By Dustin Albino
Eight years after claiming the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, Chris Buescher appears poised to enjoy his best season as a NASCAR Cup Series competitor.
Brad Keselowski’s first year as part of the ownership at RFK Racing was a challenge for the two-car operation. While the 2012 Cup Series champion and his No. 6 team never found their stride, Buescher and his group were only a tick better.
Showing steady improvement as the season progressed, Buescher snapped a 222-race winless streak when he drove the No.17 Ford Mustang to victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. In the end, he tallied a career-high 10 top-10 finishes, with half of those coming on road courses.
This year, both RFK Racing cars have been more competitive on a variety of race tracks, and Buescher is on pace to set new personal bests in several statistical categories.
The 30-year-old racer from Prosper, Texas, recently sat down with Pole Position and addressed a variety of topics, including his new role as a father:
Tell us about your season so far.
It has been a strong year for RFK. I’m proud of our group and the progress we’ve made with both of our race cars. That goes back to everyone at the shop who has worked hard and adapted to all these changes and given us fast race cars at all kinds of different styles of race tracks. We’re not talking about us being good at road courses and superspeedways; we’ve also been able to compete at short tracks and mile-and-a-halves.
There’s a definite readable progress that we’ve all seen. The points show the overall picture, but we look at our finishes week-in and week-out and we’ve been close to contending for a lot of wins. We need a little more, but definite progress.
Are you a numbers guy?
To a certain extent, yes. However, I have a really hard time getting caught up in points. I can always tell you what could have been better for us in a points situation and how it could make our position feel different, but so can everyone else. When you look at our finishes and read over our top-five results and top 10s, that’s more representative of our season because you’re always going to have bad weeks, too. You will have a week or two where you get wiped out and that kills your points position. It’s more about the finishes and what we’re able to accomplish versus that side of things.
I’ll sit here and tell you that we were stronger this year at Sonoma compared to last year. Were we closer to the win last year? We appeared to be, but competitively, I think we were better this year. Cautions didn’t fall perfectly for us, but there is some form of measurement to me that I can pull up and say we were a bigger contender this time around.
What does it feel like to be more consistent this season?
It’s good progress and nice to be in the hunt at many different styles of race tracks. For a lot of years, being in an underdog situation, it’s not a mystery on the RFK side and going through some of our woes and difficult years. It’s hard to overperform on days like that when, as a whole, we’re all trying to find something better. I would have liked to go into race weekends and consistently raise the bar and do it with everyone on the team within the shops. We are with our (No.) 17 team, and it’s awesome for me to be able to say that. I’ve been able to do it everywhere that I’ve been to over the last seven years of my entire Cup career.
Do you like to be labeled as an underdog?
I don’t think we are anymore, and that’s mostly because RFK is strong. Now that we have good equipment, it’s time to keep up with it. I got used to the term growing up ARCA racing, Legends Car racing, whatever. We never showed up with the stacker rigs and we never had the people behind it. We worked hard, scraped by and did everything we could to make sure we showed up with fast race cars and outperformed what was expected of us.
We drove around in ARCA for four years with white race cars and black door numbers with David Ragan Fan Club on the side of it. We worked hard to outperform what was expected. The term doesn’t bother me because I’m used to it, but I don’t think it’s suitable now.
When did you begin seeing an uptick in performance?
I think it was Dover last year when we got the pole and ran well during that race. Sonoma, we ran really well and were in the hunt for the win. Richmond, we were in the hunt. We went to a lot of different styles of race tracks and were competitive. That was the turning point last year.
We got into the playoff stretch and I don’t think we were as competitive after Bristol through the end of the year. But we’ve been able to turn that around at the beginning of this year.
What’s Brad Keselowski like as a team owner?
It’s been neat to see his way, his knowledge and the sense he has around the work he puts into it. To see it all show up in results, that’s always been hard. I’ve been around Roush for a long time, and have seen people work harder, turn more hours and see minute progress through all of that; and it gets frustrating. You always hope that the work and the effort does not come without results.
