Chris Buescher finally parked his No. 17 Ford Mustang in the victory lane after fighting tooth and nail against SVG at Watkins Glen. The build-up before the race was all about the playoff drivers, but it’s fair to say that most of them drew blanks. Go Bowling at the Glen was supposed to be a wildcard race, but no one predicted the twists and turns it delivered along the way. And once again, the Ford driver managed to secure a playoff victory.

The late-race battle between Chris Buescher and Shane van Gisbergen was perhaps the crowing of the moment. Throughout the race, the two drivers battled for position with multiple late race restarts. But the Kiwi decided to put the bumper on the #17 during the overtime run. Having cleared Buescher, it felt like he was heading towards his second Cup Series career win. However, the race was far from done.

Chris Buescher isn’t going to let his foot off the gas in the playoffs

Surprisingly, on the final lap, SVG fluffed his lines, coming onto the bus stop section and hitting his No. 16 Chevy to the barrier upon his entry. He lost his grip and the groove, thus leaving the door open for the No. 17 Ford to make his move. And he made the most of this opportunity, getting into the back bumper of the #77 car of Carson Hocevar, nudging him for the win. It was hard racing at its finest, which finally allowed Buescher and his team to take some solace after missing playoffs, also, ending his 37-race winless streak after the 2023 Daytona win.

It is indeed a tough task to get better off SVG, who arguably is the best road course racer in NASCAR at the moment. But Chris Buescher and Fords have now shown the trick for the rest of the garage on how to defeat not just SVG but the Chevys. When asked about his tactics on the last lap, the RFK Racing driver said, “So I tried to cross over and just hard racing there, but just such an awesome finish to be that good for so much in the end of the race, all race to get a win, it’s good. We came here to be spoilers, so we’re gonna do that.”

This was the second week in a row when the Ford Mustang found its way to the victory lane. It was Joey Logano at Atlanta, and now Buescher has continued this strong run. Team Penske is known to turn the heat up during this time of the year. But it seems like RFK Racing is also looking to join the party now. Given how the race turned out, multiple drivers have made sizeable gains today, while a few big names will have all to do at Bristol next week.

Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson need to turn up at the Bristol night race

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Look how the mighty have fallen. All it needed was two playoff races, and all the advantage Hamlin and Larson carried from the regular season has now been chalked off. Speaking of the JGR driver, just can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble. Having been caught late in the crash at Atlanta, this time around he again suffered a similar treatment at the Glen. He finished the race P23 and is now 6 points below the cutline.

Now, Bristol is Hamlin’s stomping ground; he is the defending winner and also clinched the spring race. So will he be able to deliver similar results with such relentless pressure on his shoulders?

“We should be pretty confident, and I can’t think of the last time we haven’t had the race-winning car there,” Hamlin said to Bob Pockrass.

Meanwhile, Kyle Larson also needs to wake up and not rely on his bonus points going into the last race of the first round. He was seemingly untouchable at the start of the playoffs, but he now finds himself behind the likes of Austin Cindric and Daniel Suarez. Yeah, that’s how mediocre Larson’s playoff run has been so far.

A DNF, followed by a P12 run, isn’t the mark of a championship-contending driver. And, going by Chris Buescher’s warning shot, he might be on the target list next weekend.

The playoffs couldn’t have scripted the storylines any better with these two races, and make sure you tune into the next one. More drama and thrilling entertainment will follow when the drivers take the field for a night race in Bristol.