Buescher, who had a remarkable season last year with three wins, anticipated that he would secure a win early on this season. However, despite coming agonizingly close, he remains winless with just four races remaining in the regular season.
As he heads into Sunday night’s race at Richmond, Virginia, Buescher is still in the running for a playoff spot based on points, though his position is precarious.
He currently occupies the 15th position in the 16-driver playoff standings, holding a 10-point lead over Ross Chastain, while Bubba Wallace trails Buescher by 17 points, sitting just outside the cutoff.
A victory in any of the next four races would secure Buescher’s place in the playoff field, and he would prefer this method to join his RFK Racing teammate and co-owner, Brad Keselowski, in the hunt for the championship.
Chris Buescher, RFK Racing, BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang
Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
“I’m not anxious about it,” Buescher stated on Wednesday. “I’m quite resolute about our approach – I don’t want to alter how we handle our races. I’ve seen it too often in our sport when teams try to second-guess themselves and it can end up being detrimental.
“We need to focus on our races, putting our best effort forward, and that should suffice in getting us where we need to be. While we must be mindful of the points, it’s not something that causes us much distress or agitation.”
An excellent chance to return to VL
The upcoming schedule presents Buescher and his No. 17 Ford team with a unique opportunity.
Among the next four tracks – Richmond, Michigan, Daytona, and Darlington – Buescher triumphed at three of them last season, which culminated in a career-best seventh-place finish in the series standings.
“That’s a fantastic statistic as we analyze it, but last year’s performance does not guarantee this year’s success,” he reflected. “We’ve demonstrated strong competitiveness on a variety of race track types. We’ve been close to locking ourselves in.
“We’re entirely capable of achieving a victory in one of these next four races, just as we have before. We must refine a few details, have some favorable circumstances, and perform our jobs well.”
One year ago at Richmond, Buescher began an impressive spree of three wins within five weeks, giving him significant momentum as he entered the 2023 playoffs.
Repeating that victory will be challenging, especially considering how the fall race at Richmond will differ.
NASCAR is introducing a softer “option” tire (providing more grip) for the 400-lap event to enhance racing quality.
Similar to what teams did during this year’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, they will have three sets of the “option” tires available, one set for practice and two sets for the race.
“We have much to learn this Saturday,” Buescher remarked about the extended practice session available this weekend. “North Wilkesboro was our last experience with this setup, which involved new asphalt and took place in the evening.
“This will also be an evening race, so there might be some differences when it comes to the ‘option’ tire. I assure you, we’ll be taking diligent notes to prepare for what we expect to unfold during the race.”
Nevertheless, Buescher – who has notched two second-place finishes this year, including a photo-finish loss to Kyle Larson at Kansas – believes his team can secure at least one win before the regular season concludes.
“We’ve shown strong performance at many of these tracks. We just haven’t clinched the victory yet, and that has been frustrating,” he noted. “The challenge lies in keeping everyone motivated because we recognize the difficulties of this sport.
“It looks like we’ll need to replicate last year’s approach and ignite our momentum to make it an exciting finale.”
