After every race that NASCAR runs, one competitor retreats to the garage feeling the sting of a runner-up finish — a solid result, sure, but saddled with the painful realization of coming up just one spot short of glory at the end of a hard-fought day.
No one, perhaps, feels that sting more than RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher, whose second-place finish to Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 driver Kyle Larson one year ago at Kansas Speedway slots in as the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history. Buescher crossed the line last spring at the 1.5-mile tri-oval a hair after Larson — 0.001 seconds, to be precise — and did not win the rest of the regular season, failing to make the playoffs after a seventh-place finish in the standings a year prior.
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The driver of the No. 17 Ford joined the latest edition of NASCAR Inside the Race hosted by Steve Letarte to break down that close battle to the finish between him and Larson and what he might’ve done differently.
“Obviously, a lot of thought went into that one the week after,” Buescher said. “If we had it to do all over again, we probably would’ve run a little bit higher in (Turns) 1 and 2 and ultimately kept the momentum up there. I think that would’ve been the way to go; we had been really good at running the bottom at Kansas than most, and on that last run to the end, I thought we’d be able to keep the momentum up. Ultimately, it wasn’t the case there.”
Letarte then made the point that there is “no sim for that moment.” Drivers can practice on their respective manufacturer’s simulators in the weeks leading up to a race weekend and dial in the specifics of a race setup, but no amount of simulator time can prepare you for that final run to the finish and what moves to expect from other competitors also doing whatever they can to cross the line first.
“I think we came off of (Turn) 4 there and had his quarter-panel and were going to be able to switch the momentum around,” Buescher said. “When we got door-to-door there, that big hit turned us really sideways. It just killed our momentum there, as much as we thought we were going to be OK. The first (hit) didn’t help, but the second one right here is where it took all of our speed away.
“You know what, it was a good race. It’s a little bit easier to joke about now and certainly wasn’t in the moment, but we basically have a trophy for being the closest loser in NASCAR, so it’s not a good trophy to put up on the shelf.”
Watch the full clip below, and tune in Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1 as Buescher looks to get the real trophy — by finishing one spot higher.
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