NASCAR Barometer: Chris Buescher Heads RFK Racing One-Two Finish at Daytona

RFK Racing teammates Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski kept their noses clean and worked together in the final miles to separate themselves from the competition to claim their first one-two finish for the organization. Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway lived up to the hype as the regular-season finale set the 16-driver field for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. It was Buescher's third victory of the season as he successfully navigated the intensity to put himself into position to capitalize in the final laps for the win. Also capitalizing on the night was Bubba Wallace, who clinched the 16th and final playoff position by avoiding the night's trouble and finding his way to the finish with his points advantage intact. 

The championship stage is now set, and the 16 playoff contenders will now battle each other to advance all the way to Phoenix. The first of those 10 final races comes this week at Darlington Raceway where William Byron won in May. That race seemingly belonged to Martin Truex Jr., though. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 145 of 281 laps before crashing and finishing 31st. Byron and Truex now sit tied atop of the playoff standings as the knockout stages get underway and either could be considered the favorite to hoist the trophy at the end of the season to claim the 2023 title.

UPGRADE

Chris Buescher - Buescher put himself into position to fight for the win Saturday night, and it paid off with his third victory of the season. The RFK Racing driver laid low through much of the early miles and picked up slight damage in the biggest crash of the race. The strategy paid off, though. As the final stage played out and pit stops cycled through, Buescher was in the right pack at the right time and teamed up with other Ford-powered drivers to fight their way to the front. Things for Buescher got even better when he had teammate Brad Keselowski behind him for the overtime finish, and the duo forced their way to the front to claim a one-two finish. It was a near perfect race for Buescher who has plenty of momentum heading into the playoff races as the fourth seeded driver in the standings.

Martin Truex Jr. - A stage win and another top-10 finish in the second stage Saturday night was enough for Truex to clinch the regular-season championship. The playoff points that come along with that honor will be a big advantage as navigates his way through the elimination rounds. While Saturday's  race finish was not representative of what he was capable of, Truex still enters the knockout races even with William Byron at the top of the standings and with six top-10s from the last seven races behind him. Truex is a two-time winner at Darlington, and this coming race is where results truly matter. His last win at the track was in 2021. He failed to finish the last three races there, but has not been lacking speed. With 875 laps led the last seven Darlington races, Truex is likely to be at the front again this week.

Bubba Wallace - By the end of Saturday night's second stage, Wallace was in pole position to claim the 16th and final playoff spot on points. Barring a first-time winner on the night, the spot was Wallace's to take, and all that was left for him to do was safely navigate his way to the checkered flag. That is exactly what he did, too. He ran a relatively conservative race, ensuring his advantage in the points remained secure, and that was enough for him to join the field that will battle for the 2023 championship. He starts the elimination rounds at the bottom of the order, but he remains one of just 16 drivers remaining with a chance at winning the 2023 series championship. Wallace's best Darlington finish came earlier this season when he started on the front row and finished fifth. He led three laps that day, and a repeat of that performance this week would be an enviable start to his playoff adventure.

William Byron - Byron will enter this season's playoffs tied at the top of the standings with Truex. His eighth-place finish Saturday evening was his 13th top-10 finish of the year so far, which combines with his five wins to give him his best Cup Series season of his career so far. Fantasy players who have been around know that Byron only tends to get better in the playoffs, too. That could be scary news to his competition in 2023. Byron should be considered one of the favorites to advance to the final four in Phoenix, and he might be the championship favorite if he gets that far. Byron already has a Darlington win this season, which was his first at the track. Having also led laps in his last three starts at the track, Byron may be poised to get his 2023 playoff run started in the best possible way this coming Sunday.

