Buescher secures spot in playoffs
RICHMOND, Va. — Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart with three laps to go Sunday to win at Richmond Raceway and snag one of the final spots in NASCAR’s playoff field.
Buescher led 88 laps and was ahead by nearly six seconds when a caution came out with under 10 laps to go. That erased his lead over Virginia native Denny Hamlin, who was booed by his hometown crowd before the race.
But Hamlin got a poor final restart and Buescher easily pulled away for his first Cup Series win of the season, third of his career.
“I knew that last restart was going to be tough, but I knew we had the speed in this thing,” Buescher said.
He and RFK Racing teammate Brad Keselowski led a combined 190 of the 400 laps in their Fords.
Keselowski, now a part owner of the team, led 102 laps on the 0.75-mile oval.
Buescher started 26th and had to drive the field for the win that locked him into the 16-driver playoff field with four races remaining in the regular season. Buescher became the 13th race winner this year, leaving three playoff spots up for grabs over the next month.
Hamlin, winner last week at Pocono, finished second in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch was third in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, followed by the Fords of Joey Logano from Team Penske, and Ryan Preece of Stewart-Haas Racing.
“One win is good, but you get three or four or five and then you feel a lot better,” said Keselowski. “It sure beats not having any at all, but we want to keep going. It’s nice to have one car locked in the playoffs.”
Keselowski, despite being winless this season, is still mathematically in contention for the playoffs.
The race was slowed just three times by caution flags., with the final yellow sending the leaders to pit road for four tires with eight laps to go. When the green flag was shown again, Buescher used the inside line to pull away for his third career victory.
Hamlin’s bid for the victory ended on the second lap of the final sprint when he drove in too deep in the first turn and slid up the track.