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The incident involving Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick in the Ambetter Health 400 wrecked many cars. Although Chastain escaped without any damage, 12 cars were caught in the pile-up, including Chris Buescher.
Chris Buescher started the race in the seventh position, piloting the #17 Violet Defense Ford, and ran in the top ten for the majority of his laps. The strong display of speed was halted when Buescher was caught up in a multi-car accident on Lap 189.
Chris Buescher finished eighth in the first stage and ran in the top five for the second stage, working with teammate Brad Keselowski. Buescher was caught speeding in the pitlane before the end of the second stage. He finished the stage in ninth place but had to restart in the 28th position.
The #17 RFK Racing driver made a stellar comeback as he charged through the grid to the top-15 within ten laps. He further progressed into the top five when he was taken out in the multi-car wreck.
The 30-year-old spoke to the media after his DNF in the race, where he praised the car's strong pace:
"First off, our Violet Defense Ford Mustang was really fast and I'm proud of everybody for that. I made a mistake on pit road by getting a speeding penalty and that put us back in the field. We drove back up to third."
"The speed was there and we were doing it without unnecessary pushes in the center of the corner. I haven't seen a replay to know exactly what happened, but I've got a pretty good feeling."
Chris Buescher was onto a race win or a podium finish considering his teammate Keselowski missed out on the victory on the final lap. Buescher was classified as 35th in the race as he dropped to 13th in the driver's standings.
Ross Chastain gives a firm stance on the incident
Ross Chastain firmly believes there was no contact between his #1 and Kevin Harvick's #4 car. While many speculated that Chastain might have bumped into Harvick, video reviews told another story.
A video review showed that there was no contact between the two cars. The #4 Ford Mustang must have gotten loose because of the disturbance in the air stream.
Ross Chastain said in a post-race interview saying:
"Just trying to help push him. We had made a lot of ground up. I don’t think I hit him."
Moreover, Harvick himself believes there was no contact between the two cars. He explained in a post-race interview that the right rear wheel lost grip momentarily, causing the spin.
He said in an interview:
"I don’t think he actually even hit me, but it started chattering the rear tires and then I was just along for the ride... He came back down and when he came back down it just spun the thing out."
Ross Chastain continued the race, finishing 13th. Harvick had to retire after the car suffered terminal damage.
Chastain occupies third place in the driver's standings with 172 points while Harvick, who was leading the standings, dropped down to sixth with 155 points.
