Chris Buescher 1-on-1: On his new baby, dancing skills and why he loves Bristol

Chris Buescher has had an eventful past few years. 

After re-joining RFK Racing (he was on loan to JTG Daugherty Racing) in 2020, he saw Brad Keselowski become a co-owner following the 2021 season. One of Keselowski’s first orders of business was to re-sign Buescher.

Buescher earned the new team’s “first” win in September 2022 at Bristol. He followed that up with three wins last year, a breakout season.

Last month, Buescher rushed home from the Daytona 500 qualifying races (commonly called “the duels”) on a Thursday night when his wife went into labor three weeks prior to her due date. He missed the birth of his son, Rhett, but did get to spend two days at home before returning to Daytona for the 500.

The 31-year-old Texan talked to FOX Sports about Rhett, racing at Bristol this week with the spring event back to being on concrete instead of dirt being placed on top of the track, and also learning how to dance. A couple of the questions were asked by FOX Sports during a media session at Atlanta (following Daytona) and the rest were done in a 1-on-1 interview with FOX Sports last week at Phoenix.

How are things at home with a new baby (their second child)?

With the exception of nobody sleeping, it’s really good. … Rhett is doing great. We’re getting into I would say somewhat of a rhythm and trying to juggle all these things. It’s been a little hectic, but it’s going to get a lot better really quick and already has. Everybody’s healthy, recovering well and getting back to somewhat our new normal.

Are you over the frustration of missing the birth?

All good now. I knew it was going to be tricky, it was honestly really close. It was good to have those two days back home when I was able to get there. All is good.

What was the plan all along? Was the plan to race and miss if need be?

Certainly wasn’t planning on Daytona 500 weekend. It’s a tough one to miss out, honestly. But I was hoping to come out of there with a win and [and qualify for the playoffs and] get to our scheduled due date and be in a little better spot to miss a race. Not all that quite played out. … I was close to making it in time. But honestly, it just wasn’t quite on our radar to be that early. [It] was a little hectic from knowing I might need to try and make a gameplan once this duel was over to get on home and be there and sure enough, that was the day.

Are you sick to your stomach? Or you know in this profession it can happen?

I certainly wanted to be there and was definitely bummed. I got off the airplane when we landed and rented a truck and started taking off down the road probably a little bit too frantically and called her. And I knew when she answered — not her mom — that was not good. That meant I missed something. Definitely bummed by it, but also understanding that we knew it was going to be difficult. The original due date was Vegas, which would have been a way worse situation. So all things considered, it’s almost as good as it could have gone. Even if it had been another weekend [on a] Thursday, we’re typically still home so that could have been easier. I’m a little bummed I wasn’t quite there. But I was there very shortly after. … I know I missed practice on Friday and we do feel like we left a little on the table for race day because of that, but all things considered, I needed to be home for my wife, for Rhett, for all of us. And it was a still great day. Then Saturday rolled around and … it still just didn’t quite feel right being in Charlotte for the first race weekend. So I started to get a little sick to my stomach for a different reason, feeling like I’m not going to make it somewhere I need to be just the same. 

All right, headed to Bristol. I imagine you’re happy that it’s not on dirt anymore? You like the concrete?

I don’t think there’s anybody in the garage area happier than I am. I was ecstatic hearing that news. And it’s not that I dislike dirt racing. I’ve had a ball in dirt cars at real dirt tracks in the maybe dozen times I’ve done it through the years. I’ve absolutely loved it. So it’s not that at all. It’s the fact that Bristol concrete is my favorite race. We are always very fast there, and we’ve been able to get one win there and had a really solid run there last time. So for me, it’s just more opportunities for our team and I love that. Nothing against dirt in general. It’s the fact that, man, I’m ready for Bristol concrete.

So you loved it before you had your big win there?

