Chris Buescher

Chris Buescher
Buescher at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2024
Born	Christopher William Buescher (1992-10-29) October 29, 1992 (age 32) Prosper, Texas, U.S.
Achievements	2012 ARCA Racing Series Champion 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion 2022 Bluegreen Vacations Duel winner
Awards	2011 ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
329 races run over 10 years
Car no., team	No. 17 (RFK Racing)
2024 position	17th
Best finish	7th (2023)
First race	2015 Auto Club 400 (Fontana)
Last race	2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (Phoenix)
First win	2016 Pennsylvania 400 (Pocono)
Last win	2024 Go Bowling at The Glen (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles 6 70 1
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
74 races run over 4 years
2015 position	1st
Best finish	1st (2015)
First race	2011 Bubba Burger 250 (Richmond)
Last race	2015 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
First win	2014 Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 (Mid-Ohio)
Last win	2015 Buckle Up 200 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles 3 36 0
ARCA Menards Series career
57 races run over 5 years
Best finish	1st (2012)
First race	2009 Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 (Salem)
Last race	2013 Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic (Salem)
First win	2010 Menards 200 Presented by Federated Car Care (Toledo)
Last win	2013 SCOTT 160 (Road America)
Wins Top tens Poles 10 43 5
Statistics current as of November 5, 2023.

Christopher William Buescher (born October 29, 1992)^[1] is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing. He is the 2012 ARCA Racing Series and 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and the cousin of 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher.

Buescher began his professional racing career in 2005, driving Legends cars in Texas for Speedway Legends, winning over 100 races. (Speedway Legends, worked with several top drivers, David Ragan, Jonathan Davenport, etc.) In 2008, Buescher moved to North Carolina to be mentored by NASCAR Cup Series driver David Ragan and signed as a development driver for Roush Fenway Racing,^[2] Buescher began competing in ARCA competition in 2009; he went on to win the series championship in 2012, becoming the only driver ever to complete every lap in a season of competition in the series.^[3]

Buescher made his debut in NASCAR competition for Roush Fenway Racing in 2011, driving two races in the Nationwide Series;^[4] he returned to the series in 2013, driving in seven races for the team, in addition to a limited ARCA schedule with Roulo Bros. Racing.^[5]

In 2014, Buescher moved full-time to the Nationwide Series, driving the No. 60 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing.^[6] After failing to qualify at Daytona, Buescher had a solid rookie season, finishing ninth at Las Vegas, 7th at Richmond, second at Talladega, ninth at Charlotte, 11th at Dover, tenth at Michigan, and 12th at the July Daytona race. Buescher finished fifth at New Hampshire to earn a spot in the second Nationwide Dash 4 Cash race at Chicagoland;^[7] he would finish 8th at Chicago and 11th at Indianapolis. Fastenal returned to sponsor the 60 at Iowa,^[8] where Buescher finished 14th. Cup sponsors Kellogg's and Cheez-It sponsored the car at Watkins Glen.^[9] Buescher won the Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio on August 16, his first career win.

Buescher returned to the No. 60 Ford in the newly renamed Xfinity Series for 2015.^[10] Buescher started the season with a runner-up finish to teammate Ryan Reed at Daytona in the Alert Today Florida 300. Then, Buescher followed up that second-place finish with another top-five finish, fourth, in the Hisense 250 at Atlanta giving him a tie for the points lead with a fellow competitor Ty Dillon. Buescher scored the second series win of his career at Iowa Speedway after passing Chase Elliott for the lead on the final restart of the race, Elliott had led 114 laps but couldn't hold off a hard charge from Buescher.^[11] Two weeks later, Buescher would be back in victory lane at Dover International Speedway for his second win in 2015; However, Buescher made contact with teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. near the end of the race to make the winning pass and Wallace was upset with his teammate as he cut a tire as a result of the contact and would go on to say "I would say I am happy Roush won but I’m not."^[12]

In the final race of the 2015 season, Buescher won his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship at Homestead Miami Speedway on November 21, 2015. He finished 11th in the race after receiving the Lucky Dog to get back on the lead lap. Kyle Larson won the race. Buescher was able to hold off defending champion (of the then Nationwide Series) Chase Elliott, Ty Dillon, and Regan Smith in points to win the title.

Buescher made his Cup Series debut in the No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports at Fontana in 2015,^[13] filling in for David Ragan, who had been substituting for Kyle Busch, who was out for a fractured leg; Buescher finished 20th. Buescher ran five additional Cup races for FRM in 2015.

