Chris Buescher, the driver of the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse, offered insights into NASCAR’s recent changes and his outlook on the season during a comprehensive interview at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Tuesday. In this Chris Buescher NASCAR interview, he discussed the revamped playoff format, technological updates, and the state of his team as he prepared for what he hopes will be an impactful run in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Buescher Responds to NASCAR Playoff Format Changes
Buescher expressed clear support for NASCAR’s updated playoff structure, pointing out both personal and broader team implications. The changes are designed to shift more emphasis onto season-long consistency while still rewarding victories, a balance Buescher welcomes. He reflected on missed playoff opportunities in previous seasons due to the prior format, seeing the new approach as both a nod to tradition and an improvement in fairness for teams like RFK Racing.
“Yeah, I’m obviously a proponent of it. Selfishly, it would have quite easily put us in the playoffs the last several years. Getting kicked out by a last-second winner, I mean obviously that’s on us. We have to win races and do better and just be a little bit better yet, but this new Chase or new, old, throwback, I don’t know what the exact way to go about it is, but I’m excited about it. It’s basically what I hoped we could achieve, understanding that a full season format probably was on the table. This is solid. I really like this. It sets us up, one, it does bring the consistency into it while still rewarding wins in a rather heavy way. It’s just not the guarantee from deep in the field after having just a less than mediocre year or whatever it may have been. Other people have played the system better than we have and it’s bit us, so this one definitely plays into our wheelhouse. We’re still going to adapt a little bit on our side and what we want to do when we go to the racetrack and how we approach, and chances we’re willing to take, but I’m pretty stoked about it. I think it’s a pretty good change throughout all of RFK, but for NASCAR in general. I know this has been a big ask from a lot of people that are sitting up in those stands right now, throughout our garage area. It’s a big win right there.”
– Chris Buescher, Driver, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse
He linked his reputation for consistency to his background in maintaining his own cars as a developing driver, explaining how this attention to reliability shaped his approach. Buescher said that while his cautious style has produced solid results, the format tweaks now encourage teams to strike a more aggressive balance in pursuit of both points and wins.
“The consistency that’s done us well for a lot of years, whatever it may have come from, I always attribute it to just working on my own race cars growing up and not wanting to fix wrecked ones, so that’s helped us be contenders and run well, but also finish and that’s gotten us really close, just not quite good enough. We’ve won some races along the way, but we need to be a little bit more aggressive on our side, too, and take a little bit more chances and maybe that doesn’t, it’s probably not the best timing for us to say we’re gonna change our ways when everything else is changing around us, but, ultimately, I think it’s gonna be the best thing for us not only to just make the playoffs, but to actually have a run towards a title.”
– Chris Buescher, Driver, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Adapting to New Technology: The Digital Dash Experience
Buescher confirmed that he tested NASCAR’s new digital dashboard during the North Wilkesboro practice session, and he observed that the transition felt seamless given his team’s efforts to retain a familiar layout. The only noticeable difference, he said, came from subtle visual updates that would be easy to miss without guidance from the team’s engineers.
“If you didn’t tell me it was new, I wouldn’t have known. We laid ours out to match the previous one we had in the car. Everything looks identical from where I’m at, with the exception of some new lights across the top built in. Their rather small, so I wouldn’t have caught on to it if somebody hadn’t pulled me aside. Our engineer was telling me what he was working on to try and match it up and how he had to alter some things, but it’s a pretty easy plug and play from where I’m at.”
– Chris Buescher, Driver, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Performance Insights from the Track
During practice, Buescher recounted racing incidents such as catching and passing fellow driver Zane Smith, emphasizing how the added horsepower and North Wilkesboro’s unique track layout affected his perception behind the wheel. He noted that increased power is felt most during longer runs and when dealing with tire wear, offering potential benefits without major drawbacks on various circuit types.
“I can’t give you a great answer on that right now. There’s no telling where the tires were at or what may have been going on, but North Wilkesboro for one is a very racy track. We have moved around from the start of the day, where we had two lanes and one-and-a-half lanes in one and two, and just buried on the bottom in three and four. Right at the lunch break, as soon as you guys rolled in, that opened up and we’ve got two lanes down in three and four, and right near the fence down here in one and two. The track itself does lead itself to better racing, but also you probably don’t notice the power from the get-go, but the tail end of the runs and some of the fall off and some of the struggles we’re fighting in the car, I think that’s where you realize you had more underneath you to get into this run, and now I’m maybe paying a price at this point. I certainly think there’s no down side to it, for sure. And I think that this is a track where even though it’s fresh asphalt, I think this is a track where you will see a little bit more change from it versus a place like Bristol that has just so much banking to hold a tire throughout the run. It’s probably not as big of a change there, but I think it’s definitely on the right track as well. Again, we just have a lot going on through the garage on other stuff to know exactly where I was at, but this track has been a lot of fun. I’m excited to get a big points race in here.”
