RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher was engaged in a dramatic battle with Kyle Larson for the victory spoils in Kansas on Sunday. Coming off Turn 4 in the final lap, Larson banged him twice as they traveled side-by-side to the finish line. While many fans haven’t taken well to the Hendrick driver’s aggressive moves that helped him across the checkered flag with the lead, Buescher doesn’t appear to be holding any ill.
Advertisement
Getting on his phone after the race, Buescher put up a post on his X handle that attributed Denny Hamlin for racing him cleanly. The post read, “As much as you might get @dennyhamlin, you’ve always raced me clean. Great battle today.” Many, understandably, took this post as a dig at Larson who – from the POV – had not raced very cleanly.
To be clear for y’all… no shade at @KyleLarsonRacin. We were banging doors all the way to the checkered. He’s one heck of a racer, and that was just two drivers going for the trophy
— Chris Buescher (@Chris_Buescher) May 6, 2024
The responses that the post received forced Buescher to intervene. He wrote again, “To be clear for y’all… no shade at @KyleLarsonRacin. We were banging doors all the way to the checkered. He’s one heck of a racer, and that was just two drivers going for the trophy ” Larson will no doubt be thankful that his counterpart was kind enough to sweep the matter under the rug.
How Larson edged past Buescher in the final moments of the Kansas race
When the #17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang took the white flag, Kansas was already preparing to celebrate Buescher’s first victory in the 2024 season. There were very slim chances, if any, for those behind him to take the lead from there. Coming down the back stretch off Turn 4, he made a mistake that unraveled things. He left enough space open in the outside lane for Larson to thread himself through.
Once the #5 Camaro got alongside, it banged his Mustang and slowed it down enough to edge past it with a narrow lead of 0.001 seconds. The finish was the closest in NASCAR history and put Buescher on the less fruitful side of it. He told the press after watching the replay, “We needed that, but we needed a win more. I thought I might have had that one. … I gave him half a lane too much.”
Buescher now sits 11th in the points table, 33 points above the elimination line. Larson, on the other hand, has retained his position at the top of the table. The drivers will race each other in the Darlington Raceway next weekend. There isn’t a lot to say that fireworks between the two can be expected.
