Chris Buescher entered the regular season finale with a 21-point buffer over Bubba Wallace, holding the 16th and final spot in the playoffs. However, the pressure quickly grew as laps clicked away. Wallace scored 11 stage points while Buescher collected only one, causing the margin between to be slashed nearly in half.
When a fellow Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland put Buescher in the outside wall with 46 laps to go, he spun the fellow Ford driver out as his playoff hopes began to slip away. However, caution was an opportunity for him to pit for four fresh tires, while Wallace did not do. The momentum suddenly swung back in Buescher’s direction as he surged back ahead of Wallace in points. A multi-car pileup then took the No. 23 Toyota of Wallace out of contention, but it was not a moment of relief for Buescher.
The problem was Chase Briscoe, who led the race and ultimately held on to win his way into the playoffs, knocking Buescher out of the playoffs despite a sixth-place finish. It was all for nothing. He was eliminated by a measly six points.
“It’s frustration and disbelief all together,” said Buescher after the race. The RFK Racing driver has been ridiculously close to Victory Lane this year, losing the Kansas race to Kyle Larson in the closest photo finish in NASCAR Cup history — 0.001s. At this very track earlier this year, he cut down a tire after contact from Tyler Reddick while leading late in the race. But with surprise winners like Briscoe and Harrison Burton, he suddenly found himself as the first man out as the 16-driver playoff grid was set.
“We felt like we did, for the most part, what we needed to do today,” he continued. “We got back in contention there at the end and got a decent finish out of it. We just didn’t quite get it done again and we’re on the outside looking in. It’s just the system we’re all playing in. We had such a great year. Everyone at RFK has worked so hard. We’ve been so fast. We’ve outrun so many of these cars that are gonna get to run for a championship, but that’s the system and we didn’t work it right.”
Five drivers below Buescher in the standings jumped ahead of him via race wins this year, showcasing the importance of the ‘win and you’re in’ system that has defined modern NASCAR.
“I’m definitely gonna think back on different times throughout the year and we’ll figure out how to do better next time,” lamented Buescher.