Chris Buescher Lacks Intermediate Track Consistency
2 weeks agoAlthough Chris Buescher missed the playoffs, he still is the highest-ranking non-playoff driver in points as the No. 17 driver sits 17th in points exactly 17 points ahead of both Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace. While Buescher is typically always fast on road courses, he's a lot more difficult to predict on ovals as he tends to almost alternate between fast and slow races, even at the same track (he performed vastly differently in the two Kansas races). Like his No. 17 predecessor Matt Kenseth, he tends to qualify badly also so it's hard to predict which races he'll slice through the field and which races he won't. Homestead probably won't be a good race though as he qualified 21st, Fords have usually lacked speed on 1.5-mile intermediates, and Buescher has actually never finished better than 13th there despite his anomalous 57 laps led in 2021.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference