“It Can Be That Kicker”: Chris Buescher Admits Daytona’s Role as Regular Season Finale Hinges on a Driver’s Playoff Position

Three more races are left in the 2025 Cup Series regular season. These three events will decide the final list of 16 drivers who will compete for the championship this year. Vying to be a part of this cut is RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher. One of the most exciting aspects of this final run to end the regular season is that the 26th and last race is at Daytona International Speedway.

The superspeedway is known for producing unlikely winners and altering the course of the season. Unpredictability runs high on the drafting-style track, and this makes things trickier for drivers in Buescher’s position. That is, those who haven’t secured their berths in the playoffs through victories yet. He spoke to the press at Watkins Glen about his thoughts on Daytona being the final venue of the regular season.

Buescher said, “Certainly not ideal in our situation, right? When you’re close to that cut line. Ultimately, that’s on us not having a win before now. But if we’d been able to win a couple of races through the year by this point, then I’m sure it’s exciting and creates a little bit of extra drama.” Racing for it all, after a year of hard work, in a superspeedway, is an edgy experience.

He added, “That’s the hard part when you talk about championship racing and putting your whole season together. When it comes down to that race and how that can be that kicker that takes a year where you felt like you were very consistent and fast but just didn’t get the win you needed to and kick you out of the playoffs. So, it’s not my favorite option.”

Buescher expressed a good understanding of the excitement that the race venue brings, even though he does not like it at the moment. He further went on to add that his answer might be different had he won a race earlier in the season or if he manages to win at Watkins Glen or Richmond.

His answer sums up how much of a mental impact reaching Victory Lane has on any particular driver. The pressure of making it to the playoffs is insanely high, and wins are the only antidote.

Bubba Wallace spoke about the same after securing a victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month. The 23XI Racing driver went a step ahead and mentioned that the remaining races after the win would be a “vacation.” Hopefully, Buescher will experience similar relief soon.

196 points behind the leader, he sits 11th on the points table now. His numbers have been powered by three top-fives and 11 top-10s. Among his competitors fighting for one of the remaining playoff spots are his teammates, Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski.