While NASCAR was running the Daytona Duels last Thursday with a weather-ey anticipation of race postponement, RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher had a more important matter to deal with. His wife, Emma, had been pregnant with a little boy who was expected to arrive in early March but chose to jump the green flag earlier. Talking on Backstretch Banter, Buescher revealed the events that led to the birth of his boy and how he almost had to miss making it to the Daytona 500.
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Buescher had been drafted into Duel 1 on Thursday when he received word from Emma that she was at the hospital. “It turned into a little bit of chaos there on Wednesday, or really Thursday morning,” he said. “She said, ‘I am in the hospital just so you know. You might want to think about getting home. This could be a possibility. So, I made arrangements.”
Fortunately placed in the earlier of the scheduled Duels, Buescher qualified 19th before jumping on the plane to head back to North Carolina. “We landed back and I jumped in the truck and I was flying down the road. I called in just to check where we were and she said, ‘Well, you don’t have to rush. He is here.”
“I’m headed to the hospital, you might want to think about getting home” @Chris_Buescher details his chaotic Thursday between racing the duels, and the birth of his son ️#NASCAR | #BackstretchBanter pic.twitter.com/VVARHLZQOI
— RFK Racing (@RFKracing) February 22, 2024
The driver acknowledged that the only way he could have made it time for the birth was by skipping the duels. He said, “Was able to get home. He was healthy, she was healthy. And, we were able to spend those couple of days at the hospital and get everybody situated.”
Chris Buescher’s return to Daytona following the addition to his family
The Bueschers were married in 2018 and had their first child, Charley, in 2022. The latest baby boy makes the family a four-member team. Following his birth, Buescher returned to Daytona to participate in the event which was rescheduled to run on Monday. His teammate David Ragan had taken over the #17 Ford Mustang in his absence to heat the engine in the practice runs at the 2.5-mile speedway.
Made it back to @DAYTONA just in time for some TV with @NASCARONFOX. Hope everyone at home is enjoying the coverage. Rain is for farming, not superspeedway racing! pic.twitter.com/hqnb0PdOuE
— Chris Buescher (@Chris_Buescher) February 18, 2024
Having won the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, Buescher was expected to follow his momentum into the 500-miler. But his day did not go along as planned courtesy of the late-race crashes. He finished at 18th place and will try his luck at the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta this weekend.
