BRISTOL, Tenn. -- For the past several years, Chris Buescher and his RFK Racing team had endured long losing streaks concurrently. Buescher had not won a Cup race since 2016, when he scored his lone win at Pocono Raceway. RFK, meanwhile, had not won a race since the summer of 2017. But in a major statement for an emerging organization, both finally found the way back to the Winner's Circle together in Thunder Valley.
After taking two tires on his final pit stop, Buescher was able to drive away from Chase Elliott over the final 50 laps to win the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol, his second career victory and the first victory for RFK Racing with Brad Keselowski as part of the ownership group. Buescher's win not only snaps a 222-race winless streak, but it also makes him the 19th different winner this season -- tying the all-time record for the most different winners in a single Cup Series season.
Buescher completed a sweep of the Round of 16 for non-playoff drivers, capitalizing as many playoff contenders fell by the wayside due to attrition. And four drivers -- Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick -- were eliminated from championship contention.
Bass Pro Shops Night Race results
- #17 - Chris Buescher
- #9 - Chase Elliott
- #24 - William Byron
- #20 - Christopher Bell
- #5 - Kyle Larson
- #1 - Ross Chastain
- #16 - AJ Allmendinger
- #41 - Cole Custer
- #11 - Denny Hamlin
- #4 - Kevin Harvick
After the final caution came out when race leader Christopher Bell cut a tire, crew chief Scott Graves gambled on the ensuing pit stop by calling for just two tires to take Buescher from a spot in the top five up to the lead. It was a gutsy call, but one that Buescher had full confidence in.
"It was up to me at that point. Just hold on and make it work," Buescher told NBC Sports. "We had a really fast Fastenal Mustang. Just so proud of everybody. We knew we had a good racecar after practice and didn't quite get the job done in qualifying. But what a racecar. It's special to get RFK in Victory Lane for the first time. We had great racecars, Brad had really good speed too.
"I don't know what else to say right now. I'm out of breath. This place will wear you flat out, and I love that about it."
Playoff Peril
Historically, the Bristol Night Race has always been defined by very high attrition. But rather than copious amounts of accidents and bent sheet metal, the attrition that took place from Lap 1 to Lap 500 on Saturday night came from an unexpected area: cut tires and mechanical failures.
As the Next Gen car hit Bristol's concrete configuration for the first time, right front tire failures plagued multiple drivers, particularly those who were driving Fords. And it just so happened that several of those failures were among playoff drivers.
Austin Cindric suffered his setback early, losing multiple laps after cutting a right front tire. Not long afterwards, Ryan Blaney cut a tire of his own, setting off a disastrous sequence of events that led to Blaney having to go to the garage with a broken toe link. Joey Logano completed the Penske trio of tribulations, failing to finish due to a suspension issue.
The Toyotas, meanwhile, ended up having major problems of their own. Bubba Wallace and Ty Gibbs both had power steering failures within several laps of each other, as did Martin Truex Jr. Then, Kyle Busch suffered his second engine failure in the last three races, knocking him out of the race and leaving him helpless as he lost spots to other cars that were able to return to the race from the garage area.
Busch received a temporary reprieve after a multi-car crash on the backstretch on Lap 277 took out Austin Dillon and left Tyler Reddick with major damage. But as the race wound down, Cindric was able to gain positions as Busch lost more, allowing him to move above the cutoff line and knock Busch out.
There was one more knockout blow for a playoff contender, which came via a self-inflicted mortal wound. Running in the top five and in a must-win scenario, Kevin Harvick's final pit stop was botched when the left front tire on his car was left loose, forcing him to have to back up into his pit stall to get it tightened. Harvick would recover to finish 10th, but the mistake would end his chances of advancing to the Round of 12.
Next Round Reset
With 12 drivers now remaining in the playoffs, Chase Elliott has re-taken the points lead after the points reset to begin the Round of 12. Elliott holds a 15-point advantage over Joey Logano, while Ryan Blaney currently holds the final spot above the cutoff line by four points over Chase Briscoe. Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Austin Cindric enter the Round of 12 as the four drivers below the cut line.
- #9 - Chase Elliott -- 3040 (+31)
- #22 - Joey Logano -- 3025 (+16)
- #1 - Ross Chastain - 3020 (+11)
- #5 - Kyle Larson -- 3019 (+10)
- #24 - William Byron -- 3015 (+6)
- #11 - Denny Hamlin -- 3013 (+4)
- #20 - Christopher Bell -- 3013 (+4)
- #12 - Ryan Blaney -- 3013 (+4)
- #14 - Chase Briscoe -- 3009 (-4)
- #48 - Alex Bowman -- 3007 (-6)
- #99 - Daniel Suarez -- 3007 (-6)
- #2 - Austin Cindric (R) -- 3006 (-7)
Race Results Rundown
- William Byron was one of three Hendrick Motorsports cars in the top five, finishing third for his first top five and best overall finish since winning Martinsville in April. After going through a slump during the summer, Byron responded with a strong Round of 16 that saw him earn finishes of eighth, sixth and third.
- One night after winning the regular season championship in the Xfinity Series, AJ Allmendinger turned in a strong performance with a seventh-place finish in his Cup car. It marked Allmendinger's fifth top-10 finish in 13 Cup races this season, and it's his first top 10 on a short track in Cup since he finished eighth at Martinsville in the spring of 2018.
- Saturday night marked Cole Custer's single best run of the entire season, as Custer started 11th and ran up in the top five throughout the night. Custer would end up with an eighth-place finish, his best finish in Cup since the same result at New Hampshire in 2020.
- For a moment, it looked as though Brad Keselowski would end up winning as both a driver and a car owner. Keselowski led twice for a season-high 109 laps and was leading with less than 100 laps to go, but a blown right front tire ruined Keselowski's chances of taking the No. 6 to Victory Lane. Keselowski finished 13th before going to the winner's circle as a car owner, an experience he compared to "getting kicked in the balls and winning the lottery in the same day" while speaking to the track PA.
- Corey LaJoie enjoyed a nice night that ended with him scoring a 15th-place finish. It marked LaJoie's fifth such result of the 2022 season, but his first since Talladega in April.
- On Friday, a fan in the garage area gave local otaku Cody Ware a brand new Hatsune Miku figure as a gift. Apparently, Miku-chan was worth a few tenths: Ware had one of his best runs of the year and finished 17th, matching his second-best finish of the entire season.
- After finishing 20th to survive his first playoff elimination race, Austin Cindric became the first Cup rookie to advance through a playoff round since Chase Elliott in 2016. As his playoff run continues, the next challenge for Cindric will be to become the first rookie to finish in the top 10 in points since Elliott did so that same year.
Next Race
The Round of 12 opens in Bristol winner Chris Buescher's native land, as the Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 next Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network and fuboTV (try for free).
