CORONADO, Calif. — Chris Buescher made for some major movement on the NASCAR free-agency toteboard this week by not going anywhere. His decision to re-sign Tuesday as driver of RFK Racing’s No. 17 Ford gave near-equal measures of clarity for both the driver market and the NASCAR Cup Series veteran alike.
That dose of “Silly Season” serenity was a refreshing positive for Buescher as he approached the opening day of on-track activity at Naval Base Coronado, which will host the Cup Series for the first time in Sunday’s Anduril 250 (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the Qualcomm Circuit.
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Buescher said the decision was a heartfelt one, choosing to continue his journey with team founder Jack Roush, who helped advance his career by believing in him so many years ago. The next box to check, Buescher said, would be to help RFK Racing back to its winning ways.
“It’s nice to put it, I guess, in the rearview, but to know you have a home and we’re going to be everyone pulling the rope in the same direction and being focused on the right things and not trying to figure out if you’re coming back or not,” Buescher said. “Fortunately, it’s another one of those times where I’m able to have that comfort side of it and that focus onto what’s really important when we go to race tracks and winning races. You’ve seen it through the years so many times, where it can become a massive distraction for others, and we won’t be listed in that category.
“So I think that we have a ton of potential right now. We’re really close, and it’s those last two steps that are always the most difficult, right? And they’re much smaller steps, but they’re the ones that are going to matter the most to be able to get into Victory Lane.”
Brad Keselowski, co-owner of RFK Racing, acknowledged that other teams made serious bids for Buescher’s services on the free-agency market, but Keselowski said he saw the value in keeping the 33-year-old driver in the fold.
“Chris right now is obviously a cornerstone of our company,” Keselowski said. “He’s delivered results. He puts us in a position to win and compete that I’m really proud of. He’s doing all the work he needs to do to be successful. He’s taken his lumps, paid a lot of dues, and we just want to give him the best car we can give him so he can win races. There was a lot of competition for Chris and a lot of teams in the garage area that wanted him. It was not a layup for us to re-sign him, but we feel fortunate that he felt our commitment was strong enough to want to stay with us.”
Buescher enters Sunday’s race ranked a solid seventh in Cup Series standings, searching for his first victory of the season. He enters as a stealthy road-course threat, holding a 9.76 average finish since 2022 on the twisty layouts.
Buescher’s most recent Cup Series win came in September 2024, when he famously outdueled heavy favorite Shane van Gisbergen for an impressive Watkins Glen International triumph. He may need to summon that sort of strength again come Sunday, but the hunger for a Victory Lane return remains a major motivation.
“We’re coming to the race track to figure out how to put wins on the board,” Buescher said, “and when you do that, and you’re in the hunt for it, and you’re close, you put points on the board. It’s the side effect of running well, not the goal, right? It’s not just to simply put numbers up and say that was good enough. It’s a race to win, and when you’re in the hunt, the rest comes with it.”