Corey Lajoie - Another race at Daytona turned into another top-10 finish for Lajoie. Fantasy players that haven't started choosing Lajoie each trip to Daytona have to be aware of his potential now. Saturday night's race was his thid top-10 finish at the track from 13 series tries. His average finish across that span is 18.1, which is impressive for a track that is seen as more more of a lottery. Saturday night's finish was his second top-10 of the season, which equals the most Lajoie has had in a year, and there are still 10 more races to come. The veteran driver has shown more upside potential at various times this year than we've seen from him perhaps in his career. It has been a step forward, and his performances have certainly been gaining some notice. It will be tough for Lajoie to replicate that potential this week at Darlington, though. His best finish at the track was 15th in 2021.

DOWNGRADE

Chase Elliott - Despite his best efforts, the races Elliott missed earlier in the season through injury and suspension were just too much to overcome. Saturday night's race ended Elliott's streak of seven consecutive appearances in the playoffs, and NASCAR's most popular driver will not have a chance at winning a second championship this season. The former champion faced a must-win scenario Saturday night at Daytona, which was within his grasp throughout the race distance. However, leading the low line, Elliott didn't have the pushes from behind in the final miles that he needed to make his way to the lead. He drove home to a confident fourth-place finish on the night, but that was not enough to earn the playoff spot. The remainder of 2023 will be about race wins for the No. 9 team, and while Elliott has never won at Darlington, he did score his best finish at the track earlier this year.

Denny Hamlin - Hamlin would have wanted some momentum from Daytona to enter the playoff races on the right foot, but that wasn't to be. The championship contender entered the weekend with four top-fives from the five prior races, and he was in the mix for the first stage win of the night, too. However, he was shuffled from the lead at the end of the segment, and then picked up a pit penalty in the next stage during green-flag stops. The pass-through penalty dropped him off of the lead lap. Then, despite being in the free-pass position at the end of stage two, he was caught up in the big crash and lost his chance to get the lap back. It was an eventful and frustrating night that ended with a 26th-place finish. Hamlin will remain one of the championship favorites, though. He has four prior wins at Darlington and sits third in the standings after the points reset.

Ty Gibbs - Gibbs did a lot of things right through the first two stages Saturday night at Daytona. He was on the outside looking in at the playoff positions, but was keeping his nose clean and racing at the front of the pack. That all changed in an instant on the final turn of the second stage when a push from teammate Christopher Bell sent Gibbs out of control, triggering the massive crash that Daytona and Talladega tend to be famous for. With that contact, Gibbs went from racing for the stage and race win to out of running for the night. There will be no playoff appearance in his rookie season as a result. However, race wins could still very much be within his reach. Gibbs may even feel he has something to prove by missing out on the playoffs, but expecting it to come this week at Darlington may be a stretch. He has a best finish of 15.5 from two series starts at the track.

Daniel Suarez - The 2023 championship road came to an end for Suarez at Daytona, too. The Trackhouse Racing driver gave it everything he had in the final races of the regular season to earn a playoff spot, but two finishes of 20th or worse in the last two races meant it asn't enough to keep his championship hopes alive. Suarez raced decently Saturday night, picking up stage points in both opening segments, but he needed a win to advance. While Suarez was in contention for the playoffs in the regular season finale, the current season hasn't matched last year's. Suarez has eight top-10s and three top-fives in 2023, which is roughly half of what he ended his 2022 campaign with. Suarez and team have some work to do to find the consistency that will take them back to the playoffs, and that quest begins now.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Aric Almirola - The 2022 season was expected to be Almirola's final full season in Cup Series competition. He surprisingly announced his return for 2023, though. This extra year has been beset with challenges, though. Almirola sits just 23rd in the standings with only three top-10 finishes. His brightest result came Saturday night at Daytona, though. Despite being a step behind the competition through much of the year, Almirola had himself within shouting distance of the 16th and final playoff spot. In fact, his third-place finish in Saturday's race was his first top-five finish of the season. The veteran will be hoping that result is a signal of more top finishes to come in the final races of the year. Almirola has two Darlington top-10s but finished 21st there earlier in the season.