Every once in a while there is this one driver that no one expects to reach the NASCAR Cup Series championship finale but he does so. Last year, Trackhouse Racing‘s Ross Chastain made the transfer after a video game move at Martinsville, eliminating Denny Hamlin in the process.
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Similarly, this time around there seems to be confidence surrounding RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher after he made the round of eight. Recently, while speaking on the Motorsports on NBC podcast, former NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett shared his reasons on why he thinks Buescher would be able to take the fight all the way to Phoenix Raceway in a couple of weeks.
Dale Jarrett is confident to see Chris Buescher at Phoneix
During the conversation, Jarrett explained, “Well, the best season that he’s had. And I think that consistency at all types of tracks. Yes, the mile and a half’s definitely are not the very, very best for the Fords or for this organization.”
He added, “But I think that he can perform at a high enough level to put himself in a good position point-wise, where he has shown a lot of success so far on the short tracks this year.”
“So that’s just what I see that this young man ready to take hold of his future and take hold of a really good season and not let it be here at Martinsville as far as battling for a championship.”
Jarrett picks his championship four for this season
Aside from selecting Buescher as one of the drivers to make his way into the season finale, he also spoke highly about William Byron and his teammate Kyle Larson as potential entries for the Phoenix race. Additionally, he picked Denny Hamlin as the final prediction for the top four.
Meanwhile, journalist Dustin Long had predicted it would be a battle between HMS and JGR drivers, with Truex Jr as his selection over Buescher. Sometime later in the discussion, Jarrett mentioned that he agreed with Long on considering Truex Jr. as one of the drivers suggesting, “If you go by history, it’s stupid not to pick Martin Truex Jr. and think that he’s gonna go…”
He added, “I’m putting history aside and going with recent history. I just think from my experience, when things start going bad you start pressing and then you start trying different things. Then all of a sudden you thought that you were out… And next thing you know you are outside the fence trying to find your way back in.”
Thereafter, Jarrett explained that he thought it would be a struggle for Truex Jr. but he hoped it would not go that way. He then went back to speak about Buescher, calling it an opportunity that he hadn’t seen before at the Cup level.
But considering Buescher’s experience for the same in Xfinity, he could perhaps get it done. In a nutshell, Jarrett believes, that Hamlin, Buescher, Larson, and Byron would be the ones to make the championship race later this season. But there could be a slight chance for Truex Jr. as well.
