By the statistics, Chris Buescher is one of the top drivers in NASCAR Cup Series history. He’s at the pinnacle of the sport. But it took a lot of hard work and giving up a lot to reach this point. How much giving up?
The RFK Racing driver shared his journey and revealed how it all began at the young age of 15 when he departed from his family and home in Texas to go to North Carolina.
“Not the most enjoyable way to do it for sure,” Buescher told “Beating & Banging” about leaving home. “But I think I was 13 and we were sitting in the living room in Prosper and discussing this hobby that we were involved in, going to the racetrack, and said, ‘Okay, if we want this to be serious, we’re going to have to put in a bit more work and more effort, going to have to make some decisions.’
“So at that time, it was, ‘Okay, when summer break arrives, we’re going to head to Charlotte and we’re going to go race for three months. And, it’s not going to be your typical summer vacation where you get in trouble and just run around and goof off.’ We went to Charlotte and worked on race cars. Raced I think 60-something races. On track 60 times over the course of three months.
“We stayed busy and got to know a lot of people and made some good friends. The Ragan family being a couple of those friends. Through that I received a lot of good advice from him. And Ken Ragan, who was running the Legends car program out of Harrisburg, North Carolina at the time, basically got to the end of our third year out there and said, ‘Look, if you really want to pursue this, you need to be out here.’
“He told my dad that and the family wasn’t in a position to move. So Ken Ragan goes, ‘David’s moved out. I got a spare bedroom here at the house, so let’s talk about it. Maybe you come out here and you go work in David’s shop.’ I had started homeschooling through high school just because of travel commitments. To continue that on, moved out there. That took some convincing with Mom, for sure, but moved out there right before I turned 16.”
Chris Buescher Attends Dale Carnegie Classes
Buescher was clearly taken out of his comfort zone with the move. However, he had no idea it was about to get even more uncomfortable.
“I had to attend or was enrolled into Dale Carnegie’s speaking courses down in Charlotte at 15. That was nerve-wracking,” he remembered. “One, I had to get a ride down there every time. And, two, it’s like all around 30 to 40-year-old marketing executives, CEOs. And man, I am out of place. I’m just a kid trying to figure out how to do a little public speaking. It was a lot. Hit you all at once.”
Did the classes help?
“Oh absolutely. 100%,” he admitted. “Probably should have taken another one somewhere as a refresher. That was probably one of the biggest things I did in my racing career that was not from behind the wheel.”
Chris Buescher in Elite Company
Unsurprisingly, his public speaking skills improved. So did his racing skills. Buescher made his way up through the ranks, dominating ARCA in his only two full-time seasons in 2011-12, winning seven times, including the 2012 championship.
He advanced and competed full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2014 and 2015, achieving similar results, and also won the 2015 title. He also made his debut in the Cup Series in that year.
In 2016, Buescher’s first full season in the Cup Series, he secured a victory at Pocono. Then he went through a dry spell. He didn’t win again until 2022, but since winning the Bristol night race, the No. 17 car has consistently been one of the best in the field.
Last year, he won three times at Richmond, Michigan, and the second race of the year at Daytona. With five career wins, the driver joins elite company and has accomplished something that only 2.8 percent of all drivers have ever done in the sport.
“It’s certainly in a good position, and it’s pretty amazing to look at those numbers and realize how few drivers have done that,” he said. “We’re prepared to make those numbers even smaller. We need to figure out how to keep progressing, how to move up to the next group with 10 wins and beyond. We’re on the right track. We still have work to do.”
Can he reach those ambitious goals?
It’s difficult to question someone who has demonstrated so much dedication to his craft since he was a teenager and, more importantly, has been able to turn that hard work and commitment into success all the way to the highest level of the sport.
