NASCAR: Buescher scores Bristol victory, champions eliminated from playoffs

In a race dotted with drama, Chris Buescher was victorious in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night for the first win in the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing era.

The 500-lap fight also served as the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 16. Numerous championship contenders found adversity around the half-mile, high-banked oval. But at the checkered flag, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suárez and Austin Cindric advanced to the Round of 12, the second of four championship rounds.

Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick were eliminated from playoff contention.

Elliott was 0.458 seconds behind Buescher at the finish. William Byron came home third, followed by Christopher Bell, who posted his third straight top-five finish in the Round of 16. Kyle Larson was fifth and Ross Chastain sixth, as all five drivers immediately behind Buescher in the finishing order advanced to the Round of 12.

When race leader Christopher Bell suffered a flat tire at Lap 436 that brought out the caution flag, Harvick was running third. But on the ensuing pit stop, the team left the left-front wheel loose, forcing Harvick to reverse to his pit stall. The No. 4 Ford fell to 10th place and was unable to recover, resulting in the team’s elimination.

The drama started early when Austin Cindric suffered a flat right-front tire on Lap 85. Seven laps later, Blaney suffered the same fate and contacted the wall heavily. The No. 12 team met the minimum speed, but was forced to head to the garage as his team fixed suspension damage. Blaney ultimately finished 30th, 161 laps down.

Cindric was multiple laps down throughout the course of the race after his issues, but attrition, as the race progressed, saw the No. 2 Ford rally up the running order. He finished 20th and claimed the final available spot in the Round of 12 in his rookie season by a mere two points.

On the other side of the elimination line was Busch, a two-time Cup champion who had previously never failed to advance out of the Round of 16. But an engine failure at Lap 269 at Bristol was his second such issue in this year’s opening trio of races. Combined with a 26th-place result at Kansas, Busch was left vulnerable in the points standings. As others turned laps, Busch fell through the running order and eventually out of the playoffs.

“Definitely. It just goes with our year. I don’t even know what to say. I’m flabbergasted. I just feel so bad for my guys. They don’t deserve to be in this spot. They work too hard. We are too good of a group to be this low – down on the bottom, fighting for our lives just to make it through. Two engine failures in three weeks, that will do it to you. I really feel bad for all of Rowdy Nation, everybody at M&M’s, Interstate Batteries, Rowdy Energy, all of the partners that get us going every week. This is not our normal.”

A multi-car crash at Lap 277 involved Suárez, Dillon, Reddick and Bowman and thwarted the playoff hopes of Dillon and Reddick. At the checkered flag, Reddick was tied with Busch for 13th, two points behind Cindric.

Brad Keselowski led a season-high 109 laps on Saturday but felt his right-front tire go flat while leading in the final 100 laps, relegating him to a 13th-place finish while teammate Buescher went to Victory Lane.

Buescher said he wasn’t worried about starting the final run on two fresh tires, even though everyone chasing had four.

“I wasn’t a bit,” he asserted. “It was up to me at that point. I made it work, and we had a really fast (car). We knew we had a really fast race car in practice and didn’t quite get the job done in qualifying (20th)—but what a race car.

“I don’t know what all to say right now. I’m out of breath. This place will wear you flat-out, and I love that about it. It’s just a special night.”

Elliott got closer to Buescher on the final two laps but ran out of time.

“I felt like we were gaining, but it was… I wasn’t close enough to do anything with him,” Elliott said. “But I appreciate the effort. We had a long day yesterday. Was able to battle back from a bad qualifying effort (23rd) to get a top two, so proud of that.

“Glad to be moving on (in the Playoff) and looking forward to some more opportunities here these coming weeks.”

Race Results

Average Speed of Race Winner:  88.286 mph.
Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 1 Mins, 7 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.458 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  11 for 80 laps.
Lead Changes:  12 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   A. Almirola 1-35;R. Blaney (P) 36-44;A. Almirola 45;B. Keselowski 46-128;C. Bell (P) 129;C. Buescher 130-237;C. Bell (P) 238-356;K. Larson (P) 357-387;B. Keselowski 388-413;C. Bell (P) 414-435;K. Larson (P) 436-438;C. Bell (P) 439;C. Buescher 440-500.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Chris Buescher 2 times for 169 laps; Christopher Bell (P) 4 times for 143 laps; Brad Keselowski 2 times for 109 laps; Aric Almirola 2 times for 36 laps; Kyle Larson (P) 2 times for 34 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 1 time for 9 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 6,20,18,14,5,48,17,8,24,19
Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,1,14,9,18,48,24,3,5,4