On December 10, 2015, it was announced that Buescher would move up to Sprint Cup to drive FRM's No. 34 full-time in 2016.^[14] Front Row entered an alliance with Roush Fenway.

Superspeedway wrecks plagued the No. 34 team. Buescher started the season with a hard crash at Daytona with Matt DiBenedetto, finishing 39th. He described this accident, by calling it "the hardest hit of my career.” At Talladega, on lap 96, Buescher was involved in a crash that sent his car into a barrel roll, flipping three times before landing; he was not injured in the accident.^[15] Buescher also wrecked out of the summer Daytona race, finishing last.

Things began to turn around after Daytona, with Buescher finishing 14th in his rookie attempt at the Brickyard 400. One week later at Pocono, Buescher took the lead late in the Pennsylvania 400 by being on a different pit sequence. Buescher took the lead just before a massive cloud of fog moved over the track. After an hour of waiting, NASCAR gave up on trying to wait out the fog due to approaching severe weather and called the race, giving Buescher his first NASCAR Cup Series victory and the second win for Front Row Motorsports. Buescher, with the win, became the first driver since Joey Logano in 2009 to win a race as a Cup Series Rookie of the Year candidate (In 2011, Trevor Bayne won a race during his part-time rookie season but was not running for the Cup Series Rookie of the Year award). Buescher also became the first rookie to win at Pocono since Denny Hamlin in 2006. Buescher also brought Front Row Motorsports its first win in 118 races going back to David Ragan at Talladega in 2013.^[16] Despite the win, Buescher was not automatically guaranteed a Chase position because he was outside the Top 30 in driver points, the minimum standing required to qualify for the Chase. At Bristol, Buescher finished 5th to move into the 30th points position, moving past David Ragan. Buescher passed his teammate Landon Cassill for 29th in the standings at Richmond and locked in his place in the Chase.

He began the Chase in the 13th position in points. Buescher would be easily eliminated after the first round though due to underfunded equipment and poor finishes. He finished 28th at Chicagoland, 30th at New Hampshire, and 23rd at Dover.

On November 29, 2016, Roush Fenway announced the sale of their charter for the No. 16 car to JTG Daugherty Racing, with Buescher taking over the new ride.^[17] The car was officially announced as No. 37 on December 12, 2016.^[18]

Buescher began 2017 with a crash in the Daytona 500, finishing 35th. The next week at Atlanta, he finished 24th. In the next race, Las Vegas, he finished 23rd. He followed this up with a 27th place outing at Phoenix, and then 25th place at Auto Club. At Martinsville, Buescher scored a season-best 11th-place finish, one spot shy of a third-career top 10. He eventually scored his first Top 10, with JTG at Daytona, finishing 10th. The Coke Zero 400 was also the first time both JTG Daugherty cars finished inside the Top 10, with teammate A. J. Allmendinger finishing 8th.

In 2018, Buescher would get his third career Top 5 at both the February Daytona 500 race, and the July Daytona night race. He would be shy of three top 10 finishes in 2018, finishing in the 11th–13th position four times, and failed to finish thrice, once due to transmission failure. He ended the season 24th in points, two positions behind Allmendinger.

In 2019, Buescher scored the first consecutive Top 10 finishes of his Cup Series career, as he followed up a 10th-place finish at the 2019 Digital Ally 400 at Kansas Speedway with a sixth-place result at the 2019 Coca-Cola 600. On September 25, 2019, Roush Fenway Racing announced that Buescher would replace Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No. 17 Ford in 2020.^[19][20]

Buescher started the 2020 season with a 3rd-place finish at the 2020 Daytona 500. He struggled initially when returning from the COVID-19 pandemic, but scored a top-10 at Charlotte. Through the latter half of the regular season, Buescher scored 4 more Top 10s, including 5th place at the inaugural Daytona Road Course race. Buescher would finish the season 21st in points, with a career-high 8 Top 10's throughout the season, doubling his previous best in a season which was 4.