We’ve been able to see that and it’s a huge part of Brad, his style and some of the people that he’s brought in and changes within the organization.
I’ve seen Jack happier than I’ve seen him in a long time. To see him cutting up and joking with people and laughing, it’s been a lot of fun being around him. A lot of that comes from strong races.
Why has there been instant chemistry with Scott Graves as your crew chief?
Scott has been on the pit box for a lot of my career and we’ve been able to have a good understanding of each other from the get-go in the Xfinity Series days. We had strong races, won races, won a championship. We went our separate ways for a while, but the crew change we did at the end of 2021, we clicked back in quickly. We thought it was going to click and we could fire off where we left off, or close to it. That’s what led us to being able to run competitively quicker.
During the first half of last year, the No. 17 team was able to find our way a little bit quicker and I think that’s because there was some known chemistry between Scott and I. We both have relationships with people within the RFK organization and I think that goes a long way. It’s hard from Brad’s side of things, because not only was he taking on an ownership role, but having a new crew chief he had never worked with. The only continuity that he had was he was still driving a Ford. That’s difficult and I think that’s a big reason why we were able to get going quicker last year.
Tell us about your new role as a parent?
It’s been a blast. I can’t tell you how fortunate we were to have her (Charley) in the offseason because I had a lot of time and it was the holidays, the family was all around. I got a lot of advice on what in the world I need to try and do here. It’s been a challenge and learning experience every day. It’s been awesome watching her grow up and start developing a little personality.
Sparco sent her a fire suit (in June). It’s Fastenal blue, just in case she decides to go that route. We’ll see how that plays out, but she’s a daredevil already. She loves to fly around the farm on side-by-sides and loves to ride anytime she’s in a vehicle with her hands on the steering wheel. Doesn’t care about toys, just wants her hands on the steering wheel, so I’m in trouble.
EchoPark Speedway, or Atlanta Motor Speedway, is often touted as the most exciting track on the NASCAR circuit. What was first seen as a Frankenstein experiment, Marcus Smith’s idea to turn AMS into a baby Daytona worked out in the end. We’ve gotten great race after great race and tonight was no different as fans saw Tyler Reddick power by Carson Hocevar to go two in a row to start the season.
But not everyone had a season to remember. Many drivers and teams had a season that they’d sooner forget. These are the biggest losers of the 2026 EchoPark Speedway racing weekend.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race officials rightly got blasted online by fans after they made the extremely questionable decision to put the Truck race on Saturday on the weather clock. That would have been an understandable move if circumstances were different. But they caught flak because 1.) EchoPark Speedway has lights, 2.) the weather had moved out for the weekend, and 3.)…umm…they were only 10 laps shy from the scheduled distance anyway.
Now, we know who the defenders are. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race was slated to follow, but NASCAR has pushed races off in the past. And really, how much time would the CW have lost? Ten minutes? Twenty? If that? That, in my book, makes the NCTS officials some of the biggest losers on the weekend. They owe us fans ten more measly laps for racing!
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Of any driver currently in the Chevy ranks, none has had the support thrown behind them like Corey Day. Day, a protege of proven NASCAR champion Kyle Larson, apparently has turned some heads on the dirt scene. Makes sense, since Larson himself said that he’d rather win the Chili Bowl than the Daytona 500. But unlike other drivers, such as Connor Zilisch, who have excelled in other racing disciplines outside of NASCAR, Day’s career so far has been lukewarm at best. And his race yesterday was the epitome of a rookie race, ladened with senseless mistakes.
The incident that hurt the most was the one where he wrecked his fellow HMS/JRM teammates, Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier. He simply just took them out while racing for the race lead. Though he was, somehow, able to rebound to finish the race in the 4th position, yesterday was a sloppy performance that even Corey himself acknowledges that he’d rather put behind him.
