Chris Buescher has shared his emotional response following the sudden passing of veteran pit crew member Zachary Yager. Yager was part of Buescher's RFK Racing No. 17 Ford team.Yager also worked at other NASCAR teams, including Richard Childress Racing, Team Penske, and JTG Daugherty Racing (now HYAK Motorsports). He was also part of the No. 47 pit crew when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the 2023 Daytona 500. The Lima, New York, native moved to North Carolina after college to build a career in motorsports and has been working in NASCAR since 2014.In a post on X, Buescher shared pictures of Yager, including one after winning the 2023 Cook Out 400 in Richmond, and a message in his memory."Heavy emotions realizing we lost a wonderful person last week. Yager was such a good dude, super respectful, and just kind to my family and our racing family through the years. It was a pleasure racing and winning together. You will be missed sir," Chris Buescher wrote.Yager was found deceased after being reported missing on August 18, 2025. He was in his mid-30s, and the cause of death is unknown.Elijah Burke, a colleague of Yager, also shared his sorrow and fun memories, writing:"Absolutely devastated. Zach was a great friend at work… talked a lot about growing up in Rochester. The running joke was he was a Chris Buescher doppelganger… always had fun with that. He was always smiling and was quite the accomplished guitar player. I'll miss you, Yager."Elijah Burke @ElijahWhosoeverLINKAbsolutely devastated. Zach was a great friend at work… talked a lot about growing up in Rochester. The running joke was he was a Chris Buescher doppleganger… always had a fun with that. He was always smiling and was one heck of a guitar player. I’ll miss you, Yager. 😔Yager was employed at a pit crew company, Elite Race Services, at the time of this passing. He was also the jackman for RSS Racing in the Xfinity Series and ThorSport Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series this season.When Chris Buescher won two back-to-back NASCAR Cup races with Zachary Yager in the pit crewRFK Racing, which had leased pit crew members to JTG Daugherty Racing, brought them back after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Daytona 500 in 2023. Zachary Yager was part of the team that returned to RFK and went on to win three races in just five weeks.Chris Buescher and the No. 17 team delivered two Cup races for RFK Racing at Richmond and then at Michigan in the summer of 2023. Buescher capitalized on a late restart and pulled away with the win from Denny Hamlin at the 0.75-mile short track.The following week, at Michigan International Speedway, Buescher held off Martin Truex Jr. to claim another victory. Two weeks later, the No. 17 team won the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar at Daytona International Speedway. Buescher finished seventh in the championship standings that season.