Buescher displayed more consistency in his finishes during the 2021 season, staying within the top 20 in the points standings. He finished second at the 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, but was disqualified when his car failed post-race inspection due to a rear sub-frame assembly violation.^[21]

Buescher started the 2022 season with a 16th place finish at the 2022 Daytona 500. He also scored top-10 finishes at Phoenix, Atlanta, and Dover, where he recorded his first career Cup Series pole. At the Coca-Cola 600, Buescher was involved in a crash early in the final stage after he hit Daniel Suárez who spun on the restart. Buescher's right front wheel dug into the tri-oval grass, lifting the car off the ground and sending it into a barrel roll. Buescher's car rolled 5 times before landing upside down. After his car was rolled back over by safety officials, Buescher walked out of the car under his own power. Buescher was forced to miss Gateway after testing positive for COVID-19; he was substituted with Zane Smith.^[22] A week later, Buescher returned to the No. 17 and finished second to Daniel Suárez at Sonoma.^[23] On June 28, 2022, crew chief Scott Graves was suspended for four races due to a tire and wheel loss at Nashville.^[24] Despite not making the playoffs, Buescher led a race-high 169 laps and managed to score his second career win at the Bristol night race, snapping a 222 race winless streak for himself and a five-year drought for the team.^[25]

Buescher began the 2023 season with a fourth-place finish at the 2023 Daytona 500. He held off Denny Hamlin to win at Richmond to make his first playoff appearance since 2016.^[26] Buescher would go back-to-back for the first time in his career and win the next week's race at Michigan, the first time RFK Racing had won two consecutive races since Carl Edwards won the final two races of the 2010 season.^[27] He then scored his third win at the Daytona night race.^[28] Buescher would advance to the Round of 12 in the playoffs and then to the Round of 8, both for the first time in his career. Despite failing to make the Championship 4, Buescher finished a career-best seventh in the points standings, with 3 wins, 9 top fives, 17 top tens, and an average finish of 12.2, all career highs.

Buescher started the 2024 season with an 18th place finish at the 2024 Daytona 500. At Kansas, Buescher finished second to Kyle Larson by 0.001 seconds - the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.^[29] The following week, during the 2024 Goodyear 400, Buescher was walled by Tyler Reddick in a fight for the win after Reddick dove to Buescher’s left in Turn 3. Reddick drifted high and contacted Buescher, who had nowhere to go but to bounce off the SAFER barrier to his right. Buescher unleashed his frustrations on him with a shove and a stern discussion, Reddick didn’t offer a defense for the contact and was apologetic after climbing out of his damaged No. 45 Toyota.^[30] Despite missing the playoffs, Buescher won at Watkins Glen after Shane van Gisbergen brushed the wall near the Bus Stop on the final lap.^[31]

Buescher married in 2018, during the Easter off weekend in the NASCAR schedule.^[32] In December 2022, he and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter Charley. Buscher and wife Emma live on a micro farm near New London, North Carolina with their many pets and outdoor toys, they also volunteer with the local humane society in Albemarle.

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Points	Position
2009	ARCA Re/Max Series	Roulo Brothers Racing	7	0	3	5	1560	25th
2010	ARCA Racing Series	Roulo Brothers Racing	8	2	3	5	1625	20th
2011	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Roush Fenway Racing	2	0	0	0	54	57th
	ARCA Racing Series	Roulo Brothers Racing	19	3	14	16	4880	2nd
2012	ARCA Racing Series	Roulo Brothers Racing	19	4	12	16	4885	1st
2013	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Roush Fenway Racing	7	0	0	2	199	34th
	ARCA Racing Series	Roulo Brothers Racing	4	1	1	1	575	46th
2014	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Roush Fenway Racing	32	1	5	14	1014	7th
2015	NASCAR Cup Series	Front Row Motorsports	6	0	0	0	0	NC†
	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Roush Fenway Racing	33	2	11	20	1190	1st
2016	NASCAR Cup Series	Front Row Motorsports	36	1	2	2	2169	16th
2017	NASCAR Cup Series	JTG Daugherty Racing	36	0	0	4	564	25th
2018	NASCAR Cup Series	JTG Daugherty Racing	36	0	2	2	585	24th
2019	NASCAR Cup Series	JTG Daugherty Racing	36	0	0	4	729	20th
2020	NASCAR Cup Series	Roush Fenway Racing	36	0	2	8	645	21st
2021	NASCAR Cup Series	Roush Fenway Racing	36	0	1	8	771	19th
2022	NASCAR Cup Series	RFK Racing	35	1	3	10	727	21st
2023	NASCAR Cup Series	RFK Racing	36	3	9	17	2310	7th
2024	NASCAR Cup Series	RFK Racing	35	1	6	14	*	*

^† As Buescher was running for points in the Xfinity series, he was ineligible for championship points in the Cup series.

