Chris Buescher currently sits precariously in the playoff bubble just 17 points ahead of the cutline. But the upcoming few races in the NASCAR Cup Series will fill him with a ton of confidence. Last season, the driver of the #17 sprung to life in the final stretch of the regular season, winning three out of the last four races. Those wins came at Richmond, Michigan, and Daytona. Interestingly, the next three races after the mid-season break will take place at those racetracks.
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The final regular season race of the year will take place at the Darlington Raceway where the RFK Racing driver did well earlier this season. The focus will be on winning at least one of these four races and securing a spot in the final 16. He might be in the playoff bubble but a 17-point lead can be overturned in just one race. With Bubba Wallace finishing P5 in the Indianapolis race, Buescher has a lot to be wary of.
One. Wild. Night.
Chris Buescher Daytona International Speedway 2023. #NASCAR #NASCAR75 pic.twitter.com/LYSwld5P9Z— NASCAR Pics That Goes Hard (@HardNASCARPics) August 27, 2023
His teammate and boss Brad Keselowski has already won his way into the playoffs this season. The veteran’s hard work towards RFK Racing bore fruit last season thanks to the #17 driver. That run of race wins sprung the team into life but they just could not keep the momentum going in the playoffs. If something like that were to happen again, the team would get that much-needed boost heading into the round of 16. This time, they would hope to take full advantage of the momentum.
The last three races have not been great for the RFK driver. He finished P20 in Chicago, P11 at Pocono, and P22 at Indianapolis but earned two consecutive P5 finishes before that. Finding that race-winning form will be crucial after the break if he wants to cement his place in the round of 16.
Buescher’s heartbreak at Darlington
Buescher would not have been in this position had he taken the chance he was offered at Darlington earlier this season. He could have taken the checkered flag had it not been for Tyler Reddick pushing him into the wall at one point in the race.
That incident led to a pit road confrontation between the two drivers and the RFK man was not happy. He made his opinions clear after getting out of his car, calling the 23XI Racing driver immature.
“Trying to be decent about it. We had clean racing all day long and to get flat-out fenced like that, there’s no excuse. It’s just a poor decision and immature move. I don’t get it,” he said at the time.
There is a silver lining in all this, however. Buescher had a fantastic performance at Darlington and he could do the same in the final regular season race. The #17 driver has proven his race-winning ability already, now it’s time to perfectly execute it.