– Chris Buescher, Driver, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse
In Memory of Greg Biffle and Relationships in Racing
Buescher recounted his experiences with Greg Biffle and reflected solemnly on a challenging offseason. He recalled joining Roush in a development capacity during Biffle’s tenure with the team. This season has been marked by loss within the sport, highlighting the personal connections and friendships drivers form over years of collaboration and competition.
“I was several series below, but came into Roush on the development side when Greg was running the 16 car there. I would say it’s been an awful offseason in a lot of ways. It’s just really tragic. We were friends, loose friends, just from being around Roush at the same time and different functions through the years. It’s just something you don’t think about. A lot of things have hit our sport and it’s definitely been a tough go.”
– Chris Buescher, Driver, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Evaluating Horsepower Increases Across Different Tracks
The discussion shifted to NASCAR’s increase in engine horsepower this season. Buescher was clear in his belief that more power will benefit racing at a variety of tracks. He reflected on his own racing past, recalling when high horsepower was the norm and expressing enthusiasm about returning to those levels. He cited specific examples of tracks where these changes could have a particularly strong impact, such as Richmond and Loudon, while speculating on less pronounced effects at tracks like Bristol.
“Everywhere. More horsepower is not gonna hurt us anywhere. Like I said, we have a lot going on today and we’re getting ready to throw a lot more at it. They’re working on big changes right now for some potential packages that could make the racing better. It should help anywhere. I think about the days in my racing career. The most power I ever had in a race car was an ARCA car. About the time I got into the Xfinity Series and Cup was still up there in the 900s. It got knocked back right when I was able to find my way in the door, so it’s exciting to me to have it come on back up and be close to as much power as we’ve run in this Series. We’ll take more, but certainly there’s a lot of excitement around that, and I think it is, coupled with the work that Goodyear has done and the fall off that we’ve seen at a lot of racetracks the second half of last year, I think it could lead to some big movement at a lot of different styles of racetracks. Whether that’s a Richmond, maybe it rolls into Loudon. I think there’s a handful of places where it’ll show up big. Like I said, I don’t know that Bristol is going to be as affected by it, and I hope we come up with something that revives Bristol a little bit more, and they’re probably way ahead of me on that, but I think it feels like something that’s gonna be solid for here. Richmond probably comes to mind as the one that you can certainly decide how hard you want to push it and what penalty you want to pay on the tail end.”
– Chris Buescher, Driver, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Impact of “Win and In” Rule Removal on Race Dynamics
The departure of the “win and you’re in” playoff rule was a subject of particular interest in the Chris Buescher NASCAR interview. Buescher analyzed how this change could alter competitive strategies. He remarked that while dramatic “Hail Mary” wins will continue to excite on individual weekends, the playoff implications of single victories are now diminished, shifting the focus back to consistent season-long performance and deserving championships.
“Ultimately, the win and you’re in opened up the Hail Mary as the easiest – the ones that had absolutely nothing to lose but everything to gain. Winning is still just that weekend and for that single moment winning is still exciting enough and enough of the goal that whether that gets you into the playoffs or just steps you ahead in a points position, it really doesn’t matter. You’re gonna chase that win right there on that weekend, so if you have that chance and you figure you can send that chance, then I think we’re still gonna see that. It just won’t have the playoff implications that it’s had through the last several years. For the last couple years, we’ve gotten into the playoffs and we’ve known that the first round was going to be an easy round for most of the drivers there. We had a pretty good idea of whose seasons had not been great, had that shining moment and probably weren’t coming out of the first round. That held true for the last couple of years, so that will be gone essentially. We will bring it back to a point of consistency is going to matter all the way into your qualification into the Chase, but your consistency and winning races is gonna matter all the way up to Homestead. I think it’s refreshing to come back around. It’s strange that it’s not as new as we may think, but I think that it did us good back then. We had some great drama and some great races and deserving champions, and I think this is going to just bring that back and get a better buy-in from our fans.”