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

NASCAR Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NCSC	Pts	Ref
2015	Front Row Motorsports	34	Ford	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL 20	MAR 24	TEX 30	BRI 25	RCH	TAL 24	KAN	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	POC	GLN 37	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	CLT	KAN	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	62nd	01	[33]
2016				DAY 39	ATL 28	LVS 26	PHO 30	CAL 33	MAR 33	TEX 28	BRI 21	RCH 34	TAL 37	KAN 24	DOV 18	CLT 37	POC 25	MCH 20	SON 30	DAY 40	KEN 37	NHA 29	IND 14	POC 1	GLN 30	BRI 5	MCH 35	DAR 17	RCH 24	CHI 28	NHA 30	DOV 23	CLT 16	KAN 21	TAL 22	MAR 27	TEX 21	PHO 32	HOM 24	16th	2169	[34]
2017	JTG Daugherty Racing	37	Chevy	DAY 35	ATL 24	LVS 23	PHO 27	CAL 25	MAR 11	TEX 21	BRI 39	RCH 17	TAL 15	KAN 18	CLT 20	DOV 23	POC 19	MCH 36	SON 19	DAY 10	KEN 16	NHA 25	IND 9	POC 28	GLN 11	MCH 6	BRI 27	DAR 17	RCH 32	CHI 27	NHA 21	DOV 30	CLT 18	TAL 17	KAN 6	MAR 21	TEX 22	PHO 37	HOM 20	25th	564	[35]
2018				DAY 5	ATL 25	LVS 15	PHO 29	CAL 30	MAR 23	TEX 15	BRI 36	RCH 26	TAL 11	DOV 20	KAN 34	CLT 29	POC 17	MCH 24	SON 12	CHI 22	DAY 5	KEN 23	NHA 20	POC 37	GLN 20	MCH 20	BRI 19	DAR 13	IND 25	LVS 15	RCH 30	ROV 17	DOV 25	TAL 21	KAN 16	MAR 13	TEX 23	PHO 18	HOM 23	24th	585	[36]
2019				DAY 37	ATL 9	LVS 18	PHO 16	CAL 16	MAR 21	TEX 20	BRI 22	RCH 22	TAL 30	DOV 23	KAN 10	CLT 6	POC 14	MCH 16	SON 16	CHI 18	DAY 17	KEN 10	NHA 15	POC 16	GLN 13	MCH 14	BRI 17	DAR 12	IND 15	LVS 18	RCH 31	ROV 18	DOV 36	TAL 20	KAN 13	MAR 12	TEX 19	PHO 16	HOM 16	20th	729	[37]
2020	Roush Fenway Racing	17	Ford	DAY 3	LVS 14	CAL 16	PHO 17	DAR 32	DAR 23	CLT 10	CLT 22	BRI 23	ATL 22	MAR 13	HOM 23	TAL 6	POC 10	POC 36	IND 31	KEN 20	TEX 19	KAN 33	NHA 25	MCH 20	MCH 20	DRC 5	DOV 16	DOV 14	DAY 9	DAR 26	RCH 24	BRI 8	LVS 9	TAL 22	ROV 20	KAN 21	TEX 34	MAR 38	PHO 20	21st	645	[38]
2021				DAY 31	DRC 11	HOM 19	LVS 14	PHO 18	ATL 7	BRD 14	MAR 13	RCH 25	TAL 21	KAN 8	DAR 9	DOV 17	COA 13	CLT 8	SON 16	NSH 36	POC 20	POC 19	ROA 18	ATL 16	NHA 29	GLN 17	IRC 12	MCH 15	DAY 40	DAR 9	RCH 24	BRI 23	LVS 25	TAL 6	ROV 3	TEX 21	KAN 12	MAR 9	PHO 25	19th	771	[39]
2022	RFK Racing			DAY 16	CAL 35	LVS 18	PHO 10	ATL 7	COA 21	RCH 15	MAR 15	BRD 15	TAL 38	DOV 8	DAR 16	KAN 27	CLT 26	GTW	SON 2	NSH 30	ROA 6	ATL 33	NHA 17	POC 29	IRC 10	MCH 16	RCH 3	GLN 9	DAY 27	DAR 26	KAN 15	BRI 1*	TEX 30	TAL 25	ROV 6	LVS 15	HOM 13	MAR 24	PHO 21	21st	727	[40]
2023				DAY 4	CAL 13	LVS 21	PHO 15	ATL 35	COA 8	RCH 30	BRD 18	MAR 14	TAL 3	DOV 9	KAN 17	DAR 10	CLT 8	GTW 12	SON 4	NSH 18	CSC 10	ATL 15	NHA 15	POC 18	RCH 1	MCH 1*	IRC 11	GLN 7	DAY 1	DAR 3	KAN 27	BRI 4	TEX 14	TAL 19	ROV 7	LVS 11	HOM 21	MAR 8	PHO 5	7th	2310	[41]
2024				DAY 18	ATL 9	LVS 37	PHO 2	BRI 7	COA 8	RCH 9	MAR 15	TEX 15	TAL 25	DOV 17	KAN 2	DAR 30	CLT 23	GTW 14	SON 3	IOW 18	NHA 5	NSH 5	CSC 20	POC 11	IND 22	RCH 18	MCH 6	DAY 10	DAR 6	ATL 36	GLN 1	BRI 14	KAN 11	TAL 17	ROV 17	LVS 10	HOM 15	MAR 30	PHO 9	17th	930	[42]
2025				DAY	ATL	COA	PHO	LVS	HOM	MAR	DAR	BRI	TAL	TEX	KAN	CLT	NSH	MCH	MXC	POC	ATL	CSC	SON	DOV	IND	IOW	GLN	RCH	DAY	DAR	GTW	BRI	NHA	KAN	ROV	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO	-*	-*

