Buescher Hopes To Clinch Playoff Spot With Darlington Win

Chris Buescher (David Rosenblum/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

CONCORD, N.C. – Chris Buescher is in the driver’s seat, literally, each weekend for RFK Racing. In terms of his NASCAR Cup Series playoff fate, the Prosper, Texas native is also in control of his own destiny at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway Sunday night.

Buescher is looking to make the Cup Series postseason for the second consecutive year and third time in his career during the 75th Cook Out Southern 500. Over the last few weeks, he has experienced a late-summer roller coaster ride in terms of his pursuit of a playoff berth.

The 31-year-old enters Darlington 21 points ahead of the cut line, holding the final spot over rival Bubba Wallace with one race before the postseason field is finalized.

If he wins the Southern 500, he’s in the playoffs no matter what. As long as there isn’t a new winner Sunday night, as long as he finishes ahead of both Wallace and Ross Chastain, Buescher will also qualify for the postseason.

That means Buescher is in a semi-comfortable position, but nowhere near fully safe with 500 miles under the floodlights of the Track Too Tough to Tame on tap.

“[At] Darlington, you’re always racing the track. I love that racetrack. I love how difficult it is and what it makes you think of as a driver,” said Buescher, noting that a driver has to keep their car in one piece to be successful at Darlington.

“You’re right at the edge at any given point there, and while the cars have proven to be quite robust when you are right there up against the fence, they’re certainly not indestructible.”

Buescher was in line to win his first race at Darlington in May, but contact with Tyler Reddick spoiled those chances. He ended up finishing 30th in that race after starting third and leading 21 laps during Mother’s Day weekend.

He also finished third in the Southern 500 a year ago after starting eighth, one of his four top-10s overall at the track. Notably, all four of Buescher’s Darlington top 10s have come in the past three years.

Part of that increased performance can be attributed to the No. 17 team rolling off the hauler fast. Buescher has set back-to-back career-best qualifying efforts at Darlington in the last two races there, including his third-place start in the spring.

While those numbers may lean in favor of Buescher’s chances to contend, his cut line competitors have also had recent Darlington success.

Bubba Wallace, who’s closest to Buescher at the cut line just 21 points back, has four consecutive top 10s. Ross Chastain, 27 back of the cut, has back-to-back top-11 finishes and led 93 laps in the spring race a year ago.

Even Kyle Busch, who’s 19th in points, has put together his best stretch of the season late in the going. The two-time Cup Series champion, who hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2012, has two straight top fives and led laps at both Michigan Int’l Speedway and Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway.

Buescher isn’t even safe from a pair of Stewart-Haas Racing teammates in 20th-placed Chase Briscoe and 24th-placed Josh Berry. The duo finished fifth and third, respectively, in the spring.

Statistically, however, the biggest dark horse that could spoil Chris Buescher’s playoff hopes is Erik Jones.

Although he’s 27th in points, Jones is a two-time Southern 500 winner, with five top fives and eight top 10s at Darlington. It’s convincing proof he knows how to get the job done at the Track Too Tough to Tame.

In his racing return in May after a fractured back at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Jones came to Darlington and finished a respectable 19th. At a technical track like Darlington, where a driver often needs their back at full strength in order to feel out the pavement and seams of a worn-out surface, for Jones to have pulled out a top 20 was a stellar day.

But Buescher knows that he can’t focus on Jones – or any of his other bubble challengers – because just racing the racetrack at Darlington is a tall task in itself over the course of 500 miles.

“For us, we will pay attention. If that’s the scenario we’re in, we’ll pay attention to where others are at, but you’ve got to race that racetrack first, run our own race, and make sure we don’t make mistakes,” he noted.

As an organization, going back to its roots as Roush Racing, what is now RFK Racing has twice won consecutive Cup Series races at Darlington, including a season sweep in 1999 with former driver turned NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton.

The team also earned victories in consecutive seasons in 2005 and 2006 with NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Greg Biffle, so Buescher knows the opportunity for success is there.

So, what’s the challenge at this point?

“We have to have our mindset right going in,” explained Buescher.

Coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series’ regular season finale, the diamond running of the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington, begins Sunday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. ET on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.