Chris Buescher Did What He’s Supposed to Do
NASCAR is unlike any other sport. You have to compete against your teammate. Your teammate is one of 42 drivers trying to beat you. There is a line to cross when it comes to teammates but there also comes a time when you have to do whatever it takes to beat your teammate.
That time was Saturday at Dover International Speedway for Texas native Chris Buescher.
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Buescher was driving the No. 60 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing when in the closing stages of the Buckle Up 200 he came upon the leader and his teammate Bubba Wallace. Both drivers had fast racecars as they swept the front row in qualifying and found themselves in the top two positions in the closing stages of the race.
Buescher was able to track down Wallace and with nine laps to go Buescher dove low to try and pass Wallace. That’s when controversy arose. Buescher’s car then pushed up the track making slight contact with his teammate. The contact not only got Buescher past Wallace but also cut Wallace’s left tire down and he had to relinquish the second position to pit. He ended up finishing 17th.
It was a rough situation for Roush Fenway Racing especially for Wallace who was not pleased with Buescher after the race. Can you blame him? Wallace was going for his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory and the incident cost him not only that but a solid points day as well. Wallace is now fifth in points 49 points behind Buescher for the championship.
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Buescher, on the other hand, was celebrating in victory lane for the third time in his career and the second time this season. Buescher lengthened his points lead to 17 over second place driver Ty Dillon. Buescher’s actions at the end of the race has received a lot of backlash from fans and media alike. Buescher has been accused of racing his teammate “too hard” in the closing stages of the race. That point is just comical.
There are just a few times in a driver’s career where they have the opportunity to win a NASCAR race. It’s a drivers obligation to win a race if the car is capable enough to do that. Well Buescher’s car was capable enough to do that and in a sport where winning is everything he did what he had to do to win a race.
I think the NASCAR world has gotten a little soft in recent years. Buescher didn’t wreck his teammate intentionally. He didn’t go into turn three on Saturday with the intention of wrecking Bubba Wallace. He drove hard into the corner because late in the race that is what you’re supposed to do. Contact in NASCAR has gotten to almost non-exsistant. I am the first one to admit I don’t like seeing people wreck each other for the win but if contact is made because someone is driving hard for a win, that to me is great racing.
If Buescher had taken a bumper and wrecked Bubba Wallace for the win, my opinion on the incident would be completely different. Sure Monday probably wasn’t a very good day at the Roush Fenway headquarters in Concord, NC but for me it was a breath of fresh air.
Earlier this season there was speculation that when Kurt Busch won at Richmond in April his teammate Kevin Harvick backed off and sort of “let” Kurt Busch win since the victory would get Busch into the Chase. Harvick already had a win and was locked into the Chase. It made me sick to my stomach to think that something like that even goes through a driver’s mind, which in this case it may not have but I do believe that it has gone on in the past.
Back off to let your teammate win? Is that what your sponsors and car owners pay you for? Yet Chris Buescher gets ridiculed for “racing his teammate too hard?” Seriously? With 20 laps to go teammates go out the window. A driver should race their teammate as if they are any other driver.
With that being the case I ask you. If that were any other driver on Saturday is there a big uproar this week?