What was once old is new again, as Michigan International Speedway is centered in RFK Racing’s wheelhouse. In 2023 and 2024, both of its entries cracked the top 10 in an attempt to return the team to glory in Ford’s backyard after 13 prior wins at the 2-mile oval.
The team bettered that in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400. Led by Chris Buescher in second, all three RFK cars placed inside the top 10 for the first time since its rebrand. Ryan Preece notched his sixth top 10 of the season, a new personal best.
Speed was not the problem for Buescher throughout the day. He won the opening stage – his first stage win of the season – from a sixth-place starting spot. With the nature of Michigan being a strategic affair, the No. 17 team needed to fuel its car longer than some other teams, losing vital track position. Buescher restarted in the middle of the pack to begin the second stage, and restarts hindered him multiple times during the race.
“Ultimately, it came down to a few restarts,” Buescher told Prime Video. “The team brought such a fast Ford Mustang, and I’m so proud of that. And I didn’t get it done. We had the better car today; I don’t have any doubt about that. That’s on me. Didn’t get through some of those restarts as good as I needed to and didn’t get the car to Victory Lane.”
Restarts are ruthless at Michigan, with some drivers going four- to five-wide at times. Buescher dropped to 14th at the end of the second stage, but was in a strong spot fuel wise for Stage 3.
When Todd Gilliland brought out the caution on Lap 145 for a flat left-rear tire, teams were approaching their fuel window to the end of the race. William Byron, who led a race-high 98 laps, ended up being the only driver to run out of gas as Denny Hamlin and the No. 17 car increased its pace later in the run after believing they had saved enough fuel. Hamlin crossed the checkered flag in first, earning the 57th victory of his illustrious career. Buescher settled for second, his best finish since winning at Watkins Glen International last September.
“It hurts right now, but certainly there’s a ton of positives out of today,” Buescher added. “Our car was so fast here from the time we unloaded off the [hauler] yesterday. We’ve been fast at all these mile-and-a-halves and that’s a huge step for us. I’m certainly proud of that and excited for what we have to come, but there’s a little bit of a sting right now to be that close and miss out.”
Since early April at Bristol Motor Speedway, this is only Buescher’s second top 10 throughout the last seven races. His 45 points earned were the second most of any driver (trailing only Hamlin’s 51), helping his effort of increasing his gap over the elimination line. With 11 races remaining in the regular season, Buescher jumped two spots, adding 12 additional points of cushion, now 20 points above the bubble.
Missing out on the postseason last year by not winning during the regular season, Buescher has been adamant that the No. 17 team’s goal in 2025 has been to win early. That makes a runner-up finish hurt that much more.
“We were really fast and worked hard to be there and just didn’t have any bad luck, so that put us with a shot to win,” Buescher noted. “After the last handful of weeks with having speed in the first stage and qualifying and not being able to get the race finish, that was certainly big. But it’s frustrating to be that close and to know that we had a car that was capable of winning. I just needed to do a better job.”
The Texas native remains the most recent winner for Ford in the Blue Oval’s backyard (2023), hailing from Dearborn, MI, some 60 miles northeast of MIS.