WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — Chris Buescher had a playoff berth snatched from him at Kansas when Kyle Larson nipped him on the final lap to win the closest finish in NASCAR history.
Furious over another postseason bid derailed, Buescher scuffled with Tyler Reddick when he was denied a shot at the checkered flag after a late wreck at Darlington.
Who knows? Buescher may have been a darkhorse driver to beat for a Cup title had he actually raced into NASCAR's postseason.
Buescher instead had to play spoiler Sunday on the road course at Watkins Glen.
Buescher's last lap pass of road-course ace Shane van Gisbergen in overtime led the RFK Racing driver to victory lane.
Buescher led a string of five straight non-playoff drivers to the finish in a road-course race that wreaked havoc for Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and a handful of championship contenders.
“We’re going to play spoiler as much as we can in the next seven or eight weeks, as well,” Buescher said.
Let the playoff field of 16 worry about their Cup championship hopes headed into Saturday's cutoff race at Bristol.
Buescher instead had to figure out how to swig all the bubbly out of an oversized bottle of booze he took with him from victory lane.
“Looks ridiculous, don't it?" Buescher cracked.
With championship contenders well behind them, Buescher and van Gisbergen raced door-to-door to the thrilling finish on the 2.45-mile road course at The Glen. Van Gisbergen, who won his NASCAR debut last season at the Chicago street race, took the lead from the second row on a three-wide move on an overtime restart. Buescher chased him down in the No. 17 Ford and the cars made contact in the “Bus Stop” — a critical inner loop on the course — before he shot past van Gisbergen.
“I knew Chris was really going to send it and push me if he could get there,” van Gisbergen said. “I turned and got a bit loose and clipped the inside wall. Driver error. I’m gutted.”
Buescher topped the New Zealand driver in NASCAR's second playoff race of the season. Carson Hocevar was third, followed by Ross Chastain and Zane Smith.
Yeah, it was that kind of race.
Buescher, who won three times last season, started 24th and won his sixth career Cup race.
“If we're going to be blunt about it, not having to think about points at all on the playoff-side of it, or any cutoffs, opened up more opportunities for us today to go out there and get that win,” Buescher said.
He also pulled off his second upset in the playoffs in three seasons. In 2022 for RFK Racing, the longtime Jack Roush-owned team that took on Keselowski in the ownership group two years ago, Buescher won the third playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It marked the first time in this format of NASCAR’s postseason that a playoff driver failed to win a race during a round.
Joey Logano won the playoff opener last weekend at Atlanta and is the only driver guaranteed a spot in the next round.
After a few hard seasons — Buescher was winless from 2017 to 2021 — he has tried not to dwell on the close calls this season that cost him a playoff berth. He just wanted to enjoy the checkered flag and the spoils that come with it — like a big bottle of bubbly.
“Missing the playoffs, it hurt,” Buescher said. “It definitely stung there. To have the season we had, to have that many close calls, near misses, it certainly doesn't feel good. It's just a good old-fashioned win right there. In that sense, it's very special for me, for this team to get this Mustang into victory lane.”
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