Chris Buescher Brands Himself as NASCAR’s “Closest Loser”

RFK Racing star driver Chris Buescher recalls the disappointing Kansas Cup race lost last year to Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson.

Chris Buescher Brands Himself as NASCAR’s “Closest Loser”

Chris Buescher (Via IMAGO)

The 2024 regular season race last year at Kansas Motor Speedway is a nightmare Chris Buescher wants to forget, but NASCAR will remind him it every time. On the final lap of the race the No:17 Ford driver found himself in a battle with Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Larson and both crossed the finish line almost at the same time.

Initially the monitor on the track showed Chris Buescher as the race winner, before NASCAR reviewed the decision and the high-precision speed camara showed Kyle Larson was 0.001 seconds ahead of his rival. Recently on his appearance on the Inside the Race podcast, he recalled the painful memory and revealed how Larson got ahead of him.

I think we came off of (Turn) 4 there and had his quarter-panel and were going to be able to switch the momentum around. When we got door-to-door there, that big hit turned us really sideways. It just killed our momentum there, as much as we thought we were going to be OK. The first (hit) didn’t help, but the second one right here is where it took all of our speed away.

Chris Buescher told Inside the Race podcast.

Further talking about the point, Chris Buescher admitted that though it’s easier for him to joke about the situation now he was hurting at the moment when he lost the race. Then Brad Keselowski’s star driver hilariously branded himself as the winner of NASCAR’s closest loser trophy, which is something no one wants to have.

You know what, it was a good race. It’s a little bit easier to joke about now and certainly wasn’t in the moment, but we basically have a trophy for being the closest loser in NASCAR, so it’s not a good trophy to put up on the shelf.

Chris Buescher added.

Chris Buescher reveals sad reality of Next-Gen era racing

The Ford driver is currently on a 19-race winless streak and had a chance at securing one, before he got caught up an in a wreck caused by race leader Christopher Bell spinning out at Talladega. He was one of the many victims of big wrecks on the day.

Chris Buescher
Chris Buescher at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Via IMAGO)

He used the opportunity to raise the issue with the Next-Gen cars, where its hard-to-find safe place to race on the track as with the aggressive style the car has forced on them, possibilities of chaos are everywhere. Buescher admits that he and his team hates being part of such a mess.

There are not many safe places anymore other than the very back. And it’s just not racing. I’ve been a part of those, and I’ve hated every second of it, and I don’t want to be a part of it. Jack (Roush) adamantly doesn’t want to be a part of it. Brad (Keselowski) adamantly doesn’t want to be a part of it.

Chris Buescher said.

The comments from Chris Buescher shows the overall frustration in the Cup Series garage over the aggression and aero issues with the Next-Gen car. It would be interesting to see if NASCAR will make tweaks to the car, that can finally change it for good.  

Also Read: Kyle Larson Is ‘Seeking Redemption’ in Kansas After Texas Disappointment