NASCAR
Chris Buescher Earns Playoff-Upsetting Win After Marvelous Last Lap
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – No 2024 Playoff berth? No problem for Chris Buescher at Watkins Glen. Following a spectacular overtime last lap, Buescher outgunned ringer Shane van Gisbergen for a first career road course triumph. The RFK Racing No. 17’s been one of the best on road courses in the Next Gen era; their electric consistency finally pays off with a win.
Lap one saw a costly moment for a few Playoff contenders. Following inner loop contact between Corey Lajoie and Kyle Busch, several cars went sliding in all directions. The biggest casualties of this early incident were Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney. The reigning Cup champion was done with terminal steering failure. Hamlin was able to continue, but only muster a 23rd-place result. The otherwise-clean stages were split by front row starters Martin Truex Jr and Ross Chastain.
Opting to short pit Stage 2 ultimately gave Chris Buescher fresher tires to insert the 17 into the winning equation. Buescher initially drove up to the lead on lap 57, and soon cycled back to the top through the green flag pit sequence.
On an overtime restart however, Buescher briefly lost command to Shane van Gisbergen. The Kaulig Racing No. 16 had the lead by the esses, but did not drive away from Buescher.
On the last lap, a hounding Buescher forced SVG into a rare mistake; the 16 got squirrely over the inner loop rumble strips. Buescher pounced in the carousel, making slight contact with the New Zealander, taking back the lead and the win. Try as hard as SVG did to recover, the 16 had to follow the 17 to the checkers. In shades of the 2012 Watkins Glen finish, this last lap will live on in highlight reels for years to come.
“This was such a great BuildSubmarines.Com Ford Mustang,” Buescher said. “The long-run speed was phenomenal. I thought we lost it there on that last one.
“Just, man, to stay right there with him, that was the spot that he was better than us. He missed it. He missed it, so I tried to cross over. Went to cut and just hard racing there. Just such an awesome finish. To be that good for so much at the end of the race, all race, to get a win, it’s good. We came here to be a spoiler. We’re going to do that.”
“We would have liked to have won a couple of weeks ago, but this is huge. This is such a big win for us. Everybody at RFK has worked so hard. To finally get a road course win, man, we’ve been so close so many times. To finally pull that off, it’s fantastic.”
“I got deeper [into the inner loop] than I had been. Even then I think he was still going. I had a good shot or a good feeling that it was probably going to bottom out. It’s smoother. Not smooth. So it was a big moment, big opportunity for us, and able to roll on by.”
Behind Buescher and SVG, it was a banner day for both Spire and Trackhouse. Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain, and Zane Smith were all in the top-five. Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, Corey Lajoie, Ryan Preece, and Austin Cindric were the top-10. With an alarmingly small number of Playoff drivers finishing well, the standings are ultra-tight heading into elimination race one.
The field of 16 will become 12 after 500 laps around Bristol Motor Speedway. The Bass Pro Shops Night Race goes green Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. A frantic Bristol Night Race may leave some championship hopefuls on the outside looking in.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X
Photo Credits to RFK Racing via Twitter/X
