NASCAR Update: Chris Buescher Forced to Leave Daytona Due to Family Emergency; David Ragan to Step In

Chris Buescher confirmed his spot on the grid for the Sunday feature with a P10 finish in Duel 1 qualifiers on Wednesday. But following the recent update, for a moment, there were concerns regarding his availability for the Daytona 500. RKF Racing’s star driver skips practice at the Daytona International Speedway and is headed to North Carolina to be with his wife Emma, and daughter Charley, for the birth of their second child.

As per the update by RFK Racing, the driver is expected to be back with the team on Sunday morning ahead of the Daytona 500. Taking to X, RFK Racing posted, “Chris Buescher has returned home to North Carolina to be with his wife, Emma, and daughter Charley for the birth of their second child. He will return on 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 his practicing the No.60 BuildSubramines.com Ford.”

Buescher and his Mustang are placed 19th in the starting position for Sunday’s race. Now the Texas native is no stranger to winning at the Daytona International Speedway. His last win was at the last Coke Zero 400 last August, where RFK Racing finished 1st and 2nd. However, going by how sharp and quick the new Mustang Dark Horse is looking, he sure had a shot at claiming his first 500 wins.

Buescher won the most recent Cup Series points race at Daytona, the regular-season finale in 2023. He also is coming off a career year, winning three races in 2023 and finishing seventh in the championship standings.

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While it did look like a comfortable qualifying round for Buescher and his car at the duel, he highlighted that the lack of friends on the tracks did hamper his progress.

Chris Buescher had it tough during the qualifiers

During the Duel 1 session, Buescher felt that the leading pack was working in tandem and did not allow much space for him or other drivers to mount their progress. Surprisingly, the race was only halted once, when Jimmie Johnson was caught up in a four-car crash. He was 8th when the caution was issued and went on to take the checkered flag with a P10 finish.

Speaking after the race, he said, “More friends would have definitely helped. That made it a little tough trying to make it through all the cars hitting pit road. We just really got jacked up, but I thought all of our cars worked well together when we could get them lined up and really start rolling. I was able to push the 22 really well there, but there was nowhere to go with all of the cars up front not being able to get it done. We definitely needed some more friends.”

With the qualifying now done and dusted, every man will be for themselves as the 40-driver lineup will be fielding at the Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.

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