BROOKLYN, Mich. — There are a dozen races separating the NASCAR Cup Series from its playoffs. There are also a dozen points separating 15th-place Chris Buescher from 19th-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the provisional postseason grid.
Buescher sits eight points above the provisional dividing line entering Sunday’s FireKeepers Caisno 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Behind him is a scramble for the 16th and final spot in the playoffs: Kyle Busch has it for now by a mere two points over Ryan Preece, Buescher’s teammate at RFK Racing.
MORE: Cup standings | Michigan schedule
Busch and Buescher have each previously won at the 2-mile Michigan oval. Preece, the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, is still seeking his first career Cup win. What all of them share is the desire to drive into Victory Lane some time between Sunday and Aug. 23’s regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway — the only way to erase any doubts about their entry into the postseason.
“We‘ve been able to recognize that it‘s always a must-win situation,” Buescher said Wednesday of his No. 17 team. “From the beginning of the year, you have to win races. There‘s been a couple of times where we‘ve been right there in a good spot or been right there in that window and just get a surprise winner or two to close the regular season — or we got caught up in an accident in Darlington (in April 2024) and you can‘t depend on points to get you in the playoffs when it‘s as tight as it is every week.
“For us, I think that‘s been our mindset, which means that ultimately wherever we bounce around that line we‘ll be aware of it, but it‘s a matter of figuring out how to go win races and we haven‘t done that yet.”
Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion, is just barely on the inside looking in. In the midst of a career-long 71-race winless streak, the 40-year-old Busch is eager to get back to his signature post-win bow. But until then, his focus is maximizing points from now until August’s finale — including an emphasis on netting stage points. Of the 36 full-time entries, Busch ranks 25th with 17 stage points through 14 races.
“That’s just where our weak spot is of being able to get stage points in Stage 1 and Stage 2,” Busch said Saturday. “And we can finish OK, but it’s too late in the day by the time you get to that point to collect good points day on that front.”
The two-point buffer to Preece exists — but only momentarily in a sport that moves week-to-week in the blink of an eye. Behind Preece sit Carson Hocevar (minus-4 to Busch), Stenhouse (minus-6), AJ Allmendinger (minus-7) and Michael McDowell (minus-13). Of course, a win from a driver beneath the provisional elimination line also reduces the number of spots available to earn on points.
Rather than getting caught up in the minutiae, Busch is trying to keep his eyes out the windshield.
“All you can do is focus on you and just try to execute your day,” Busch said. “I mean, when you’re running around there under yellow and you see somebody who’s spun or crashed or whatever that’s around you in points, you’re like, ‘OK, well that helps.’ But other than that, you’ve got to focus on yourself and being able to make sure that you maximize your day.”
This particular scenario is new for Preece, who in his first year driving RFK Racing’s No. 60 Ford is truly in the thick of the playoff hunt for the first time in his six full-time seasons in Cup. But his experience competing for titles in the modified ranks — and racing for his career in limited Xfinity opportunities a decade ago — have strengthened his resiliency in high-stress scenarios.
“I’ve won championships at different levels. I’ve been a part of these type of situations before,” Preece said. “So the way I approach race weekends, it doesn’t bother me, you know? And I think if you look at my entire career, when it comes to pressure situations, I enjoy it. I thrive often. So yeah, I think being on that bubble, it’s not where I want to be. I look 40, 50 points ahead of me and I think, ‘I want to be there.’ So instead of focusing on who’s five or six or one behind me, I’m going to focus on the 40 points ahead of me and try to get there and let everybody try to catch me.”
Through 14 races, Preece is on pace for a career season, matching last year’s top-five (one) and top-10 (five) totals in less than half the time while posting a personal-best 19.6 average finish. But he knows there are still places to improve if he wants to continue climbing toward the top of the pylon.
“When it comes to racing situations, dirty air and all that, I feel really confident about it,” Preece said. “But the weakness has been trying to figure out a way to qualify better, to maximize stage points in Stage 1. Because that’s a frustrating part of the system is there’s times where you can definitely gather more points from stages than you can sometimes from having a good, strong ending of the day.”
And with the No. 60 car on the edge of the provisional playoff bubble, Preece knows he will need as many points as possible to make a postseason push — and nothing pays more than winning.
“I think you put yourself in a position to win races, and at the end, if, if you’re leading, you execute,” Preece said. “If not, you’re you’re trying to execute stage points; you’re trying to have a great day. So ultimately, it’s keeping track position. It’s doing everything right. And I feel like as a first-year team, Derrick (Finley, crew chief) and everybody’s been really growing their roots and it’s been great to be a part of.
“I think we’re a team that’s capable of contending, not only for the playoffs but for wins. We always seem to find a way to drive forward. And it’s just something as time progresses, we’re going to keep getting better and better at.”
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