Chris Buescher achieved a personal landmark when he drove to the checkered flag at Watkins Glen on Sunday. It was the first time the 31-year-old won a road course race in his Cup Series career. The #17 team had been gradually getting better at such tracks for a while now as 12 of his last 13 starts in road courses ended up with top-10 finishes. This win meant just that much more to the RFK Racing driver especially after he failed to qualify for the playoffs this season.
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Buescher won the race dramatically as well, taking the lead from Shane van Gisbergen on the final lap with two turns to go. It was a lucky break for the driver of the #17 car as SVG made a rare mistake and went off the track right before turn 5. That gave Buescher an opening and despite having to nudge the Kiwi a little bit, got the job done. After the race, he spoke about his love for road course racing despite not being from that kind of a racing background.
“I love road racing. It is not my background, I didn’t grow up doing this, I love it. And we’re really good at it. Our team brings really fast race cars, had good teachers through the years, and picked up on well…would come to these things and consistently be in the hunt to win but hadn’t quite pulled it off, and to do that here today was big,” he said in a post-race interview.
Full Interview – victory lane interview with Go Bowling at The Glen winner @Chris_Buescher: @WGI @NASCAR @GoBowlingdotcom @RFKracing https://t.co/K282knKXlF pic.twitter.com/p94mAEUeT2
— Andy Malnoske (@18SportsAndy) September 16, 2024
The result will mean a whole lot for RFK Racing as well since the team now has both cars winning races this season. It will certainly be a good point to build from, especially for Buescher who will be hungry to get into the playoffs in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Buescher did not expect a negative reaction from SVG
The #17 car made contact with the #16 of SVG at the end of the final lap to take the lead but there wasn’t any malice in it. It was just hard racing and the Kiwi knew it. Besides, he did the same thing to Buescher to get the lead earlier.
The Kaulig Racing driver went to Victory Lane after the race to congratulate the RFK man who appreciated it. At the time, some might have thought that SVG was heading over to give the 31-year-old a piece of his mind.
“There was a little pushing and shoving on both sides and ultimately there was a…he had a big error there into the Bus Stop and we just took advantage of it…yeah, I didn’t feel like there was anything that was dirty about it, didn’t expect him coming over and being mad about anything,” Buescher said in the post-race press conference.
The Kiwi’s gesture was appreciated by several race fans on social media and it’s something that NASCAR needs more of. But the day belonged to Buescher who surely will now have a lot of confidence for the remaining eight races.
