Chris Buescher, having a standout season last year with three wins, has yet to secure a victory this year but is actively vying for a playoff spot. Currently sitting in 15th position on the 16-driver playoff grid, he is a mere 10 points ahead of Ross Chastain and 17 points in front of Bubba Wallace, who is just outside the playoff cutoff.
Despite the high stakes, the Texan remains unfazed. In a recent interview with Motorsport.com, he revealed his focus on consistency.
“I’m not nervous about it. I’m pretty adamant about it – I don’t want to change the way we approach our races,” Buescher stated. “I’ve just seen it too many times in our sport where you try and get put back on your heels and change up what you’re doing, and it can end up costing you.
“We’ve got to race our races, put our best foot forward and that should be enough to get us where we need to go. We’ve got to be aware (of the points), but it’s not something that we’re up in arms about or worried about.”
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Looking ahead, Buescher and his No. 17 Ford team have promising opportunities in the upcoming races at tracks like Richmond, Michigan, Daytona, and Darlington—venues where he had victories last season.
“We’ve been very good at a lot of these places. We just haven’t been able to seal the deal, and it has gotten frustrating,” he acknowledged.
The upcoming Richmond race offers a unique challenge with NASCAR’s introduction of a softer, more grippy Option tire. Buescher’s strategy includes extensive practice to adapt to this new variable.
“We have a lot to learn on Saturday… I promise we’ll be taking lots of notes to figure out what we think is going to happen in the race,” he noted.
The pressure to perform and secure wins has been mounting, evident from his narrow loss to Kyle Larson at Kansas. This has undoubtedly impacted team morale, a challenge Buescher doesn’t shy away from.
“The hard part is keeping everybody’s head up because it’s a hard sport and we know that.”
In his resolve to push forward, he aims to replicate last year’s late-season surge to clinch his playoff position, invigorating his team and fans.
“We’re plenty capable of progressing and winning a race here in the next four like we have been. We’ve just got to clean up and have a couple things go our way and just do a good job and control what we can from our side.
“I guess we’re just going to have to do the same thing we did last year and come to life now and make it a show,” he concluded, placing a firm focus on pushing himself up the results sheet. As the playoffs draw near, Buescher’s battle-ready mindset could indeed turn the race track into a show worth watching.