Coming up .001 second short, Chris Buescher shares the heartbreak he feels in an exclusive post-race interview with NASCAR.com's Jessie Punch.
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00:00 Here with Chris Buescher, second place today at Kansas, Chris, by a splitter.
00:04 It's the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.
00:07 What was going through your mind getting out of the race car?
00:10 It certainly explains why the photo is not making sense to me right now.
00:14 I can't even look at it and understand.
00:16 I guess it's that close and on top of that it looks like it was taken with a potato phone.
00:22 I don't even know what to make out of it right now.
00:25 It hurts so much to be that close with our Castro Edge Ford Mustang.
00:29 To have the performance like we did today, to lead that many laps, to get a good restart,
00:35 and have a good clean race all day, and make a run at it, that was really big for us.
00:42 Had some exciting moments in there all the way to the finish.
00:45 That one's going to burn for a really long time.
00:50 It's very disappointing.
00:52 While trying to be excited about the day, it's very disappointing.
00:55 You said trying to be excited, a stage win, and then set back on Pitt Road,
00:59 and then battled back through that adversity, finishing second.
01:02 How do you describe your emotions after a day like you've had today?
01:06 Exhausted from that part of it.
01:08 Lots of ups and downs.
01:11 We had a really good day all the way up to end of stage two there.
01:16 Had a penalty and our group bounced back from it.
01:21 I am proud of that.
01:23 We've got to clean up and be better.
01:25 We are better than that.
01:26 We've got to take a breath and consistently do it.
01:30 I know we can.
01:32 We were able to regroup, get a couple good stops in, and steadily work our way up.
01:38 First I was in contention to win a race.
01:39 Now I'm just going to sit here and be haunted about what I could have done different
01:43 to try and win that one.
01:46 I saw Denny Hamlin come over and say a few words to you.
01:49 What did he say?
01:50 We had a great race there for the lead at that last stage.
01:54 Went back and forth a couple times.
01:56 Some really good clean racing.
01:59 I just appreciate him saying he was having fun with it too and enjoyed the battle.
02:05 It was a good race all the way to the end.
02:07 I know he got put in the middle there on the restart.
02:11 Ultimately, that took away his opportunity to win.
02:16 Really the last caution probably.
02:18 I'm sure he's disappointed too.
02:22 We had a good time racing.
02:23 We had a lot of really good highlights throughout the day.
02:25 I'm proud of that.
02:32 We lost a Bristol race back in '14 or '15 on the Xfinity side on a green/white checker.
02:37 Ran out of fuel.
02:39 That one haunted me all the way until we finally won that race a couple years back.
02:44 This one is going to do the same for a really long time.
02:47 I know the emotions are down a bit right now even though having such a successful day.
02:51 You talk about having those flashes of success during the day.
02:55 One of those, if we can look back on it, was your ability to thread between the 5 and the 11, I believe it was.
03:00 I know you haven't seen the footage yet.
03:02 Take me back to that moment.
03:03 What was going through your mind?
03:04 How did you do that?
03:06 I just closed my eyes and said a prayer.
03:08 I didn't know what I was going to do with my hand.
03:14 That one was risky.
03:15 It was just at that point where it was time to go.
03:18 It was time to take some risks.
03:20 We really needed a win by this time of year to feel better about where we're at.
03:26 It was time to take those chances and figure out how to get there.
03:30 That was just one of those moments.
03:32 It was a good highlight reel.
03:34 If that wasn't enough for you, you can always go back to some of those other moments throughout the race.
03:38 Thanks for putting on a show today, Christopher.
03:39 Thank you.