RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher, who pilots the No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, has addressed Ford Performance’s race win drought ahead of the NASCAR Cup Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Ford has only accrued one Cup race win in the last 12 races with Ryan Blaney’s victory in the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in the No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske.
Buescher, who has his sights set on securing a spot in the playoffs at Daytona, discussed whether the Daytona International Speedway will be advantageous to Ford Performance.
“I did not realise that either. I know that ultimately we’ve been close and we’ve had really good days and we’ve had some rough days mixed in there as well over the past couple of months,” the 32-year-old explained to the media.
“I think a lot of it is situational and we just know that it’s hard to win these races now. The field is closer than ever, and you just have to be perfect. It comes down to details in all these races to be able to pull it off and we just haven’t been able to get all the details right in any one given race, so that’s kind of where we’ve fallen short a couple of times.
“I don’t look at our chances as being worse from a Ford or manufacturers’ side here, or an RFK side or any of that. There was a time we looked at speedway racing within our little core group at RFK, and speedway racing was circled as a better chance than anywhere else, but I’m pretty proud to say that’s not our company right now.
“We feel good no matter where we’re heading into and feel like we have equal opportunities at a lot of different styles of race tracks, and this one being another one of those.”
Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 marks the end of the Cup regular season, meaning drivers have one final opportunity to secure a spot in the playoffs.
“Obviously, there’s a factor in this one that is chaos, it’s mindsets of cut-offs,” Buescher continued.
“There are probably only three or four cars that are legitimately trying to chase any points in the race. A lot of different things that will come into it and keep it exciting throughout the evening.
“I know we don’t practise and a single lap of qualifying doesn’t really show you anything for the race, but I know our cars will be fast. I know they will drive really well. They will push and take a push really well.
“The field knows that and we’re able to find help because of that as well, so I think that we have a very strong opportunity here, not because it’s a speedway, simply because this has been a good track for our organisation as a whole.”
Buescher has seen a slew of strong race results at Daytona International Speedway with four top-10 finishes, including one win in the last five starts at the track.
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