KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Ford Performance is in the midst of its longest NASCAR Cup Series winless drought since 2010, when it took 21 races to reach victory lane. For a fleeting moment, as race number 12 of 2024 came to a close, the Blue Ovals and Chris Buescher appeared on the brink of a breakthrough.
Turns out NASCAR’s photo finish camera showed otherwise.
After racing Kyle Larson side by side to the line, it was Buescher who got the short end of the stick. In the end, the records will show he was one one-thousandth of a second short, less than a foot from leaving with the trophy.
The RFK Racing driver will simply have to settle for a runner-up result despite a car that was capable of more. Faced with the unenviable reality of coming up short, he tried to remain upbeat.
“We had it from the get-go,” Buescher said. “We drove forward, we led a ton of laps today. It’s huge for us to have that and to know we are in contention. We got to keep that up.”
Indeed, RFK Racing’s No. 17 Ford had the best weekend of their season to date. Buescher qualified 12th and moved up early, charging to fifth by the end of stage one. Stage two was marked by a five-wide restart that sparked his push to the lead, eventually earning his first stage victory of 2024.
In the end, Buescher led a total of 53 laps, third most of anyone in the field. Last year’s three-race winner was showing flashes of how his stock rose throughout 2023.
Then, in an instant, his day seemed doomed after the team was hit with a pit road penalty on lap 168 for having a crew member over the wall too soon. The violation sent him to the rear of the field as the final stage began, forcing him to charge up from around 30th position.
But as the final stage played out, a flurry of cautions allowed a change in fortune. While others stopped in for fresh tires, crew chief Scott Graves kept the No. 17 Ford out on old ones until they found themselves on the front row, in position for redemption heading to a restart with 62 laps remaining.
“We had the one penalty midrace that got us messed up, and we obviously had to go off strategy to get our position back,” said crew chief Scott Graves about the team’s late-race recovery. “There have been a lot of weeks where we feel like if we were up there [track position wise], we would be able to run there.”
Buescher battled from there, tooth and nail…
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