Chris Buescher To Make 300th NASCAR Start At Richmond

When Chris Buescher starts the engine of his No. 17 Ford Mustang at the Toyota Owners 400 on Sunday at Richmond Raceway, it will be his 300th NASCAR Cup Series start.

Buescher discussed what the milestone meant to him on a Zoom call on Wednesday, per WRIC 8News’ Will Gonzalez.

“That means to me is I’m getting old,” Buescher said in the video call. “It has snuck up on me quick. It feels like it wasn’t that long ago we were (in) our rookie season heading into Richmond as a cutoff race before the playoffs, (we) had won a race there (at) Pocono that year and didn’t have a stellar year. We’re doing all we could to finish in the top 30 in points to make sure that we could make the playoffs. So, certainly, a long way removed from that. It’s been a long, long time coming, but at the same time, (it) feels like that was just yesterday.”

The last NASCAR Cup Series driver to win their 300th start was Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing co-owner and Buescher’s teammate.

“It’s a cool stat that Brad was able to do it,” Buescher said. “And I’m certain that he does not want me to win in my 300th start because he wants to win it. So, I’m not going to get any sympathy or extra help from him from that standpoint.”

RFK Racing dominated the last time the NASCAR Cup Series visited Richmond, leading 190 of 400 laps. Buescher is the defending winner at Richmond, having led 88 laps for his first win of the season in July. In 15 Richmond races, Buescher has one win and two Top-5s.

Keselowski has two wins at Richmond as a driver for Team Penske. His best RFK Racing finish was in the July race Buescher won, Keselowski came in sixth after starting in 13th.

Buescher has three Top-10 finishes in his last four races, with his best finish coming in second in the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 10.