August 10, 2025

RFK Racing's Chris Buescher faced plenty of pressure to perform in Sunday's NASCAR Cup race as both last year's Go Bowling at the Glen winner at Watkins Glen International and as the final driver currently in the 2025 playoffs on points. Buescher began this year's Go Bowling at the Glen from the 12th position and hovered close to the top 10 in the first stage until its end. Most drivers went on to have their first pit stop at the end of the first stage, except Buescher, who passed them all by staying off of pit road to win the first stage and collect 10 stage points. Buescher began the second stage as the lead car as he still didn't make his first pit stop of the day, but quickly fell back through the field soon after the stage began. After a caution for debris a few laps later, Buescher took his first pit stop of the day and then maintained a top-15 running position until the end of stage two. The No. 17 Ford driver failed to earn further stage points as a result of finishing 13th at the end of stage two. In the final stage, Buescher made one last pit stop, but also finally gained the track position he needed to set himself up for a strong finish. He eventually made it up to second with a three-second gap behind Shane Van Gisbergen, but Buescher was not fast enough to keep up with Van Gisbergen. Buescher continued to run second until the final lap of the race, where Christopher Bell passed him, sending Buescher to a final finish of third. Although he did not defend his win from one year ago, Buescher obtained his second career top-5 finish and now increases his lead for the final playoff spot to 32 points over his teammate Ryan Preece with two races to go.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com