NASCAR levies massive penalty on Chris Buescher, team after Kansas

Buescher initially finished eighth at Kansas. That left him 14th in the NASCAR playoff standings, sitting at +33 points. He hasn’t placed first to this point. He was also 12th in NASCAR Cup Points with 284, which is 185 points off the pace. All of that was prior to his penalty, though. He’ll now drop to 224 points and 245 points off the pace.

Kyle Larson, who snagged his third win of the season at the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, is sitting atop the NASCAR playoff standings with 23 playoff points. He also has a 35-point cushion over William Byron in the NASCAR Cup points with a total of 469 to this point.

Given where Buescher stands, a point penalty puts him in a difficult position moving forward. Now, he’s going to have to be careful to avoid any further issues.

After the race, cars went to tech. There, an issue came up with Buescher’s car that forced it to get sent to the R&D center. That’s where cars go for further inspection. It was after that happened that there were rumors that a penalty could be coming following Sunday’s race.

Buescher drives the No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing. Following Kansas, RFK Racing was sitting in 13th among the different teams. They have 284 points and are trailing by 185 points. It’s Hendrick Motorsports leading the way there with 469 points.

Together, RFK Racing and Chris Buescher will decide on the next steps following the penalty. That could involve an appeal. Earlier this season, after Chase Briscoe was docked 100 points, he was able to win on appeal. That initial penalty came after the R&D center found violations relating to his spoiler.

For Buescher, this result has to be a massive disappointment. A year ago at Kansas Speedway, he lost to Larson by a total of 0.001 seconds. That’s the closest finish in the NASCAR Cup Series history. That had been a massive disappointment that he was looking to make up for this year. Unfortunately, after another Larson win and an eighth-place finish for Buescher, and now the penalty coming down on his head, he wasn’t able to get the closure he was looking for from last year.

This all came on Mother’s Day weekend, which proved to be a success for NASCAR as a whole. All eyes were on Kansas Speedway for the AdventHealth 400. The race drew 2.319 million viewers on FS1, according to Fox, which is up 1% from last season.