Kyle Petty: ‘We are witnessing the birth of Chris Buescher’
NBC Sports analyst Kyle Petty explains how Chris Buescher is coming of age --and why Chase Elliott's postseason hopes are firmly on life support.
Transcript
00:00 Well, it took two days and a lot of jet fuel to get the racetrack drive, but Michigan is
00:05 in the books.
00:06 And I think what we've seen is the birth of Chris Buscher, or Christopher Buscher, whichever
00:11 one you want to call him.
00:12 Two weeks in a row on two totally different racetracks.
00:16 Yes, he won at Pocono, and that was a fluke deal.
00:19 Everybody knows it.
00:20 I won at Richmond, it was a fluke deal.
00:22 Yes, we've seen him win at Bristol.
00:23 But back to back, back to back moves you to a different place.
00:27 Back to back moves you to a different plateau.
00:29 And I think RFK has moved to a different plateau.
00:32 This team has.
00:33 But they've done it on the back of Christopher Buscher and under the leadership of Brad Keselowski.
00:39 Amazing day.
00:40 I think the moment came in between turns one and two when Martin Truex had run him down
00:45 and they catch lap traffic, Michael McDowell.
00:48 They move to the inside of the racetrack.
00:50 He gets on Martin Truex's door.
00:51 Martin Truex gets loose.
00:53 He almost checks up and spins up the racetrack.
00:56 And you heard Martin's radio, if you go back and watch the race, where he said, "I almost
00:59 spun that one out."
01:01 That's attributed to Christopher Buscher.
01:02 His knowledge of the car, his knowledge of air, his knowledge of what he needs to do
01:07 to race at that end of the stick is impressive for me.
01:10 Let's go to the other end of the spectrum.
01:12 Chase Elliott.
01:13 Chase Elliott, another miserable day.
01:16 Three more races and he's going to be put out of his misery.
01:18 I don't see him running up front on the road course at Indy.
01:21 I don't see him running up front at Watkins Glen.
01:23 I don't see him running up front at Daytona.
01:26 I haven't seen him run up front all year.
01:28 And to be in title contention, even if you make the playoffs, to be in title contention,
01:33 you've got to run up front.
01:34 We have not seen that out of the nine car.
01:36 I know you fans are hanging on.
01:38 I've lost all hope.
01:39 So I think we have seen the demise of the most popular driver as far as making the playoffs
01:44 this year.
01:45 And I'll go on record and say that.