Despite a dream season in NASCAR’s top-tier division, Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing‘s driver’s hopes of securing a decent finish went down in flames in Kansas. Unlike Stewart-Haas Racing, fellow Ford camp, RFK Racing has risen from the ashes like a phoenix.

However, amidst the dream run of the RFK Fords, NASCAR’s tire partner’s vulnerability doused the fiery rise as Keselowski’s teammate and driver missed out on a stellar finish at the mile-and-a-half intermediate track on Sunday.

Reflecting on the late caution in Sunday’s race, NASCAR pundits picked up the pen and paper as they dissected the #17 Ford’s downfall.

NASCAR experts methodically dissect Sunday’s decisive late caution that ruined Brad Keselowski’s driver’s chances

RFK Racing and Brad Keselowski are now the beacon of hope for ardent Ford fans in the Cup Series. Despite the rising challenges from the consistent Toyotas and the ever-poised Hendrick Motorsports Chevys, the proud Ford camp has taken the battle to big teams.

A few weeks ago, Chris Buescher shattered all expectations, acing Richmond. The RFK Ford’s reign did not end there as Buescher got to the victory lane in flying colors with a stellar win at the Michigan International Speedway. To top it all off, the Superspeedway race at Daytona also witnessed a picture-perfect finish from the RFK Racing Fords as Buescher and his boss Keselowski crossed the finish line first and second.

The scene was bright for Buescher as the race reached its closing laps. With just 7 laps to the checkered flag, he was cruising comfortably at 7th position with +28 odds favoring him until a terrible right rear puncture sent the RFK Ford into the wall, bringing up a decisive caution. In fact, the late caution gave the edge to Buescher’s fellow drivers but got the Daytona triumphant further away from a decent finish.

While the race was riddled with tire blowouts, including the one that took out the 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. early in Stage 1, Goodyear’s blow in the late rounds got Buescher all the way from 7th to the 27th spot where he finished the race.

Reflecting on the crucial closing lap caution, Steve Letarte got down to business. Reviewing the track position and bringing up the numbers, he said, “Restarts determined the winner at Kansas but it also shook up the playoff leader boards so we’ve done a little homework, done a little math, let us take a look at this.” 

The former HMS crew chief gave a precise analogy when he compared the #17 driver’s track position before and after the blowout. “We have Buescher feeling great a  +28, he’s out there still running along,” pointed out Letarte. And looking after the late incident, Letarte said the obvious, “That cost him 15 points with the right rear tire, unfortunately for the #17 I dont know what they could’ve done.”

Chris Buescher opens up about his long-faced boss

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While the team is certainly having a ball with back-to-back wins coming from the youngest driver, all is not well in the Ford camp as Buescher opens up. For the first time since 2014, RFK Racing had multiple cars had a perfect finish, with both Buescher and his boss crossing the finish line first and second.

However, that came at an expense as Buescher put it. When asked about his dynamic with his boss if he is pushing Keselowski, Buescher said, “I try not to. Because I don’t know how he’s gonna take it just yet but he was a factor to win at Richmond and Michigan too. So it’s not that you know that we’ve had these where we dominate. We’ve been around each other all these races. So it is challenging.” 

READ MORE: Will the #6 Ford Get to the Victory Lane at Bristol as Brad Keselowski Hints “Unfinished Business?”

With Keselowski pushing his driver in the closing lap to a perfect finish, the Texas native got real about it. He said, “He made a decision that RFK was going to be 1-2 first before RFK was pulling one and 15th, it was at the expense of his winning that race but he got us our 1-2 finish. I’m under no type of illusion that he was happy that, not completely anyway. I know how badly he wants to win, we’re all competitors. But I think he certainly likes it from the ownership side of things.

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