Chris Buescher making a playoff appearance at “The Lady in Black” (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Chris Buescher left Darlington Raceway with a third place finish for the Cook Out Southern 500.
The first race weekend of the Cup Series Playoffs began on the right foot with qualifying on Friday afternoon, with Buescher qualifying eighth. Throughout Stage 1, the Prosper, Texas native maintained the speed he showed in qualifying and claimed a ninth place finish. By the end of Stage 2, Buescher had faded back several positions into 12th.
However, he was able to regain his track position and work his way up to third by the end of the final stage but was ultimately not able to pass Tyler Reddick or Kyle Larson before the checkered flag.
“It feels good and it hurts a little bit at the same time,” Buescher said. “To be this close and watch it right there in front of us and to watch the 45 (Tyler Reddick) go up there and slap the fence over and over I’m like, ‘Man, surely we can get by.’ And the 5 (Kyle Larson) car didn’t make any mistakes. It ended up being a hard day to pass, for sure. We definitely had big aero issues as we tried to get by cars. We worked hard on that and our team did a great job. The pit crew really stepped up in the final half of this race and got us a bunch of spots that put us up front and put us in a great spot to fight for it at least. It hurts just a little bit to be that close and not be able to get it.”
“I’m really proud of everybody on this team,” Buescher added. This is the first time we’ve had Build Subs on board. I know Brad (Keselowski) has had it several times, but I’m proud to have a bunch of them out here with us and to get a good, solid day. It just goes to show that what we’ve been doing at RFK the last several months is doing a good job, working hard and getting the results.”
The No. 17 team certainly has had several achievements this year that are noteworthy. Buescher has secured three total wins throughout the 2023 season, in Daytona, Michigan and Richmond, which is a season high total for him. This is also Buescher’s first playoff appearance since 2016, his rookie season.
If there is one team who is hitting their stride at the right time in the season when it comes to championship hopes, it is Buescher and the No. 17 team especially given their consistent results at one of NASCAR’s most brutal tracks that has earned the nickname “Too Tough to Tame.” Buescher leaves Darlington sitting 4th in point standings, 27 points above the cut line to make it into the next round of the playoffs.
