Ryan Preece trolls Chris Buescher with Atlanta billboards

All season Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing teammates Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece have had a popular feud – all fun, full of high jinx and practical jokes. And Preece certainly raised the bar this weekend.

On four billboards already purchased by EchoPark Speedway and located on the interstate highways leading to the track, Preece had one message that says “Visit Prosper, TX 843 miles” – a nod to the Texan Buescher’s hometown. On another, a photo of Buescher with a wig on and shawl around his shoulders, the message says, “Come see me race this weekend!”

In a video on social media shows Preece grinning and calling the signs “a thing of beauty.”

Buescher said he was initially convinced that the signs were fake or AI-generated when he saw Preece’s posts, but was alerted multiple times by people driving in Atlanta that they had seen the billboards.

“I guess I’ve made it,” Buescher said smiling, “When your face is on a billboard, either we’ve done something real well or if you’ve been hurt in a motorcycle accident, I’ve got you,” Buescher said smiling, and promising he would return the favor in some way at some point.

“I promise it will be equally as much fun, if not more.”

The big Atlanta drafting track is a thing of beauty to Buescher, 33, who has been particularly good in this style of racing on the big tracks such as Atlanta, Daytona and Talladega, Ala. He’s coming off a ninth place finish at Atlanta in February, was runner-up at Talladega in April and has been especially good at Daytona, winning the 2023 summer race there. He’s finished top-10 in six of the last seven Daytona races.

Buescher is the only one of the three RFK drivers currently among the playoff top-16 in points. He’s ranked seventh – three-points up on last week’s race winner, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe. He has nine top-10 finishes through the opening 19 races with a best showings of runner-up at Michigan and third place on the Watkins Glen, N.Y. road course.

And Buescher knows this weekend will be especially important setting the tone for the regular season finale run.

“There’s no way we can afford to give anything,’’ Buescher said. “You can’t be reckless. You can’t give anybody an inch. We still have to perform at a high level. We still have to do our work ahead of time and come into these weekends and be prepared to put in our max effort.

“With that, we’ll be fine on making the Chase, but that’s ultimately not the goal. It’s realizing and I think seeing it more and more out there that if you can start the Chase in fifth or sixth spot, or better, then you have a shot to win a title and we’re just outside of that, so we have to step up to be able to get to that point to where we’re not just a participant but a contender at the end.”