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Chastain did it again! And now, the feelings are mixed. Remember when Ross Chastain used to just send drivers willy-nilly, and it really got on fans’ nerves? Well, thankfully, he’s calmed down in recent years and has become a more respectable veteran of the sport. That is not to say that he still doesn’t have his…moments. Saturday night at the O’Reilly Auto Parts race, Ross Chastain, going for the win, entered turn 1 and sent leader Austin Hill.
Hill was the overwhelming favorite to win this race, and fans have grown sick of him. So, really, this was a welcome return to form for Chastain, a version of him that used to be loathed by fans. Thus, while fans might have won out by Chastain doing what he does best and slaying Austin Hill, the RCR team, and really, anyone who has Chastain in their rearview mirror in the closing laps, are the real losers this weekend.
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There were a couple of drivers who ended 2025 on a sour note and were looking to turn things around and start 2026 strong. One of those has to be Josh Berry and his entire Wood Brothers team. After floundering around with Harrison Burton for a few seasons, the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford got the shot in the arm that they needed with a new crew chief and Josh Berry as their new driver. They led a bunch of laps at Atlanta in 2025, only for a wreck with 10 laps to go to take them out of contention. Not to worry, though: they followed it up with a win at Las Vegas.
But since that win, the team suffered a steep decline heading into the summer months. By the time the postseason rolled around, they had the single worst Playoff performance in history with three straight last-place finishes. Though he had a promising start to the season with a 9th-place run in the Daytona 500, it was the same old same old tonight. Berry showed some speed in the first stage but ultimately crashed after Christopher Bell forced the issue in the beginning of Stage 2. It’s a familiar routine for the Wood Brothers. Yet another last-place finish. That makes them one of the biggest losers of the weekend. If only they could have capitalized.
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This one’s a tired subject, so I won’t dwell on it too long. Kyle Busch’s late career decline at Richard Childress Racing should be studied. Though he showed speed early on, it was yet again a single-car spin that ended his day prematurely. Granted, he didn’t spin completely on his own. He was tagged from behind by Noah Gragson. But, that was after he checked up twice and recklessly pulled up in front of him in a hole that was barely there. Yet another disappointing outing for Rowdy Nation.
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The checkered flag has flown in the second race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Season. And, at the end of the day, it was Tyler Reddick who went back-to-back to win at EchoPark Speedway. Tonight, Reddick became the sixth NASCAR Cup Series driver to win the first two races of the season. He is the first since NASCAR Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth did it to kick off the 2009 season.
But, of course, Reddick wasn’t the only one to have a great start to the season. Several drivers leave Atlanta with a great points day, including Carson Hocevar, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, and Ryan Blaney. Here are the highlights of tonight’s race:
From an awful showing in the 2025 Playoffs to yet another last-place finish, Josh Berry’s 2026 season is off to a rough start. Today, he got together with Ty Gibbs after Gibbs had an awful start to the year last year. The No. 54 was able to turn it around later in the season, though. But, for their 2026 outing, there’s a lot left to be desired. Check it out.
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Kyle Busch’s 2025 season was abysmal. But, after he put his No. 8 RCR Chevy on the pole for the 2026 Daytona 500, things seemed to be looking up. He smartly survived last week by lying back on the last lap and safely navigating through the crash, finishing 15th. And he was a contender early in this race. However, late, Kyle Busch continued his dismal legacy at RCR by spinning after contact with Noah Gragson. His day ended prematurely. Check it out:
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We got our first big crash of the race at Lap 224 when both Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano got loose in front of the field. You can read all about that incident with the link below:
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Things started to get real for the NASCAR Cup Series drivers as we got inside 40 laps to go. We got our first Big One of the afternoon at Lap 224. It was triggered as the field came out of Turn 4 and entered the dogleg. Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, both whose cars were upset by the dirty air, got together. Logano was able to scoot on virtually unscathed. However, Hamlin turned in front of the pack, collecting several stars and heavy hitters. Here’s what happened:
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