Buescher locks himself into NASCAR Playoff Spot
By Dave Hascall
Richmond, VA (July 30): Roush Racing was a major factor in NASCAR Cup competition since Mark Martin was hired by Jack Roush in the late 1980s. The last several years have not been great for the team. Things are slowly turning around since driver Brad Keselowski bought into the team last year. Chris Buescher won the Bristol Night Race last year, although Keselowski has been winless since leaving Roger Penske’s number 2 Ford Mustang in 2021. But both drivers have been spending more time at the front this season.
Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at the Richmond International Raceway saw both Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing (RFK Racing) drivers lead almost half the race (190 of 400 laps) and are quickly bringing RFK Racing back into front-runner status.
Polesitter Tyler Reddick led every lap to take Stage 1, while Keselowski took the second stage. Buescher took the lead following issues for Keselowski on pit lane, in the final stage. In fact, Buescher built a six-second lead over Denny Hamlin, late in the going. A spin by Daniel Suarez with ten laps to go threatened Buescher’s chance at victory. However, Hamlin didn’t get a good restart with three circuits to go and then the Toyota driver overdrove the corner as his right-front tire locked up. Hamlin recovered to maintain second over Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, and Ryan Preece.
For Buescher, he is now locked in the playoffs, with just four regular-season races remaining. The Texan was in a good position to get in on points but now has insurance against issues over the next few races.
Sam Mayer won his first Xfinity Race at Road America, and Carson Hocevar took yet another Craftsman Truck Series win, at Richmond.