By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Chris Buescher and RFK Racing have been on the upswing the last few weeks.
After a strong-but-frustrating second-place finish two weeks ago at Michigan, Buescher was a frontrunner all day Sunday at Pocono Raceway, finishing fourth on the day.
It was his first top-five finish at Pocono since 2016 where he scored his first career Cup Series win.
But it wasn’t just the finish for the Texan.
Qualifying second, the No. 17 Ford stayed up front, battling Denny Hamlin for the lead in Stage 1 and trailing the leaders to the checkered flag in a fuel race at the end.
Buescher scored his season-highs in average running position (sixth) and driver rating (120.4)
“We certainly have speed,” Buescher said. “I saw Brad [Keselowski, team owner] leading at one point today and I know the speed we had. I’m pretty confident in where our race team is heading and what we’ve been able to accomplish.”
With now three top fives on the season, Buescher also makes a positive push toward a playoff berth, as he came in as the bubble driver on the cutline.
He goes from +19 on the cutline to +38. But despite the gain, the man is going for wins.
“It’s one little step,” he said. “The thing that hurts is that Michigan and here were — just a little track position and we could have won.
“It’s been a while where we’ve been talking [saying] ‘Man, we just need to take this tiny step to really be better and in contention.’
“I think we have ultimately had the speed we just need to put it all together right now.”