Yes. Bristol has always been my favorite. The first time I got to run there, I absolutely loved it. Some of my poor stats come from there. First time I ever used a backup car in my career was Bristol. It’s still a place that I’ve absolutely loved — the history of it, the feeling walking in Bristol, it still gets me every time. I feel like some of the places have worn off a little bit for me when you drive through the tunnel and come in and Bristol is not that way. It’s still really, really cool every time you walk in. It’s been my favorite for a long time. I’ve had some near-misses there, a little bit of heartbreak along the way and was able to redeem it with that big win finally. I love it. I feel like it’s a driver’s track. I feel like I can make a little difference. Personally, I don’t quite understand some of the hate of the top line. I love the ability to move around. It hasn’t been a one-groove racetrack for us. We’ve been able to run very competitively on the bottom. And maybe that’s why I like it more than some [others] is I don’t feel like we’ve been forced into one single lane no matter if it’s track prep or clean race track, I’ve always found a way to have multiple grooves for us. So it made it more fun for me every time.

What did that win two years ago do for you?

It was just a good momentum boost. I’ll say through the years, people have asked a lot about what’s your bucket list race and does one mean more than another, and I pretty consistently come up to the conclusion that a win is a win. I don’t care if it’s the Daytona 500 or if it’s Pocono — it didn’t really matter to me. That was a slight lie when it came to the Bristol night race. That was the one on top of the list that I just really wanted to be able to accomplish and getting that one was huge for us. It was obviously big for RFK and a big win for an organization that I have been around for a decade-and-a-half now and to be kind of seeing that momentum build back up and then to follow it up with the last year we’ve had as well, it’s just a good step in the right direction — that proof and that appreciation that we can be back in the hunt for race wins, short-track racing, speedway racing, wherever it may be. And it really got us going into the right headspace for last year and then heading forward, just momentum we built getting back to where we should be.

Do you have the Bristol victory sword anywhere?

Nowhere good. I am still working on it. I feel like I’ve been telling you I’ve been building a shop for two years now — and I have. But I’m very close to being able to put up some shelving and have a little bit of a trophy case of sorts. So right now it’s embarrassing. It’s sitting on a table in the garage just stacked up with a handful of others.

Now that you have more trophies after last year, I guess that’s an incentive to create something?

I’ve got some on the floor, some in [Roush’s PR] office sitting on the floor still. They’re kind of scattered right now. And it’s a little bit embarrassing, but we’re getting there. We’re going to have them all nicely displayed and we’ll get some shots of that soon.

Is it any more or less embarrassing that you had to learn how to dance for your wedding?

No, it’s not that embarrassing, OK?  A half a dozen or so classes to figure out how to do that first dance. It turns out I didn’t have much time for that growing up. We were at a racetrack a lot. And dancing is pretty low on the priority list around here. 

Did the lessons work for you? 

They worked for the day when it mattered. And it is all gone now. And to be clear, I don’t have an ounce of rhythm in my body. So that was tricky in itself.

But you need rhythm to get around Bristol?

Yeah, it’s a different kind though — it’s more of a hand-feet, small movements there. It’s the center mass that I’m not good at moving.

Do you have more rhythm than Brad [Keselowski]?

Let’s never find out. I think it’s important that we never get to the point where we need to see that. 

How much did you know Brad before you came to this team? And what have you learned about him over the last couple years?

I knew him a little bit, just through the Ford program, some of the Ford team-building events, some of the speedway conversation we’ve had through the years — that was pretty much the extent of it. We raced together very little in series before Cup. At the Cup level, we had been able to race together a decent amount and had a couple of good battles the last couple years. And that was really the extent of it — some short conversations on the driver intro stage, nothing too involved. So [him coming over, I’ve learned a ton about him, just some of his thought processes and looking into detail work and everything that we work on to try and make this thing go well. It’s been eye-opening for sure. He sure has changed the look of everything — whether it’s the hauler or the shops, race cars, it’s certainly made some big impacts. And it’s been fun to get back to winning races together. So it has been a good time. We’re still learning each other. And, certainly, we’ve been able to start having a little fun poking at each other now and I feel confident enough to be able to do that. I think it was Darlington the first year that Brad came over and we got asked out on a FOX stage if I would wreck him for a win. And that was a hard answer. Because the truth was probably not what anybody needed to hear — the truth was not something I’m sure I could say and not get fired. But I think we have a pretty good understanding that we’re going to run each other hard, we’re going to make a show out of it, but we’re certainly not here to wreck each other. I didn’t know exactly how to answer that one back then. So I’m more confident in it now.

And so finally, if you win a championship, would you dance?

Sober, no.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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