“That’s the system”: Chris Buescher shares his thoughts after failing to make NASCAR playoffs 

Although frustrated for not being able to make the postseason this year, Chris Buescher said that is how NASCAR's playoff system works. The RFK Racing driver entered Sunday's Southern 500 with a 21 point-buffer but missed the opportunity when Chase Briscoe, a new winner, took the checkered flag.

Chris Buescher was the first driver to drop out of the playoff rumble. His P6 finish at the 1.366-mile black asphalt racetrack was his 12th top 10 finish of the season. However, none of that helped the 31-year-old as Briscoe's win got the latter a guaranteed spot in the playoffs, as per NASCAR's current playoff format.

"We felt like we did, for the most part, what we needed to do today," the Ford pilot told Kim Coon of NBC Sports. "Got back in contention there at the end and got this finish out of it. Just didn't quite get it done again. Unfortunately, it's just the system we're all playing in."

Buescher finished tenth in Stage 1 but failed to make it to the top 10 at the end of Stage 2. He entered the 367-lap race with five top-5s and 11 top-10s. As per official records following last week's race at Daytona International Speedway, the 31-year-old led 177 laps so far this year.

"We had such a great year," Buecher continued. "Everyone at RFK worked so hard, we've been so fast; we've outrun so many of these cars that I thought I would get a run for the Championship but that's the system. We didn't work it right."

Buescher's teammate and RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski finished 14th. However, Keselowski won the spring race at Darlington Raceway in May and therefore, he is locked in the playoffs.

Chris Buescher opens up on his mindset going forward

Chris Buescher drives his #17 Ford Mustang during qualifying for the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (Source: Imagn)

Chris Buescher has been extremely close to bagging a win this year on several occasions. At Kansas, he lost the victory to Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson by merely 0.001 seconds, which was also the closest finish in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series.

The following week, Buescher blew his tire off after a contact with 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick at Darlington Raceway and finished 30th.

"I’m definitely gonna think back on different times throughout the year and we’ll figure out how to do better next time," Buescher told Coon during the same interview.

Speaking of the 10-race-long postseason, the Prosper, Texas native, said:

"Not on my mind yet. Just had a lot of things figured out; that's not it now. (Need to) get back, digest this one a little bit; such shame, but another great run for our BuildSubmarines.com Mustang. Just frustration and disbelief altogether."

NASCAR will now prepare for the opening race of the 2024 playoffs at Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 8th, 3 PM ET onwards. The 260-lap event will stream live on NBC Sports and USA with radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.