Is Chris Buescher A Championship Contender?
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Up until a week ago, suggesting that Chris Buescher was a threat to win the 2023 NASCAR championship would have earned you some confused states and puzzled remarks. At that point, the 30 year old from Prosper, Texas had only two wins to his name in eight seasons of full time Cup Series racing. Since then, he has doubled his win total, and is currently sitting on back-to-back victories in the last two races at Richmond and Michigan, respectively. Buescher has vaulted himself from a mid-pack playoff threat to the hottest driver in the sport, and has turned heads all across the garage. Suddenly, Chris Buescher has emerged as an unlikely contender for NASCAR's championship trophy.
Coming into this season, Buescher was viewed by many as a solid driver, having made a career out of dragging bad equipment to higher finishing positions than it deserved. In just his first full time Cup season, he managed to win a race in Front Row Motorsport’s #34 car, which was the team’s first victory in over three years. Granted, the result came under unique circumstances (the race was ended prematurely due to a cloud of fog that engulfed Pocono Raceway), but nevertheless, a win is a win, and Buescher finished the year 16th in points thanks to qualifying for the playoffs off of that victory. He then spent three seasons at JTG Daugherty Racing, a team that was arguably worse than FRM at the time. Again, Buescher impressed, constantly pulling top 15s and top 20s out of a car that had no business being that competitive. He even contended for a few wins, although none ever materialized. These stoic efforts yielded him a ride with Roush Fenway Racing for 2020, a seat that he has kept ever since.
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After a couple years of mediocre running, Roush’s fortunes changed when Brad Keselowski was brought on as an owner-driver for the 2022 season and beyond. Keselowksi instantly changed the culture of the team, and began the process of bringing them back to the front of the field. Some thought that Brad would want to bring in a new driver to replace Buescher, but the new part-owner had faith in the 30 year old, and committed to him long term. The team steadily improved over the course of 2022, with the highlight of the year being Chris Buescher’s victory at the Bristol night race in September. It was his first win in six years, and the team’s first victory under the name Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Entering the 2023 season, fans expected much of the same from Buescher; solid, consistent runs with a potential playoff berth and maybe even another surprise win.
And for most of this season, Chris Buescher achieved, if not exceded those expectations. From the drop of the green flag at Daytona, he has been one of the most consistent drivers in the field, and has held a playoff position for almost the entire season. He showed flashes of winning speed at points, but even though he wasn’t capturing checkered flags, Buescher made a habit out of finishing as best he could, a holdover from his FRM and JTG days. The only difference was that now a good day was no longer a 20th or 18th place finish, but instead a 5th or a 7th. As the playoffs neared, Buescher maintained a healthy points lead over the cutoff line, and with each passing week it became more and more likely that the Prosper, Texas native would make his first playoff appearance since 2016.
And then Richmond rolled around, which would be a turning point in the #17 team’s season. Both Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski ran up front all race, even pacing the field with an RFK 1-2 at one point. Pit stop woes dropped Keselowski out of contention, but Buescher never relinquished the lead, and held off the field on a late race restart to take victory after what was a dominating performance. The win solidified Buescher as a legitimate threat on short tracks, and established RFK’s intentions of being a playoff caliber team. Most everyone was impressed with Buescher, but no one predicted that he would back it again just a week later at Michigan.
For most of Sunday afternoon, it looked like Martin Truex Jr.’s race to lose. The #19 was the class of the field, and when the event was red flagged due to rain and forced to resume on Monday, most people assumed that Truex had the race won, as he has a stellar track record of winning races on Mondays. As things got back underway, MTJ again looked to be the fastest driver out there, even winning stage two after making a pit stop with only a handful of laps to go. But when stage three began and Truex got cycled back in the pack, Chris Buescher took the lead, and battled Tyler Reddick lap after lap for the top spot. The two even pulled away from Truex, and when it came time for the final pit stops, the #17 and the #45 had almost five seconds over MTJ.
Unfortunately for Reddick, his pit crew left his right-rear wheel loose, forcing him to come back down pit road a second time to get it tightened. This eliminated any chance he had to win, leaving Buescher and Truex to fight it out in the closing laps. MTJ hounded Buescher lap after lap, even getting alongside him at one point, but with every attack the #19 posed the #17 had an answer. After a titanic scrap that lasted the entire final stint, Chris Buescher took the checkered flag to win the fourth race of his career, and his second in a row. After what looked like a sure win for MTJ, everyone was shocked that Buescher had managed to hold him off. Truex tipped his cap to Buescher for the clean racing, and the fans at Michigan gave him a standing ovation when he exited his car. It was truly an unbelievable performance from Chris Buescher, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
With only three races to go before the postseason, the #17 team is riding a huge wave of momentum. Winners of the last two races at two very different tracks, RFK has made a statement that they are going to be a factor come playoff time. Buescher currently sits eighth in the playoff standings, and has the chance to crack into the top ten in regular season points, which would yield him even more playoff points. This is the hottest Roush Racing has been in a long time, as the last time they earned back-to-back wins was all the way back in 2010 with Carl Edwards. Chris Buescher now has three victories for RFK, while his team owner and former Cup champion Brad Keselowksi has zero. While no one has ever doubted Buescher’s abilities behind the wheel, I don’t think anyone expected him to outperform, or even equal his more experienced, decorated teammate. But here we are, with the playoffs looming, and Chris Buescher looks to be RFK’s top driver at the moment.
So, what does all this mean? Is Buescher an actual championship contender? Does RFK have what it takes to get him to the Championship 4, and potentially win the title? I’d say it’s too early to call the #17 favorites for the championship, but they have certainly established themselves as a legitimate round of eight, perhaps even Championship 4 threat. They have been ultra-consistent all year, and the only thing they were missing for a long time was the ability to show top-end speed and win races. Buescher has shown that that is no longer an issue, and assuming the team maintains this form deep into the postseason, the rest of the field had better watch out. People have counted Chris Buescher out for a long time, but he has put the entire sport on notice as of late, and I have a feeling he’s not quite done yet.
