Chris Buescher Warns Rivals – “Make It a Show”

Chris Buescher, who had a stellar season last year with three wins, has yet to secure a win this year but is actively fighting for a playoff spot. He currently sits 15th in the 16-driver playoff field, just 10 points ahead of Ross Chastain and 17 points behind Buba Wallace, who is just outside the playoffs.

Despite the high stakes, the Texan remains unfazed, revealing in a recent interview with Motorsport.com that his focus is on consistency.

“I’m not upset about it. I’m adamant about it — I don’t want to change the way we approach our racing,” Buescher said. “I’ve just seen too many times in our sport where you try to back down and change what you’re doing, and it can cost you.

“We have to race our races, show our best and that should be enough to get us where we need to be. We have to be aware (of the points), but it’s not something that annoys us or worries us.”

Looking ahead, Buescher and his No. 17 Ford team have promising opportunities in upcoming races at tracks such as Richmond, Michigan, Daytona and Darlington — venues where he scored victories last season.

“We were very good at a lot of those places. We just weren’t able to close the deal and it became frustrating,” he admitted.

The upcoming race at Richmond offers a unique challenge with NASCAR’s introduction of the softer, grippier Option tire. Buescher’s strategy includes extensive practice to adjust to this new variable.

“We have a lot to learn on Saturday… I promise we will take a lot of notes to find out what we think will happen in the race,” he noted.

The pressure to play and secure wins was mounting, as seen in his narrow loss to Kyle Larson in Kansas. That undoubtedly affected team morale, a challenge Buescher doesn’t shy away from.

“The hardest part is keeping everybody’s heads up because it’s a tough sport and we know that.”

In his determination to move forward, he aims to repeat last year’s success at the end of the season and secure a spot in the play-offs, giving encouragement to his team and fans.

“We’re capable of making progress and winning a race here in the next four, like we’ve been doing. We just have to clean up and get a few things going for us, just do a good job and control what we can on our end.

“I think we’re just going to have to do what we did last year and come alive and make it a spectacle,” he concluded, putting the emphasis on climbing the leaderboard. As the playoffs approach, Buescher’s combat readiness could indeed turn the racetrack into a spectacle worth watching.