Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Buescher did his best in the Duels at Daytona, but now he’s flown back to Charlotte for the birth of his second child. Buescher and his wife Emma have one daughter, Charley. The NASCAR family will welcome another addition this weekend.

RFK Racing made the announcement this morning. NASCAR drivers can try and plan these things for the offseason but nature doesn’t abide by the Cup Series schedule. He isn’t the first or last driver to have to fly home during a race weekend.

“Chris Buescher has returned home to North Carolina to be with his wife, Emma, and daughter Charley, for the birth of their second child,” RFK Racing said in a release. “He will return Sunday Morning ahead of the Daytona 500.

“In the meantime, David Ragan will run limited laps in the No. 17 Fastenal Ford Friday, in addition to practicing the No. 60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford.”

Chris Buescher finished P10 in the first of two Duels at Daytona. He had a few good runs but wasn’t able to get a run to the front by the end of the race.

It was a wild Duels night. In that same race Buescher was in, Tyler Reddick made a last-lap pass to get around the Hendrick cars of Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman and secure the win. Jimmie Johnson cleared JJ Yeley on the last lap to transfer into the Daytona 500.

Chris Buescher could complete dream weekend

Imagine welcoming your second child into the world AND winning the Daytona 500 in the same weekend. I’m not sure it could get any better than that. Chris Buescher has a really good chance at making that a reality.

He won’t start close to the front, but he is going to have 500 miles to move up and put himself in contention. RFK Racing will have three cars between Buescher, Ragan and Brad Keselowski. All three are winners on superspeedways and can push teammates to wins as well.

Buescher won the regular season finale at Daytona last season. He knows what it takes to win on this track. He will need solid pit stops, a fast car, and a little bit of luck, too. Everything can go wrong at Daytona, and it only takes one thing to ruin your day.

Congratulations to Chris Buescher, regardless of what happens in the race, he’s a winner this weekend.

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