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2016	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	17	39
2017	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	37	35
2018			21	5
2019			15	37
2020	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	19	3
2021			22	31
2022	RFK Racing		4	16
2023			9	4
2024			19	18

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2011	Roush Fenway Racing	16	Ford	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	TAL	NSH	RCH 17	DAR 17	DOV	IOW	CLT	CHI	MCH	ROA	DAY	KEN	NHA	NSH	IRP	IOW	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM	57th	54	[43]
2013	Roush Fenway Racing	16	Ford	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI 7	CAL	TEX 17	RCH	TAL	DAR 12	CLT 38	DOV	IOW	MCH 7	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN			ATL 13	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN 16	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM		34th	199	[44]
		6																							MOH QL†	BRI
2014		60		DAY DNQ	PHO 15	LVS 9	BRI 16	CAL 14	TEX 27	DAR 34	RCH 7	TAL 2	IOW 13	CLT 9	DOV 11	MCH 10	ROA 18	KEN 18	DAY 12	NHA 5	CHI 8	IND 11	IOW 14	GLN 29	MOH 1	BRI 10	ATL 13	RCH 10	CHI 12	KEN 7	DOV 4	KAN 28	CLT 6	TEX 13	PHO 12	HOM 5		7th	1014	[45]
2015				DAY 2	ATL 4	LVS 14	PHO 14	CAL 5	TEX 9	BRI 3	RCH 20	TAL 6	IOW 1	CLT 11	DOV 1	MCH 4	CHI 5	DAY 12	KEN 11	NHA 14	IND 16	IOW 13	GLN 3	MOH 4	BRI 11*	ROA 9	DAR 5	RCH 10	CHI 7	KEN 7	DOV 8	CLT 7	KAN 6	TEX 11	PHO 13	HOM 11		1st	1190	[46]
† – Qualified for Trevor Bayne

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2009	Roulo Brothers Racing	17	Ford	DAY	SLM 4	CAR	TAL	KEN	TOL 17	POC	MCH	MFD 3	IOW 4	KEN	BLN	POC	ISF	CHI	TOL 8	DSF	NJE	SLM 21	KAN	CAR 6	25th	1560	[47]
2010				DAY	PBE	SLM 12	TEX	TAL	TOL 1*	POC	MCH	IOW 11	MFD 7	POC	BLN	NJE 3	ISF	CHI	DSF	TOL 1	SLM 11	KAN	CAR 7		20th	1625	[48]
2011				DAY 2	TAL 5	SLM 22	TOL 5	NJE 15	CHI 2	POC 2	MCH 5	WIN 2	BLN 7	IOW 3	IRP 22	POC 3	ISF 8	MAD 2*	DSF 1	SLM 1*	KAN 2	TOL 1			2nd	4880	[49]
2012				DAY 20	MOB 6	SLM 7	TAL 17	TOL 1*	ELK 3	POC 5	MCH 1	WIN 4	NJE 3	IOW 13	CHI 4	IRP 7	POC 5	BLN 1	ISF 5	MAD 1*	SLM 2	DSF C	KAN 8		1st	4885	[50]
2013				DAY 30	MOB	SLM	TAL	TOL	ELK	POC	MCH														46th	575	[51]
		99										ROA 1	WIN	CHI	NJE 22	POC	BLN	ISF	MAD	DSF	IOW	SLM 18	KEN	KAN

• Official profile at RFK Racing
• Chris Buescher driver statistics at Racing-Reference

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ty Dillon	ARCA Racing Series Champion 2012	Succeeded by Frank Kimmel
Preceded by Chase Elliott	NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion 2015	Succeeded by Daniel Suárez