Chris Buescher’s Vegas Run Cut Short as RFK Racing’s Pit-Road Muck-Up Robs Sin City Hopes

Disaster strikes for Chris Buescher, who was all locked and loaded to give his all at Las Vegas Motor Speedway but instead he went out on a sour note. The driver who survived the ‘Big One’ last week managed to sneak in a top-10 finish but couldn’t do so here in Vegas as his team’s negligence did the driver dirty.

Receiving massive front-end damage from the turn 1 hit, the #17 had no other option but to go back to the garage, bringing up a red flag in the process after the early mishap required some patchwork from the safety crew.

Hopes go awry after Chris Buescher hits the wall in stage 1 at Vegas

On lap 15, Chris Buescher took the lead, hitting the gas as the green flag waved, thanks to snagging two new tires on his last pit stop. But then, on lap 27, another tire drama unfolded. First, it was Christopher Bell, cruising in 18th who hit a snag on the front stretch with a flat right rear tire on lap 10 while he was battling Martin Truex Jr. And then the 27th lap had RFK Racing’s Buescher crash into the outside wall due to him losing the right front wheel in turn 1.

One thing led to another, as the crew’s carelessness cost the driver a win. Consequently, the sanctioning body had to fix the wall where Chris Buescher rammed into the safer barrier in turn 1. All the cars were parked on the backstretch on lap 32, waiting under a red flag while they wrapped up the repairs on that wall.

NASCAR steps in following Buescher’s hard hit after the red flag was thrown

Being 15th in Group A of qualifying, Chris Buescher had adequate speed. Unfortunately, what he did not have was a potent pit crew who threw him under the bus. The replays clearly show the right front tire slipping off right before the RFK Racing Dark Horse Mustang rammed into the wall. The impact was so hard that the organization had to get in the safety crew to weld and patch up the barrier that received major damage.

RFK Racing’s pit-road slip-up brought in the race’s third caution and the first red flag as the action was halted for a brief time for the NASCAR crew to mend the damaged safety barrier. Buescher’s early departure meant the driver’s first DNF since Atlanta in the spring of 2023, ~ 1 year ago. Chris Buescher had the second-longest active streak of races running at the finish in the Cup Series going into today’s race.

As for the #17’s pit crew’s irresponsibility—not tightening up the front wheel that came loose—the sanctioning body has taken stiff action against the crew, decking them with a two-week suspension for bringing out the red flag and putting the entire field in danger.

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