– Chris Buescher, Driver, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse
RFK Racing: Embracing Change and Building for the Future
Reflecting on activity within RFK Racing during the offseason, Buescher described significant improvements in personnel and operational adjustments prompted by the Next Gen car era. Workflow at the shop is now less chaotic, as teams focus on maintenance and optimization instead of major overhauls. Buescher outlined an air of optimism at RFK Racing as the new season approaches, grounded in the retention of core talent and the addition of skilled personnel.
“Through the offseason this car, the Next Gen car is strange when we go into our offseason. Our shops used to look like a bomb went off. You’d have 20 or so race cars per team and bodies cut off and getting sandblasted and painted. Now it’s more the disassembly, the QC, and the changing out of parts that have been worn out or broke or need anything replaced, so the shop is much more mellow through our offseasons now. It’s more about getting all the parts and pieces and equipment ready to go. It’s always different in that sense, but I think about RFK, we’ve had a lot of change in some different key areas throughout our organization, but change is not a bad thing. I think we have a lot of optimism in the key areas where it’s going to impact us and even the ones that we don’t circle as the biggest impact, but we have a lot of good stuff coming on down the line. We’ve acquired a lot of good talent, a lot of things that make us feel like we’re in as good a place as ever to fire off the season. The core groups of our road crew for all of our teams have widely stayed and I think that will help the continuity. Once we get to the racetrack we won’t have a whole lot of learning or relationships to build up once we get there. It’s more back at HQ and about figuring out how we’re gonna make our processes more efficient, our race cars faster, and keep our brands happier. There’s been change and movement, but I think that’s all something that we’re confident will be strong for us at the end of the day.”
– Chris Buescher, Driver, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Technical Adjustments and Productive Testing
Buescher shared details about technical changes being examined by NASCAR and teams during the offseason and at the North Wilkesboro test. Adjustments such as camber settings and aerodynamic tweaks were highlighted as part of an ongoing process aimed at improving competition. He noted the high level of engagement among teams and the productive nature of the test, which offered abundant data without requiring sweeping changes for implementation.
“That stuff is coming. That’s some of the changes that NASCAR has on the list that we can tackle and try to get a read on, so that’s actually some of the bigger aero items are what’s happening right now. We’ve gone through some tires with cambers, a couple different settings there. Some stuff, no real big hitters I would say, but stuff you could see an impact with. Ultimately, it remains to be seen if everybody had the same consensus, but I think I wasn’t in my right mind. I got a little rusty through the offseason. I rolled in thinking there was gonna be three cars here and there are 12 or 14 haulers in here. Fortunately, we have a lot of cars on the racetrack and a lot of rubber going in. It’s probably one of the more productive tests that I feel like I’ve been a part of just car count and conditions even. The last test I did I think was Michigan and it was 28 degrees. This is much better. I didn’t expect it not to be 28 degrees here in January, but I think this has worked out nicely. To come up here, I think we’ve got a lot of information to digest and I don’t think anything that we’re going through would require, and this is probably me speaking out of turn, but I don’t think anything we’re changing would require a massive undertaking from the teams themselves to try and implement. I think we’ve got some good options coming along the way.”
– Chris Buescher, Driver, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Hoping for More Races at Rockingham
Buescher voiced his enthusiasm for a potential return of the Cup Series to Rockingham, recalling fond memories despite limited experience at the iconic track. He observed that the character of Rockingham set it apart, and with Truck and Xfinity races scheduled this year, he was eager for the possibility of Cup drivers getting another shot there soon.
“Yeah. I was fortunate enough to run I think just one race in ARCA. I wasn’t old then, but it was a blast. It was so much fun. I don’t know if the repave kept some of the character of the racetrack and some of the whoops through the corners, but that’s certainly one I would love if the opportunity presents itself to get back out there and get it back on the schedule. I know Truck and Xfinity is this year, so we’re gonna see some more racing there, which is awesome. I loved racing there way back when, but it’s been a day or two since I’ve been out there.”
– Chris Buescher, Driver, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse
What Lies Ahead for Buescher and RFK Racing
This detailed Chris Buescher NASCAR interview underscores a period of significant transition for both the driver and his RFK Racing team. With an updated playoff structure aimed at rewarding consistent performance, advances in technology, and increased horsepower, Buescher sees both challenges and opportunities ahead. The changes are expected to impact all teams and tracks differently, but Buescher’s reflective optimism and his trust in his RFK colleagues hint at a promising campaign. Fans can expect evolving strategies on race days, with the sport’s leadership eager to blend tradition and innovation as the season unfolds at key tracks including North Wilkesboro, Richmond, and potentially even Rockingham.
