As the Cup Series headed to Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400, all eyes were on Tyler Reddick and 23XI Racing. After the #45 Camry XSE secured the pole, all was going well for Hamlin’s outfit, but there was one team eager to put Ford back on the map. With Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher placing their Mustang Darkhorses on the front row alongside Reddick and playing some good tactics as we saw, fans hoping for Ford’s drought to end were in for a treat.

However, the track that’s ‘too tough to tame’ proved to be a handful for Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher. With 33 laps to go, it seemed like Buescher would take the checkered flag in his Darkhorse, but an incident with the #45 left both drivers vulnerable to the RFK Racing boss eager to win after three pain-staking years on the sidelines.

Brad Keselowski makes the most of Chris Buescher’s and Tyler Reddick’s misery

As Buescher and Reddick got into a heated argument on pit road, Brad Keselowski was busy enjoying the spoils of his first win for RFK Racing. After leaving one of NASCAR’s frontrunners, Penske, in 2017 to join a team that had been in a downward spiral, Brad Keselowski’s resilience with RFK Racing finally paid off at the Goodyear 400. However, it didn’t come easy.

Reflecting on the thrilling Goodyear 400 and how Ford made the most of a solid start to the weekend, Brad Keselowski shared with SiriusXM’s NASCAR Radio; “It hasn’t been a month or two that the Ford guys wanted, but you know what, it’s over now. Good for Ford, good for everybody on this race team. You know, we had a pretty fast car today, just held them honest all day.”

As Ford headed to Darlington, fans and insiders such as Bob Pockrass hinted at the OEM bringing some changes to their set-up that would help them extract more power. And after the race ended, it’s safe to say that the Mustang Darkhorse truly seems to be on a redemption arc. With that being said, Keselowski couldn’t help but sympathize with those fans who had missed such a thrilling race.

Keselowski added, “Ran up front, had great pit stops, good strategy, and then just the dog fights on the end at the restarts, it had to be thrilling. I feel like I could hear the fans cheering in the car, but what a race and, if you missed it, I’m sorry. You missed a golden race, it was a hell of a day.”

For the RFK Racing boss, victory at Darlington was a much-needed break. Going over some of the past results, RFK Racing seemed to have always been caught out by Lady Luck. First, it was Buescher losing out to Kyle Larson in Kansas’ iconic photo finish, and now, the #17 driver once again faced a miserable outcome.

Still, Keselowski felt his side of the garage made the most of it; “I feel like all along this has been a good team and, it’s more about getting the results. Some of it is in our control, and some of it is not this one, we took the bull by the horns and made it happen.” However, not every RFK Racing driver was pleased with the weekend at Darlington and how things unfolded.

Why didn’t Tyler Reddick’s apology sit too well with Chris Buescher?

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Throughout the Goodyear 400, three drivers were clear challengers for the win. While Keselowski got away with the honors, it looked like Chris Buescher was destined to win. That was before he wrecked with Tyler Reddick. With only 10 laps to go, Tyler Reddick threw a dive-bomb on the inside lane, squeezing Buescher to the outside wall. As Reddick revealed later, the #45 driver tried to check up, but couldn’t as his tires popped.

With that being said, the incident was strong enough to cause Reddick and Buescher to lose momentum, allowing Keselowski to sneak into the lead with ease. Buescher’s day was all over as he was forced to pit, watching teammate and boss Keselowski bring home a win that was deservedly Buescher’s. This naturally led to frustrations boiling over and Buescher sharing a few words with Reddick post-race.

In the clips making the rounds, Reddick could be heard admitting to his mistakes, which Buescher revealed he appreciated. However, a key factor that separates Reddick and Buescher meant things weren’t so easily forgiven. Buescher shared, “You know obviously, like I said, we haven’t had issues in the past. That being said, it just doesn’t change what happened. There’s a win sticker on his door top that I told him about which makes a bad day like this not matter nearly as much to them.”

For Buescher, the playoffs seem so close, yet so far. As things currently stand, Buescher’s stage wins and strong running through the season have helped him stand 15 points above the playoff cut-off. But without a win, Buescher’s spot isn’t guaranteed like Reddick’s.

This made the #17 driver feel that a simple apology on Reddick’s end wasn’t enough. He concluded. “It still matters to us, and that was a major cost to us today, not just for the win but to finish second to last because of a flat tire. Fortunately, we got stage points from the day for running well. But you just, one poor decision, and saying sorry doesn’t fix it.”

As things stand, Buescher will not only need to bring home more points next time around but is also running out of races to secure a guaranteed spot in the playoff. As one RFK Racing driver gets his redemption, do you think Buescher will soon get that elusive 2024 win?