Chris Buescher wins at Daytona to extend dream NASCAR season — and not just his own
The dream season continues for Chris Buescher.
The driver of the No. 17 car — who’d never before won at a superspeedway and who’d never before won three races in a single season — saw fate fall his way Saturday night and seized the opportunity to earn the win at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night.
What a punctuation mark to a magical regular season.
“We certainly have the momentum on our side right now,” Buescher said in his Victory Lane interview late Saturday night. “Shoot, for playoff points, that’s a huge step in the right direction. That puts us in a great spot here to head through the first round and all the way to Phoenix.
“But there are so many races along the way that I feel like we have such a good shot at. To get this done here today? Oh man, this is so cool.”
Chris Buescher survives overtime
The operable moment, as it always seems to do at Daytona in this day and age, came down to a pair of overtime laps. Buescher found himself leading the pack after a caution flew with eight laps to go with his RFK Racing teammate and boss Brad Keselowski not far behind.
It took some maneuvering — desperate drivers Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports creatively snaked their way into winning contention at the end — but the RFK duo hung tough, prevailing the way legitimate championship contenders do.
Keselowski finished second.
“What a heck of a push from Brad in those closing laps for that entire restart,” Buescher said. “We lined up and worked to get connected. We hardly came disconnected those last couple of laps, and it was a little squirrely at times, but that’s (why) we’ve worked so hard to execute our superspeedway racing for two years now.
“We’ve been so close. We’ve been within the last five laps of so many of these things. And to finally get it done here tonight is special.”
Bubba Wallace in; Chase Elliott out
Buescher’s win didn’t just continue a dream scenario for the Texas native. It also delivered Bubba Wallace a playoff spot — his first of his Cup career — and denied Chase Elliott one.
“That was the most stressed, but also the most locked in, that I’ve ever been,” Wallace told NBC Sports. “Knowing that this place is mostly out of your control, I just tried to focus on doing the things that I can do. ... Proud to be locked into the playoffs. This is special for our team.”
Elliott, the sport’s most popular driver who finished P4 Saturday, tried to find some solace after the race’s disappointing conclusion.
“It’s a bummer for sure,” he said. “You hate that the season has worked out like it has. But the good news is the car got in on owners points. That’s a big deal.”
Aric Almirola finished third. Joey Logano finished fifth. And Martin Truex Jr. clinched the regular season championship.
The ‘Big One’ comes late
There were 22 lead changes and 17 different leaders on Saturday night. Chase Briscoe, the race’s pole-sitter, led a race-high 67 laps. Ross Chastain led 19, and Kevin Harvick led 14. Buescher only led two all race — the two that mattered most.
There were three cautions for 18 laps on Friday. But as you might be able to discern: Despite the lack of yellows, there was plenty of action during Saturday night’s finale.
The aggressive driving began early in Stage 2, when the field ran three-wide for at least three laps around the superspeedway. Yes: these Next Gen cars, with their widely discussed aero shortcomings, filed into three lanes on Daytona’s banks running at 190 miles an hour — tempting a dangerous and thrilling fate.
The aggression eventually spilled over, on the concluding laps of Stage 2. Cue The Big One.
With the cars running evenly two-wide, Christopher Bell appeared to lightly push an already loose Ty Gibbs, and that sent Gibbs’ 54 car straight into right-rear quarter panel of then-leader Ryan Blaney.
Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang immediately went head-on into the safer barrier as about half of the field collected behind him. Among those involved in the carnage, with varying damage: Gibbs, Blaney, Bell, Kyle Larson, Chandler Smith, Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, AJ Allmendinger, Kevin Harvick and others.
“I’m alright,” Blaney said after the wreck.
Blaney was then asked if a big wreck like that was only a matter of time, given the desperation on display.
“Yeah, I thought it was gonna happen multiple times, but further back in the pack than what it did and not at the lead,” Blaney said. “There were plenty of times we were three-wide where the fifth row on back could have easily wrecked and we didn’t, and then it figures right when we get the lead I get wrecked, so that’s just the way it goes this day and age sometimes. We’ll just move on from it.”
Ryan Preece tumbles 10 times
And then came the biggest rupture of all, with seven laps to go.
Ryan Preece was running in the back of the pack when he got loose, turned toward the grass — and went for one of the most violent tumbles of the past handful of seasons. The roll featured more than 10 rotations and must’ve gotten at least 15-20 feet in the air.
Preece climbed out of the car with some assistance and stood on his own on the infield. He was later put on a stretcher and brought to the infield care center before being transported to a local medical facility for further evaluation, per NASCAR officials.
Preece’s accident prompted a yellow, and the field didn’t go green again until those three aforementioned final two overtime laps.
This story was originally published August 26, 2023 at 11:24 PM.
