Chris Buescher Wins at Richmond and Punches his Ticket to the Playoffs

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RICHMOND, VA – RIS – Chris Buescher rallied the RFK Ford team with a convincing victory in Richmond Raceway’s Cook Out 400 Cup Series race on Sunday.  Buescher pulled away on a restart with three laps to go and won at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, earning himself a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Buescher led 88 laps. He was ahead by nearly six seconds when a caution came out with under 10 laps to go. That erased his sizeable lead over local favorite Denny Hamlin, but when the race went back to green, Buescher pulled away easily. The Texan driver had never led a lap at the 0.75-mile, D-shaped oval before Sunday’s Cook Out 400, but the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford paced the field for 88 of 400

“I don’t get too stirred up most of the time (laughing). I was sitting there and we had a nice easy lead going there. I was taking care of it and then shifting and about the time Scott came on the radio and said, ‘Let’s work it just like that. Keep it smooth.’ I don’t think he even got off the button and, caution.’ So, I knew it was gonna take some work to get back going, but our Fastenal Mustang was so good firing off today, so good in practice. I didn’t get the job done in qualifying. I had to pass a bunch of cars today and have some great strategy and some great pit stops. Everybody at RFK Racing who has worked so hard to get us to this point. This is awesome. I knew that last restart was gonna be tough, but I knew we had the speed in this thing.”

 After Stage 2 winner Keselowski had an awkward pit stop in the middle of Stage 3, Chris Buescher found himself in the lead

Buescher and teammate and co-owner Brad Keselowski led a combined 190 of the 400 laps, with Keselowski’s Ford pacing the field for 102 laps on the 0.75-mile oval. It was a sterling day for the much-maligned organization started by the legendary Jack Roush.

Denny Hamlin, coming off a victory last weekend at Pocono, finished second, followed by Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Ryan Preece.

The race was clean with the few slowdowns -- three times by caution flags, the last sending the leaders to pit road for four tires with eight laps to go. When the green flag was shown again, Buescher used the inside line to pull away for his third career victory.

Hamlin was not really a factor. His bid for the victory ended on the second lap of the final sprint when he drove in too deep in the first turn and slid up the track. He finished 0.549 seconds behind Buescher, with Busch winding up 0.817 off the winning time.

Pole-sitter Tyler Reddick won an uneventful all-green Stage 1 of the Cook Out 400 ahead of 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace and 23XI co-owner Hamlin. A.J. Allmendinger, who started at the rear of the field because he did not practice or qualify the car Saturday while driving the Xfinity Series race at Road America, clawed his way up 25th by the end of the 70-lap stage.

The next race in the Cup Series — FireKeepers Casino 400 — will occur on Aug. 6 at Michigan International Speedway.

Unofficial Results: Cook Out 400, Richmond Raceway - July 30, 2023
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 26, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 400, , 3, 88, 5, 2, 49, Running
2) 3, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota, 400, 3, 4, 20, , 5, 49, Running
3) 2, Kyle Busch, No. 8 X World Wallet Chevrolet, 400, , , , , 6, 39, Running
4) 23, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 400, , , , , 10, 34, Running
5) 11, Ryan Preece, No. 41 United Rentals Ford, 400, 6, , , , 7, 41, Running
6) 13, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 400, 9, 2, 102, 1, 1, 43, Running
7) 10, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 400, , 3, 18, , 8, 33, Running
8) 24, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 400, 8, , , , , 32, Running
9) 17, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 8, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Rheem Ford, 400, 5, , , , , 33, Running
11) 20, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford, 400, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 5, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, 400, 2, 2, 80, , 4, 41, Running
13) 4, Chase Elliott, No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet, 400, 4, , , , , 31, Running
14) 25, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 BodyArmor Ford, 400, , 1, 2, , , 23, Running
15) 7, Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 He Gets us Toyota, 400, 10, , , , 9, 25, Running
16) 1, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Xfinity 10G Network Toyota, 400, 1, 3, 81, 1, 3, 39, Running
17) 9, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kleenex Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 15, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 14, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 29, Christopher Bell, No. 20 MAC Tools Toyota, 399, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 6, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 399, 7, , , , , 20, Running
22) 18, Michael McDowell, No. 34 StageFront.VIP Ford, 399, , 1, 9, , , 15, Running
23) 27, Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet, 399, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 19, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 399, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 16, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford, 399, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 30, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Jack Links Ford, 399, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 36, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet, 399, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 12, Noah Gragson #, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 32, Ryan Newman, No. 51 Parts Plus/Biohaven Ford, 398, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 28, Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 22, Harrison Burton, No. 21 DEX Imgaing Ford, 397, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 31, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 FOE Chevrolet, 397, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 33, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Jockey Chevrolet, 396, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 34, Ty Dillon, No. 77 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 396, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 35, JJ Yeley(i), No. 15 Patriot Mobile Ford, 396, , , , , , 0, Running
36) 21, BJ McLeod, No. 78 FREEDOMWORKSHERE.COM Chevrolet, 395, , , , , , 1, Running
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Total R ace Length: 400 Laps, 300. Miles
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 2 Mins, 13 Secs.
Average Speed: 98.783 MPH
Margin of Victory: .549 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 45, 23, 11, 9, 4, 41, 24, 10, 6, 54
Stage 2 Top 10: 6, 17, 45, 23, 11, 8, 41, 19, 54, 22
Comments: Chris Buescher won the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following car dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: No. 16 (driver change).
Cautions: 3 for 21 laps;
Laps: 72-78 (Stage 1 Conclusion [51]);
232-239 (Stage 2 Conclusion [48]);
392-397 (No. 42 and 99 Incident in Turn 4 [12]).
Lead Changes: 18 among 8 drivers;
T. Reddick 1-78;
B. Wallace 79-122;
D. Hamlin 123-128;
M. McDowell 129-137;
B. Wallace 138-173;
T. Reddick 174-175;
D. Hamlin 176-180;
M. Truex Jr. 181;
B. Keselowski 182-233;
T. Reddick 234;
B. Keselowski 235-284;
D. Hamlin 285-292;
M. Truex Jr. 293-304;
C. Buescher 305-339;
R. Blaney 340-341;
M. Truex Jr. 342-346;
C. Buescher 347-392;
D. Hamlin 393;
C. Buescher 394-400.