FORT WORTH, Texas — Aside from winning crown-jewel races, capturing the checkered flag at Texas Motor Speedway ranks high on Chris Buescher’s wish list.
The native cowboy, billed from 50 miles northeast of the Lone Star State’s 1.5-mile track, has never seen the fruits of the No. 17 team’s labor at TMS. In 16 prior starts, he had never cracked the top 10 in the final rundown, scoring a best finish of 14th in 2023.
Before hitting the track for practice on Saturday, Buescher oozed confidence. The intermediate program for RFK Racing has shone brightly early in 2026, with the No. 17 car having a pair of top 10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. And though Texas is a vastly different cookie-cutter, he thought the same principles would apply.
Boy, did they.
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Buescher was in the hunt throughout the duration of Sunday’s Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly, tallying four stage points and leaving home soil with a fifth-place finish.
“We have run this well here; we just haven’t finished here,” Buescher told reporters after scoring consecutive top-five finishes. “We’ve had poor luck, bad decisions — whatever it may be. If it’s a hometown curse, we at least broke through that this go around.”
Four cautions over a 33-lap period plagued the end of the opening stage and the beginning of Stage 2. Strategy was all over the board, including for Buescher’s RFK teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece, who stayed out to earn more stage points on the day than the leader of the company’s clubhouse.
With the laps winding down, Buescher thought he was at worst a third-place car, trailing only Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin. But another late caution dropped his finishing position two spots.
“We felt good coming into this thing,” Buescher declared. “Felt like we were going to be in the hunt for a win and was just shy of truly being in the hunt to win it. Certainly, a top-five day and probably a top-three day without the last caution. Great execution on everybody’s part. Now it’s time to figure out how to up it a few more.
“It’s not a win, but it’s the result that we’ve deserved at a place that we’ve ran well all day long.”
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Despite the No. 17 team operating like a well-oiled machine at intermediate tracks in 2026, he remains unconvinced it represents their strongest point. No matter the layout or track type, he’s unfazed, believing that RFK is among the best organizations currently.
There is one uncertainty on the horizon, however, at a famed road course where he popped champagne at just two seasons ago.
“I feel like all of our programs are really strong right now,” Buescher added. “The only question I have right now at this point is Watkins Glen. I have a ton of confidence going in that it’s going to be good; COTA wasn’t as strong as we wanted to be. I feel really good about Watkins Glen coming up. Obviously, that’s been a good one through the years.”
Buescher leapt a pair of spots in the Regular Season Championship battle at Texas. He ranks fifth in points, with a 110-point buffer over the cutline.