Chris Buescher unsatisfied with Sonoma top five: ‘I hate points racing’

SONOMA, Calif. – For the second straight season, Chris Buescher left Sonoma Raceway with a top-five finish, his No. 17 RFK Racing Ford fourth at the checkered flag to back up his 2022 runner-up effort.

That was no solace for the veteran Texan, who simply wanted a trip to Victory Lane instead.

“We came here to win, and we’re not holding the trophy right now,” Buescher said. “That’s not to take away from what everybody at RFK has done and the consistency that we have at road races and what we’re able to do no matter which one it is. Can’t say enough about how proud I am of everybody working so hard on that. But just wanna win one of these things.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Indeed, Buescher has emerged as a regular contender on road courses since the Next Gen car debuted in 2022. His last seven road races have each produced top-10 finishes, a span dating back to last year’s Sonoma visit. That also includes a 10th-place finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course after his No. 17 car caught fire mid-race.

“All the top 10s and top fives in road racing is great,” he said. “It’s cool stats, and it’s consistency, and that means we’ll be ready for when things go our way. It’s a good day. Just want more.”

Instead, it was the No. 19 Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. that dominated the day, leading 51 of 110 laps around the 1.99-mile, 12-turn road course. Buescher was fast, but he was never able to properly challenge Truex for position.

“I really wanted a shot to try to fight the 19 there. It’s really the only car I didn’t quite get around,” Buescher said. “I think we had speed at times – two runs – and just didn’t work with track position. Everybody did a really nice job at RFK and our Fifth Third Bank Mustang. They did a great job on pit road, had some good strategy calls there. We’re where we needed to be, just needed it to finish a little bit differently for us, but it was a really strong day.”

Heading into the season’s lone off week, Buescher sits 11th in regular-season points, 102 points above the 16-driver elimination line to qualify for the NASCAR Playoffs. Of the drivers who have yet to win, Buescher has collected the third-most points behind only Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick, all with a 13.8 average finish, on pace to be a career-best by nearly four positions.

The points are great. But Buescher has little interest in them.

“I hate points racing. I hate every part of it,” Buescher said. “I know it’s a big part of our sport and continues to be more and more a part of it, but I just want to go race to win and not worry about the rest of it.”