Buescher prevails at Bristol in finale

Chris Buescher closed out a bizarre first round of NASCAR’s playoffs in which none of the title contenders won a race by becoming the 19th winner this season with his victory Saturday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

The second win of Buescher’s career marked the first time in this format of NASCAR’s postseason that a playoff driver failed to win a race during a round. Erik Jones

won the opener and Bubba Wallace won last week.

The 16-driver field was cut by four, and eliminated from the playoffs were Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and RCR teammates Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick.

Buescher won for RFK Racing, the longtime Jack Roush-owned

team that took on Brad Keselowski in the ownership group

this season.