The NASCAR Cup Series is at a juncture where drivers have different goals in mind. A few are gunning for the victory lane while others are just looking to collect as many points as possible. Either way, they almost always have a proper understanding of what is required of them over the next few hundred laps. And yet, it is often that they express vagueness about their goals in interviews.
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The retired icon Kevin Harvick noted this in a recent episode of Harvick Happy Hour and pointed out the words of RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher. He said, “I heard Chris Buescher say it 100 times this weekend. ‘We’re just out here trying to win. We’re trying to do this.’ That is a bunch of [ __ ].” He explained that drivers ought to know exactly what they need to do to edge out competition.
“You need to know every freaking thing that’s going on,” he added. “So, I don’t like hearing all that BS because you need to know. That’s an easy excuse to try to get out of an interview but that’s the most nonsense answer I’ve heard in all my life.” Harvick detailed that drivers have points to race for even if they’ve already won and secured their playoff spot.
Different battles are unfolding at every corner of the points table. Buescher himself is in a position to collect as many points as he can if not win. What he must race for is something that the No. 17 RFK Racing team would’ve no doubt planned and fixed on their drawing board before getting to the track. But in fairness, neither he nor other drivers have to disclose this blatantly to the media.
Where does Buescher stand after a sixth-place finish at Michigan?
From being trapped in a mid-race tangle to finishing in sixth place in the two-mile track on Monday, the No. 17 team did a stupendous job. But it wasn’t enough to give Buescher his much-deserved playoff spot. However, he does currently have a +16 points breather above the playoff elimination line heading to the Daytona International Speedway.
Interestingly, his stance for a long time has been that he doesn’t race for points alone ever. Again, this is not something Harvick likes to hear. He heads to the World Center of Racing as the defending winner of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Will he attempt a repeat and secure the victory flag? The answer will be revealed on Saturday, August 24.
