Kyle Busch wins Busch Clash. Full results and what we learned from NASCAR race
.JPG "Kyle Busch celebrates on the top of his car after winning the NASCAR Clash auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)")
There were multiple overshot turns that sent drivers off the track during Tuesday night’s Busch Clash. That was a first for the exhibition Cup race typically held on the tri-oval. There was also a smoking car and long yellow flags, which is nothing new to NASCAR. What was new was that the Clash was held on the Daytona road course for the first time.
The race didn’t deliver the spectacular crashes that the Clash usually promises, but it did deliver some surprises. Including a last lap pass for the win by Kyle Busch.
After Martin Truex Jr. slammed into the wall coming out off the backstretch chicane, a caution was called to bunch the field with five laps left. Ryan Blaney pitted for fresh tires, and defending Cup champion Chase Elliott stayed out for the lead. With two laps to go, Blaney slid ahead of Elliott to take the top spot. Elliott got into Blaney from the inside chasing him through the final turn and Kyle Busch, in third, swiped the lead for the finish.
Elliott finished in second. Blaney finished in 13th.
Chase Elliott always a threat on the road
The night didn’t end how either Elliott or Blaney wanted it to, but Elliott, who started last due to unapproved adjustments pre-race, proved what many expected: He’ll be a factor on the road. He quickly raced into the top-10, and avoided spins that kept catching the leaders throughout the race, including Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.
When the final caution came out, Elliott was in position to take the lead with a strategy call to pass on fresh tires. Elliott and Blaney were battling for the top spot just before the flag and Elliott said he made a last-ditch move to try for the pass to win the race. He said he didn’t intend to wreck Blaney, and the two drivers had a conversation after the race, but Elliott said he “can’t be sorry” about going for the win.
“If I’m sorry about trying to win the race then I’m in the wrong business here,” Elliott said.
More misfortune for Blaney
The end of the race looked similar to the finish of the 2018 Charlotte Roval won by Blaney. A late move by Jimmie Johnson ended up crashing him and Truex Jr. from the lead. Blaney snagged the win that time.
Blaney said he shared some words of advice with Elliott after this year’s road course race.
“I told him if you’re gonna make a move like that make sure you at least win the race. Don’t hand it to the third place guy,” Blaney said. Then he recalled his own fortune.
“It’s ironic me saying that, because I wont the Roval that way.”
Blaney’s finish at the Clash seemed par for the course with much of his narrative from last season: Leading laps, front of the pack, then disaster to keep him from the flag. This year, it was a friend off the track that kept him from Victory Lane. Blaney said he knew Elliott didn’t intend to wreck him.
“But I ended up wrecked,” Blaney said. “Just a shame that we ended up getting turned around.”
The grid will be back on the same course in a few weeks on Feb. 21 and the finish of that race will likely see the same names. The next time, though, there could be an alternate ending.
“Am I gonna make the same move if we’re in the same position a couple weeks from now?” Blaney said. “Hell yeah. I mean, why not?”
Gibbs cars look ready for the road
Between Kyle Busch’s win and Denny Hamlin leading laps, the Joe Gibbs Racing cars looked strong throughout the race. Although Martin Truex Jr. didn’t post a noteworthy finish, he was in the lead in the final 10 laps of the race. He said he overshot the bus stop on the course and hit mud to send him into the wall coming out of the backstretch chicane to send him from the front.
Denny Hamlin jumped out to an early lead and was a factor later in the race, leading 21 of the 35 total laps, but it was Kyle Busch who stole the show. Busch led only one lap of the race: The final one.
“I feel like we’ve had some really good runs on the road courses and Rovals,” Busch said. “We just haven’t been able to finish them out, and tonight we obviously did due to some unforeseen circumstances by some of the other guys out there.”
He won the 2012 Busch Clash at Daytona with a late-lap pass for the lead. This year, Busch is working with a new crew chief, Ben Beshore, who he credited in part for the win. It’s a promising start for the No. 18 team that notched only one win last season. Busch looked to the future in his post-race press conference on Fox.
“I would love nothing more than to be right here this Sunday,” Busch said.
Daytona Road Course delivered
There were 12 lead changes in the 35-lap race, in addition to a surprise ending and hard racing, which is what NASCAR was aiming to deliver to fans who watched wreck-fest racing at least year’s Clash.
“I guess it was an exciting finish,” Blaney said.
There was mud around the course that stopped up multiple drivers, but the road course Clash still delivered an entertaining race. Three cautions were called, excluding the competition caution, which is one fewer than the number of cautions called at last year’s Clash (five for 21 laps at the tri-oval). The final yellow fell in the final 10 laps of the race to shake up the running order and the race ended in thrilling fashion, a promising sign for what’s to come in the points-race on the Daytona road course in a few weeks.
The Cup Series is scheduled to run its keynote event, the Daytona 500, on Feb. 14 at 2:30 p.m. on Fox.
Busch Clash results
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 8:53 PM.
