The NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Michigan International Speedway and delivered a barnburner, with many fans calling it the finest race of the season. Denny Hamlin, with his 57th Cup Series victory, became just the tenth driver to win after reaching the 700-start milestone. He led only five of the 200 laps, but it was enough to steal the spotlight from Chris Buescher, who came up just 1.099 seconds short.
Advertisement
Despite logging his best finish of the 2025 campaign, Buescher walked away from Michigan with a sense of unfinished business. Though his No. 17 Ford Mustang showed plenty of muscle, the RFK Racing driver pointed the finger at himself, acknowledging the misstep that cost him a shot at the win.
“I got by the No. 38 (Zane Smith) and just had a big wiggle running the bottom,” Buescher said later. “That’s what let the Nos. 11 (Hamlin), 54 (Ty Gibbs) and 38 back by. That moment was my error and realistically cost us the win today, because we were better than the No. 11 car.”
Earlier, Buescher took the green flag from sixth and wasted no time working his way forward. The 2023 Michigan victor grabbed the lead on lap 35 and pocketed a Stage 1 win along with a valuable playoff point. But in Stage 2, the tide turned.
Chaotic restarts and diverging pit strategies shuffled the order. As the race wore on, Buescher found himself in the thick of it, battling through the pack that included Carson Hocevar, William Byron, and Kyle Larson. Then came the turning point in the final run.
While attempting to pass Zane Smith, Buescher briefly lost grip and had to lift to save his car. That minor bobble opened the door for Smith, Hamlin, and Gibbs to slip by. Though Buescher clawed his way back past Smith and closed in on Gibbs in the final laps, he simply ran out of laps before he could chase down Hamlin.
Buescher also appreciated his team’s efforts, saying, “I’m proud of the team for giving me that car and that opportunity. Man, I’d love to have it back, but ultimately that’s not an option. Lot of speed. Fantastic race for us. Big, solid day. Just feels like a missed opportunity.”
The runner-up result helped Buescher inch further above the playoff cutline, climbing to 12th in the standings. But with just 33 points separating him from 17th place and 11 races left in the regular season, the margin for error remains thin.
It wasn’t just Buescher flying the RFK flag up front. Ryan Preece crossed the line in ninth, while Brad Keselowski rounded out the top ten. The trio’s collective performance marked RFK Racing’s first three-car top-10 finish since the 2016 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, when Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Greg Biffle finished third, fifth, and eighth, respectively.
Still, the consensus within the RFK camp was clear: they left speed on the table. With momentum building and confidence rising, the team now turns its focus to tightening the screws and chasing a trip to Victory Lane in Mexico.
