Buescher came up short in the closest finish in NASCAR history at Kansas, losing a nail-biter to Kyle Larson but a wild three-wide move late in Sunday’s race at Darlington put him in position again for a win.
While working to hang on to his lead from a fast-approaching Reddick, Buescher brushed the wall in Turn 3 and Tyler Reddick unsuccessfully attempted a slide job off Turn 4 for the lead.
Instead, the two collided and the damage left both drivers with flat tires. Both were forced to pit road and knocked out of contention. To add insult to injury, Reddick also picked a commitment line violation penalty.
Brad Keselowski, who was running third at the time, inherited the lead and held on for the win over Ty Gibbs.
A visibly frustrated Buescher confronted Reddick at his car on pit road after the race and Reddick immediately apologized profusely.
“I know! I f***** up! I’m sorry!” Reddick said, still wearing his helmet.
After Buescher reminded him the two had always raced clean, Reddick replied, “As soon as I knew that wasn’t going to work, I tried to back out and I got. … The last thing I wanted to do what wreck your car. I can care less about mine. I’m sorry. I f***** up. I f***** up.”
Buescher wasn’t appeased.
“It doesn’t work for me. We don’t have that (winner’s) sticker on our door right now. You need to be better,” he said.
Buescher ended up credited with a 30th place finish and remains without a win this season. He dropped to 12th in series standings.
“We got wrecked. That one’s clear as day. Don’t need any cameras to tell us,” Buescher said referring to last week’s photo finish. “I don’t know what to say. We’ve raced really clean through the years, tried to be really respectful about it, and we get used up.
“It (Reddick’s move) is just something that you know is not going to work. I’m just really pissed off about it right now. We certainly had a chance to win another one.”
Reddick picked up a stage win and led the most laps in Sunday’s race (174). He more than likely would have completed the pass and held on for the win if the race remained green had he been a bit more patient.
“I completely understand where he is coming from. He was running the top, running his own race, running his own line to keep me at bay,” Reddick said of Buescher. “I made a really aggressive move and was hoping I was going to clear him, when I realized, I wasn’t going to, I tried to check up to not slide up into him, but yeah, I wish I wouldn’t have done that.
“I completely understand why he is that mad. He did nothing wrong. Just trying to win the race, and to take myself out – that’s one thing – I can live with that, but just disappointed it played out the way that it did, and I took him out of the race as well.
“That was not the goal there.”
Reddick said the end of the race would have been easier to accept if he had been the only one to suffer consequences for the incident.
“If I hit the wall, pop a tire – I take myself out, I can live with that – it’s tough to walk away knowing I used someone up, and took away their chance of winning the race, that has raced me really cleanly since he came in the Cup Series,” he said.
“Just have to work on that and try to make some better decisions going forward.”