Winning a NASCAR race is something few get to experience, but Chris Buescher is no stranger to that feeling. His win at Watkins Glen adds another trophy to his collection, but despite the celebration, there’s a catch—early-season struggles kept him out of the playoffs. Still, while Buescher faces this tough reality, one member of RFK Racing has a more optimistic take.

RFK Racing President Steve Newmark came out in vehement support of the #17 driver despite the team falling out of the race for the Cup series championship.

Chris Buescher basks in glory as RFK President commends racing effort

If there are not enough race winners, then points determine the remaining playoff qualifiers. Unfortunately, Chris Buescher‘s chance to compete for the Cup ended early, falling out of the 16 at Darlington. Despite this, Steve Newmark came out in full support of the #17 car driver. With this win at Watkins Glen, RFK made their stance clear for the remainder of the season.

Get enough wins and set a proving ground for the 2025 season!

More importantly, even though Buescher did not go deeper into the playoffs, he still holds immense power over determining who goes through, becoming the playoff spoiler.

As Steve Newmark and Buescher’s crew chief, Scott Graves, sat down in a post-race media interaction, the two described how Buescher has handled the disappointment of not missing the playoffs and if they saw anything different in him. Steve said, “I think for any of you who’ve been around Chris, he is completely even-keeled, but he’s always laser-focused on winning. So I haven’t seen any change, I mean obviously, there was disappointment that we didn’t make the playoffs. That was the first goal when we didn’t check that box, but you know he is a relentless competitor. You look at his preparation, and nothing has changed. He approaches every race just like he did before, and the goal is the same, to end up front.”

The results are already materializing with the win at Watkins Glen. Buescher’s determination and grit remain evident, especially from the final moments of the race.

• Road course, master, SVG’s overtake on him didn’t phase him at all. Instead, he went for a brave move in a dangerous chicane, one that saw a massive wreck in lap 1, to take the win on the final lap of the race.
• Quaker Atlanta was on a different side of the spectrum altogether. Fans may remember the big crash involving Martin Treux Jr. and Ryan Blaney. It was Chris Buescher whose error caused the incident, with the driver publicly apologizing for it later. The driver cited a bump on the track as the issue for the crash. Occurring on lap 205 of the final stage, on the exit of turn 2, Buescher’s Mustang ran into the rear wheels of Blaney, with Truex Jr. turning into collateral damage.

Chris Buescher, however, remains committed to improving consistently, as crew chief Scott Graves reveals.

Buescher’s formula for success revealed

After disappointment at Darlington, RFK Racing came together in support of Chris Buescher. Despite not making it to the next round, they find a new sense of vigor guiding them through each race. This was what crew chief Scott Graves talks about, Buescher’s constant commitment to improving himself.

Graves added, “I kind of look at it more as an evolution. I don’t think making the chase or not making it. Obviously, there was that disappointment, and you know we all had to get over that. I think we got past that we realized the situation. It was just all right to let’s just go for wins, and in a way it kind of actually took some pressure off. We can sit back and have fun and watch all the other struggles. We can just go have fun and try to win races.”

Scott Graves’ point here is reflected in the course of the race. The overtime is particularly threatening for drivers, getting caught out by close-following rivals. Historically, it was a big problem for the driver and an error he needed to cover up, especially at Glen Watkins.

“But I consider it more of an evolution with Chris. If you look at his stats, like what he’s done on restarts this year. You know, we talked with him in the past about restarts. He’s really gone to work on that, and his numbers look much better. I think it’s an evolution of just trying to become the complete race car driver and what it takes to compete at the cup level. He’s shown a lot of progress this year. I think that’s uh I think it’s a really cool thing for all of us at RFK and on the team, to work for them, it motivates the guys to be better. I think we’re all heading in the same direction,” the crew chief further added.

With this, 2025 can be a potential title challenge for Buescher and the team. He has experience reaching the top 8 rounds. The season remains to be an essential training ground in molding the champion he can be.