Chris Buescher before the start of The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)
LONG POND, Pa. — Patience was the key to Chris Buescher’s up-front effort this weekend during The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway, giving his No. 17 RFK Racing team a larger cushion in the playoff picture. But that was not the most surprising part about the results from the 2015 Xfinity Series Champion yesterday.
Buescher started on the front row alongside seven-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin, a great start to the weekend for the veteran RFK driver. For a good majority of the event, Buescher’s name was at the top of the scoring pylon battling for the victory and an automatic spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
For the entirety of Stage 1, Buescher was all over the rear bumper of Hamlin, trying to force the No. 11 to make a mistake heading into all three of the turns at the Tricky Triangle. Unfortunately for Buescher, Hamlin was able to drive away near the end of the stage and grab another playoff point.
With strategy starting to play out, Buescher was relegated to the back end of the field for the beginning of Stage 2, but that did not keep the driver of the No. 17 away for very long. Buescher worked his way all the way back into the top 10, with the help of a tire and brake failure from Bubba Wallace.
Near the halfway point in the race, the veteran driver was already back inside the top five, running in fourth when an untimely caution for debris on the frontstretch came out.
By that point, Buescher remained out front for the final stretch in the race. In the closing laps, Buescher moved past former Pocono winner Chase Elliott for the fourth position, also putting up the fastest laps on the racecourse during that time. By then, Buescher was only a few seconds behind the battle for the lead and his race was coming to a close.
Chris Buescher (front) heads into Turn 2 during The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)
The No. 17 Ford Mustang crossed the line in fourth place, a result that might not be shocking to most NASCAR fans, knowing that Buescher can be a contender anywhere from short tracks to road courses. However, this top five result stands out from his past finishes at Pocono.
The last time Buescher brought his race car home in the top five at Pocono was all the way back in his rookie year in 2016, when he was driving the No. 34 Ford Fusion for Front Row Motorsports. Buescher won that race by staying out on a scheduled stop, giving his team the lead with a rainstorm looming near the track. The rain eventually came and Buescher was declared the winner, his first career Cup Series win.
Buescher had not seen that level of success again at Pocono, until the top five yesterday evening.
“This Nexletol Ford Mustang was really good, and everybody has put so much work into it, to get us to this point where we’re unloading cars that are just a pleasure to drive,” said the driver out of Prosper, Texas in his post-race comments with Prime. “We had really solid speed, just I don’t know. More laps, needed that last caution to fall differently. Yeah, a handful of things.”
Buescher clearly wanted a little more out of his No. 17 Ford Mustang and he was not backing down on that point.
“We’re chasing wins. I’m still in that mindset of if we go to the racetrack and do what we did today, we’re chasing a win. How do we set ourselves up with track position at the end to fight for a checkered flag and a trophy.”
The No. 17 RFK Racing team still has some work to do to find Victory Lane once again, but that time is coming soon, especially with the speed that has been shown on-track the past few weeks.
The veteran driver will be back on the track next weekend with EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) on deck, a drafting style track that is sure to shake up the playoff picture around the bubble.
