Chris Buescher is hopeful about a strong result at Bristol after a runner-up last Sunday at Phoenix. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Chris Buescher hopes his seesaw start to the 2024 season simmers down at Bristol Motor Speedway with Sunday’s Food City 500.
Starting off the season with an 18th place finish in the DAYTONA 500, Buescher scored a ninth at Atlanta before a crash relegated him to 37th with a DNF. Ranked down in 23rd, the 31-year-old Prosper, Texas native sought for a better finish last Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
In this case, the RFK Racing driver methodically drove from his 14th starting position to tally a runner-up. The competitive result boosted Buescher to 16th in the championship rankings heading into this weekend’s action at Bristol.
Needless to say, Buescher hopes some of the good vibrations find their way to the No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse efforts this weekend. So far, it has been a frustrating start despite posting the 12th fastest time in Saturday’s practice.
Certainly, Buescher has decent long run pace as he was the eighth fastest in the 10-lap consecutive average charts. However, he qualified 34th, his worst qualifying effort since his 38th starting position in his first start at the 0.533-mile concrete short track in 2015.
Nevertheless, the mild mannered racer is optimistic about his chances to get a second sword at “The Last Coliseum.” For starters, he loves racing at the challenging high banked track in Tennessee.
Chris Buescher has his work cut out for him with a 36th starting position at Bristol on Sunday. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
“Bristol has been my favorite race track for a really long period of time,” Buescher said. “I’ve absolutely loved it there from the first I was able to go. I’ve always run really well there.
“I just had it quick pretty early on and even though I’ve got that sword at home right now and got a Bristol win, won a Bristol Night Race, which has been the one race on the top of my list that I care for just a little bit more than anywhere else.”
Those happy memories from 2022 cemented the resurgence of RFK Racing when Brad Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion, bought a portion of the team. Since that victory in September of 2022, Buescher, Keselowski and RFK Racing have been a consistent frontrunner at most venues.
Despite the progress made by Buscher and the RFK Racing organization, the Texan still laments a bitter defeat in a NASCAR XFINITY Series race at the venue nine years ago.
“But I still go back to 2015 and having a fuel stumble on a green-white-checker finish and giving one away, so I still have those memories of the ones that did slip through, but from that one I think it’s just motivated me ever since to try and get that Bristol win,” he said. “It’s just a fun track, honestly.”
Fun seems to be a word resonating with Buescher and Bristol as the spring date returns to the familiar concrete surface following three years with the temporary dirt track surface.
With the concrete back in action for the Food City 500 for the first time since 2020, Buescher recognized the plentiful lanes that he and his competitors can turn to throughout the 500-lap race.
“I’ve loved where the surface has gone,” Buescher observed. “I’d love to see the bottom and top have equal opportunities to make speed and make passes. I think that the top is probably a little bit more dominant in its most natural state, but some of the stuff that they’ve done with the PJ1 or I guess resin this weekend seems to have helped the bottom have that little bit of grip when needed to make some passes.
“So, to me, it’s the most fun track we go to. I feel like it gives us options. It may not be very wide to start, but it always finds its way to move around and be able to make some two or three-wide moves throughout the race and put on a good show. I’ve just really enjoyed that.”
Likewise, Buscher will turn to the multiple grooves that he can utilize on Sunday afternoon if he wants to reel off a strong finish on Sunday afternoon. Along the way, he and crew chief Scott Graves hope to get a consistent grip on the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
As with anything else that is new to even the most seasoned veterans, Buscher recognizes the potential that he and his No. 17 hope to extract from their new car as this season progresses.
By all means, Chris Buescher hopes to have some fun driving from his 36th starting position at Bristol. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)
“I’m probably the worst one to ask right now when you look at our results on the year,” he admitted. “The one thing I will say is that we’ve had a lot of speed every single place we’ve gone. We’ve been able to lead laps at the first three races. We’ve been able to be runner-up last week, which was huge for us. Our long run speed was fantastic, so I certainly feel like we are headed in the right direction.
“We’ve got some stuff to dial in still. I think, for us, last weekend we were able to finish very strong with both of our race cars and get back here and still feel like we have a ton of work to do to balance out this new Mustang and figure out how to optimize it. I feel like we left a lot on the table and that’s a good thing when you run as good as you do to say that there was a lot more out there. That puts us in a good spot heading back.”
