Chris Buescher earned stage points and was poised for a quiet, solid afternoon Sunday at Kansas Speedway, but a tire failure with seven laps remaining relegated him to a 27th-place finish in the Fastenal Ford.
After starting 13th, Buescher worked his way to just outside the top-10 early on. A pit road mishap put him 18th to end the opening stage, but he battled back as stage two progressed.
He began the second stage 14th, and after a series of cautions and pit stops late, he drove to a ninth-place finish in the stage with sticker tires. The No. 17 began the third segment in seventh, and worked his way to inside the top five late as teammate Brad Keselowski paced the field for 23 laps.
With what appeared to be the final, green-flag stop in the books with just over 50 laps remaining, Buescher was battling in 11th in the closing laps, before losing a right-rear tire. Initially no caution was displayed, before it eventually flew with Buescher losing a lap on the pit stop. With only a NASCAR Overtime restart remaining, Buescher finished 27th.
Buescher and the No. 17 team now sit ninth in the standings, 13 points to the good with a tight race entering the final event of the opening round of 16.
Up Next
Bristol Motor Speedway hosts the third race of the playoffs, and final in the Round of 16, next Saturday night. Race coverage is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, with radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
RFK Racing PR
