Buescher had a tough race last Sunday at Kansas Speedway. He was in a close battle with Kyle Larson on the last lap but ended up losing by a tiny margin, which made it the closest finish in NASCAR history.
Winning that race would have been a big deal for Buescher. It would have secured his spot in the playoffs for the second year in a row and given Ford Performance its first win of the season.
After the race, Buescher spent a lot of time thinking about what happened. He watched the replay many times and thought about what he could have done differently. But he’s trying to focus on the positive things from the race.
He said, “I’ve watched (the replay). I’ve replayed it in my head no less than 100 times and that’s probably pretty conservative. I’ve got a list of things I would do different going back and I just need to be in that situation again.”
Despite the disappointment, Buescher is proud of how well he and his No. 17 RFK Racing Ford team performed. He believes it was the most competitive race he’s had on a mile-and-a-half track in his career.
This weekend at Darlington, Buescher and his team seem to be continuing their strong performance. His teammate Brad Keselowski qualified second, and Buescher will start third.
Buescher’s second-place finish at Kansas was RFK Racing’s third runner-up finish in the last four races. This shows that the team is getting back to its high level of performance from last season.
Buescher is optimistic about the upcoming race at Darlington. He sees it as a chance for him or Keselowski, or both, to have another good finish and improve their position in the series standings.
He said, “Fortunately, we’ve been in these situations more to have that fight to the end (in races). It’s good to be in that position and that’s how we’re going to learn and how we’re going to put notes away and be more prepared for it when it happens, hopefully not this weekend.”
