Only four races remain in the regular season and Chris Buescher is in a tricky position. Last year, he won three of the upcoming four races but that holds little importance this season. The RFK Racing driver is in the playoffs but is only 17 points above the cutline. Four weeks is a long time for that to change. The driver of the #17 car will be hoping to win and definitively seal his place in the last 16 as soon as possible. Quite characteristically, he cut a calm and collected figure when asked about it in a recent media interaction.
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“We’ve got to be aware, but it’s not something that we’re up in arms about or worried about. We’re plenty capable of progressing and winning a race here in the next four like we have been. We’ve just got to clean up and have a couple things go our way and just do a good job and control what we can from our side,” he said.
Buscher knows his car has what it takes to win a race. He has come close to doing so on multiple occasions this year but has faltered at just the final moment. The most recent example of that was the Brickyard race. The #17 team did not have a good race and could only come home with a P22 finish. Given that Bubba Wallace finished in the top five, the #17 driver’s playoff aspirations took a hit. Now it will be the time to make amends.
Chris Buescher made all 30,000 fans in Prosper, Texas proud last year at Richmond. pic.twitter.com/GBtppEykHS
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 5, 2024
Last year, Buescher stormed into the playoffs with three wins in the last four races – Michigan, Richmond, and Daytona. Such an impressive run of form is going to be hard to replicate but he is confident he can do just enough.
Buescher keeps faith in his methods despite a winless year
The RFK driver isn’t nervous about the final stretch of the regular season, a situation where many may panic and change their approach if they’re not locked into the playoffs. Buescher is not doing this since he believes it can do more harm than good.
“I’m not nervous about it. It’s something that we’re gonna pay a little bit more attention to as we run down into these final four here, but I’m pretty adamant about it. I don’t want to change the way we approach our races,” he explained.
RFK Racing got both cars into the playoffs last season and the #17 ultimately finished seventh. Anything less than a round of 16 spot this season would be seen as a massive disappointment. He might be calm on the outside but Buescher has a big few weeks ahead of him.
