASCAR win at Bristol – Dothan Eagle

JON JOHNSON

New Brockton native Brandon Lee, as senior manager of communications for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, celebrated into the wee hours of the morning at the track with Chris Buescher after the teams driver won the NASCAR race at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

It was about 3:30 (a.m.) by the time we left, Lee said by phone Sunday afternoon. He was at his motorhome and we all went back to the hotel.

We rarely get to see the haulers leaving especially at a place like Bristol its really cool to see, because there is hardly anything left. Its just me, our social guys, Chris and the team. It was kind of eerie in a way, but eerie in a good way because we are the last ones there for a reason.

The celebration for the team had been a long time coming. When Buescher took the checkered flag late Saturday night, it marked his second career win and the first for RFK Racing in a points-paying Cup race in more than five years. The Jack Roush-owned team added driver Brad Keselowski to the ownership group this season.

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I think the last time we won a non-(restrictor) plate race was 2014, so its been a long time, Lee said. Theres even an engineer on our team who has never won a Cup race and hes been doing this for more than a decade now.

It was my first and this is my fifth season. Its really cool to see all of the teamwork and all of the personalities come together.

Lee oversees the busy schedules of both Buescher and Keselowski each week, along with dealing with many other media responsibilities. Before getting the job in the racing industry, the Troy University graduate worked in the sports information departments of UAB and Ole Miss.

I essentially turn into an all-things logistics for the drivers that includes sponsor appearances, meet and greets with sponsors and different folks, Lee said of his duties. Basically, we have schedules that we create for our partners and our guests and those schedules coincide with our drivers schedules. So Im in charge of anything driver related, and that means getting them to anywhere they need to be at the right place and the right time.

Once you get to the day of, you figure out what the routes are, where you need to be. In the moment, you just shadow them. Like yesterday, we go to a suite thats five levels up at Bristol and a race car driver wouldnt know where to go, right?

When the race begins, the work continues.

Once we get in the race we serve as liaisons to the media in terms of them finding out info for the race, Lee said. I dabble a little bit in social media, but I oversee our guys who run social but I let them run most of it. Really, from that point, I take notes because we write race recaps that we send out every week to our distribution list

There are a lot of people that we have to please, right? Being able to balance and maintain the relationships with everybody to put our best foot forward is really what were there for and thats what I do to help the driver understand that.

The race at the Bristol short track was the first elimination race of the NASCAR playoffs. The 16-driver field was cut by four as Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick were ousted from contention.

It was the first experience for Lee to be in Victory Lane, an experience he cherishes.

Having said that, there are certain media obligations you have to do, Lee said. You take more pictures than anything, which is good because everyone wants a picture in that scenario, which they should.

Once all that is done its probably 2 hours from the time the race ends to the time were actually done. I think I looked at my watch and it was probably 12:45 (a.m.) or 1 by the time we did our last media obligation.

Lee speaks highly of Buescher, a 29-year-old Texan who is a former developmental driver for Jack Roush and now a six-year Cup veteran who drives the No. 17 Ford Mustang.

Hes super down to earth; hes the most humble guy, Lee said. One of the hats they give you is whatever the sponsor of the race is, and in this case was Bass Pro Shops.

So were walking out of the tunnel for the last time and theres a couple of fans hanging out at the top of it and there was this little girl standing there and he gave his hat away the only one he had.

Now granted, you know, well get more later. But thats just the type of guy he is. Hes like, Hey, this girl has been probably waiting on me for two or three hours. Hell do anything for anybody.

Buescher isnt one of the more well-known drivers on the circuit, but that should change some after Saturday night. Also, some publicity thanks to a mistake on TV by racing great turned commentator Dale Earnhardt Jr. this year has put him more in the public eye.

This was at Richmond, I believe in mid-August, Lee explained. Dale Jr. is on the broadcast every week and mistakenly started calling him Christopher instead of Chris. He kept calling him Christopher throughout the broadcast and it stuck on social media.

His mistake turned into essentially a joke on Twitter. We get to the airport after the race and get on the plane and Twitter and social media are going crazy, saying Dale Jr. is calling Chris, Christopher.

Chris embraced it. He got on his Twitter, which he never does, and he changed his name to Christopher. When that happened, we started playing along with it on our social channels. Long story short, we changed his name on the name rail on the car to Christopher instead of Chris.

We did all of that, and then the next week at Watkins Glen, we had him and Dale Jr. take a picture together because people were joking this is the power of Dale Jr., and it was true to some extent because what was initially a mistake and a mis-speak turned into a whole play on social media.

After the win Saturday night, the media kept it rolling. Bueschers given first name is Christopher, but hes always gone by Chris.

Somebody in the media center asked, So did Chris Buescher win this race, or did Christopher Buescher win this race? Lee said. He said, Well, Christopher won this one, because Christophers name is on the car.

He just chose to leave it Christopher for the rest of the year. Im sure hell consider keeping it that way for a long time now.

Lee and his wife, Lara, live just north of Charlotte, N.C., and it can be a hectic lifestyle during the course of the season.

I always tell people when we have guests at the track that a lot of time people dont realize how many people are behind the scenes, Lee said. It takes an army sometimes to manage it all. There are certainly more people to it that are dedicated and work just as hard as I do. Its a true team effort.

On Sunday, Lee spent much of the day arranging some follow up media engagements and helping to plan a company win celebration for employees on Monday.

Nights like Saturday make it all worthwhile.

Weve been waiting on that one for a long time, Lee said.

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New Brockton native Brandon Lee part of team cherishing NASCAR win at Bristol - Dothan Eagle