Chris Buescher avoids serious consequences from NASCAR following questionable Darlington incident

Despite a series of good efforts throughout the regular season, Chris Buescher failed to secure a spot in the playoffs and was involved in a controversial incident at the Darlington race. However, he managed to avoid a penalty following his altercation with Todd Gilliland during Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500.

Initially, there was speculation that Buescher’s actions might lead to disciplinary measures from NASCAR. However, Elton Sawyer, NASCAR's Senior Vice President of Competition, clarified the situation on Tuesday. Sawyer confirmed that NASCAR would not pursue any penalties against Buescher.

Speaking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Sawyer stated:

"Not anything. [...] I don't want our fans to get in a position thinking that we're going to be over-officiating our races, as far as contact. We're a contact sport, it's in our DNA. [...] We want our racing to be organic, we want them to go out and race hard, so we didn't see anything that crossed the line."

During the season's final race, after lap 323, Buescher and Gilliland were contending side-by-side for a spot in the top 15. Exiting Turn 2, contact from Gilliland's #38 Ford Mustang nudged Buescher's #17 Ford towards the outside wall.

Buescher then moved down the track and made contact with the right-rear corner of Gilliland's car, causing it to spin and crash into the outside wall. While Gilliland's vehicle sustained quite a lot of damage, Buescher was able to continue the race unscathed.

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"That's the system, and we didn't work it right"- Chris Buescher following playoffs near miss

Last season, Chris Buescher finished the regular season with three wins at Richmond Raceway, Michigan Raceway, and Daytona International Speedway. But in 2024, despite his close performances, including at the Kansas race where Kyle Larson edged him out by a mere 0.0001 seconds—the closest finish in NASCAR history—and the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway where a collision with Tyler Reddick led to a blown tire, the #17 could not advance to the playoffs

Frustrated by the series of narrow defeats and miss in the season finale at the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Buescher shared his feelings during the post-race interview, stating:

"We felt like we did, for the most part, what we needed to do today. Got back in contention there at the end and got this finish out of it. Just didn't quite get it done again.

"Unfortunately, it's just the system we're all playing in. We had such a great year, everyone at RFK worked so hard, we've been so fast. We've outrun so many of these cars that gonna get a run for the Championship. But that's the system, and we didn't work it right."

Meanwhile, Buescher's RFK Racing team's boss, Brad Keselowski, broke his 110-race dry spell with a victory at the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway in May 2024 and qualified for the playoffs.