Chris Buescher at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the USA Today 301. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
LOUDON, N.H. – Chris Buescher has been notably upset after a couple of second place finishes this year. He expects to win, and coming up short has piqued his frustration. However, the news is not all bad for the Roush Fenway-Keselowski racing driver.
“It’s a good problem to have,” Buescher said regarding his runner-up finishes. “It wasn’t that long ago where if we could run 15th we were happy with that. That’s not a good place to be. It’s not healthy to be trying to figure out how to run 15th and trying to figure out how to take that next step.”
Buescher has netted a pair of second- and a pair of third-place finishes (One of the third-place finishes came in the non-points All-Star race.) this season, and while he is happy that the team has had some strong showings, they now expect wins, rather than top-15’s, and podiums simply are not good enough.
“When you’re running 20th to 15th consistently, that next step is not a small turn of a screw away,” he said. “That means big steps still had to be taken. We have taken those steps now, and we are in this fine-tuning stage. That has put us in a position where we are competitive each and every week at whatever track we go to, where we always feel like we have a chance to win if we do the right things and have a little bit of luck go our way.”
He said he expects those chances to win to start turning into actual wins before long, and part of his frustration with his four podium finishes was the fact that he felt the races were winnable.
“We’re in a really good place, but with that comes some heartbreak as well,” he said. “Second place hurts a lot more than third and we’ve been there just a little bit too much to enjoy that. We’ve got to take that last tiny step at this point to step it up.”
Buescher Credits Keselowski With Turnaround
The renaissance of Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing has happened quickly, and Buescher said it is no coincidence that the team’s stock has risen since Brad Keselowski joined the team in 2021.
“(The team’s resurgence) coincides perfectly, right,” he said. “It’s been a quick turn the last couple years and Brad’s been a massive part of that. It’s been neat to see his input and his fingerprints on some of the things we’re doing.”
He was quick to add, however, that it has taken a full team effort to get the team back on top, from team ownership and sponsors to the drivers and crew members at the track every week.
“Obviously we’ve had a lot of changes in the past couple years with Brad coming over, with the Fenway group really stepping up, and upping what they’re willing to do to make our program successful, and we’ve been able to see results out of that,” he said.
Buescher is not the only person whose spirits have risen with the tide of the team.
“It’s been cool to see Jack (Roush) at the racetrack and cutting it up joking, laughing and smiling again,” Buescher said. “It’s certainly come on very quickly here. Back to where we should’ve been. Back to where this place was when I first signed up to drive in it through a development program 15 years ago. We’re back to being in the conversation every week.”
Chris Buescher has a pair of runner-up finishes in 2024. He looks for his first win on Sunday in Loudon at the USA Today 301. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
Bumpy Path to Cup Success for Buescher Paying Off
After winning the XFINITY Series championship for Roush in 2015, Buescher said that he expected to pile success upon success. That was not what happened, however, despite winning one race his rookie season driving for Front Row Motorsports, he found more struggles than successes.
“After that XFINITY championship, it was frustrating not to be at Roush the next year. It was rewarding to have the opportunity to go to Front Row, and to win a race in our rookie season and make the playoffs. I had a great time at JTG as we upped that program over those couple years after, where we were batting above our average and making progress. Then, coming back and seeing this place take these big steps in the right direction the last three years has been very rewarding as well.”
When he moved back to Roush-Fenway in 2020, he said it felt like coming home. But the results were slow to come at first. He is happy that things have changed, and they have become a weekly contender.
“There is so much appreciation I have for this company for the chance they took on me when I was just a little kid who probably didn’t have the potential to be here in the first place,” he said. “But it’s been rewarding to be able to add to historic stats under this roof.”
He hopes to continue making history as the 2024 season progresses, including bringing the team its next championship.
