TALLADEGA, Ala. — As a multi-time winner in the Cup Series, Chris Buescher knows the difficulty of going to Victory Lane at NASCAR’s top level.
The No. 17 RFK Racing driver found himself on the losing end of a back-and-forth duel for the win Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, falling short to Carson Hocevar, who scored his maiden triumph at the iconic venue.
Through a twist in the stages, a massive wreck in the second segment and losing his teammates in the closing laps, Buescher wheeled home his fifth career runner-up result — one that he’ll take following a stressful race.
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“It was a good, hard race,” Buescher said. “I did have to (force to) make a move to try and win the race. Obviously, it just came a little bit sooner than we needed to take the momentum forward first. That’s racing.”
Near Buescher at the start/finish line was Alex Bowman.
Adversity has plagued the Tucson, Arizona native and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team all season, most notably as Bowman was ousted from the car for four races due to vertigo. But finally, Bowman put one on the board in 2026 with a third-place result and his first top-five run since Richmond Raceway last summer.
“It feels good,” Bowman said. “Things went our way there and obviously called the strategy correctly, and we’re able to stay up front there. Feels good to get a solid finish. It’s been hard just to finish races this year so glad to make that happen and happy for Carson getting his first one there.”
The final 20 laps were a side-by-side showdown of who in the second row could give the stronger push to the lane leader.
SHOP: Carson Hocevar gear
Buescher got plenty of help from the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota driven by Erik Jones. However, Jones was sent careening off the track with five laps to go after a body slam from Hocevar off Turn 4 as the No. 77 got squirrelly from a Ricky Stenhouse Jr. shove.
Buescher admitted that losing Jones on the final restart was a deterrent in returning to Victory Lane for the first time since Watkins Glen in 2024.
“Before the last caution, Erik Jones and the 43 was a fantastic pusher, had a ton of speed, and was hooking up really well,” Buescher said. “That was probably our race-winning move was having hm behind us. The 47 (Stenhouse) was strong too, but Jones behind us just kept better momentum up and when he got turned there, it really hurt our chances. Little lonely again up there without our RFK teammates or any friendlies around.”
While those in the rearview mirror were the difference for Buescher’s fate, what laid in front of Bowman, he said, determined his outcome.
“I think letting guys down in front of me when I restarted there from the front row was really kind of what sealed our fate,” Bowman said. “We needed Carson to get shoved out there and try to move up to block a run and open the bottom up. Other than that, like I was just wide open pushing Carson the best I could trying to give him that run, and also to try to get Chevrolet in Victory Lane and get the Hendrick engine shop a win just try to push like hell and glad it worked out.”
The fear of crashing at a track as fast as Talladega sticks in the back of the head of all competitors behind the wheel at the superspeedway. With the handful of times Bowman has been sidelined due to injury, there’s a greater reward for the 33-year-old veteran aside from the finish.
“The bigger relief for me is not to crash at a place like this,” Bowman said. “I don’t have many big hits left in me and I’m tired of crashing. I don’t think that you can be in the race car actively worried about crashing, but it’s just something you know that is a high possibility when you come to a speedway. You’re probably gonna hit some stuff pretty hard.”
The mental hurdle of getting back in the race car and having the confidence to complete the full mileage of a Cup event is the next step in the big-picture process for Bowman to return to the level he expects.
There’s a long road ahead for Bowman who is just looking to piece together in respectable 2026 campaign as Sunday’s third-place result leaves him still 36th in Cup points after six starts.
“I would say the mental side of these last two months has been tough just with how the season started, how last year ended, and then kind of getting kicked while you’re down,” Bowman said. “So, yeah, it feels good to have a solid run. A win would feel better and hopefully we can grab one of those somewhere along the way this year.”
