August 26, 2023 | By Reid Spemcer. NASCAR Wire Service

Buescher leads 1-2 finish for RFK Racing at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. —  When owner/driver Brad Keselowski pushed Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing teammate Chris Buescher to victory in overtime on Sunday night, it was ecstasy for Bubba Wallace and the epitome of frustration for Chase Elliott.

Buescher picked up his third victory of the season in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, the regular-season finale for the NASCAR Cup Series, but not until Ryan Preece’s horrific barrel-roll wreck on the backstretch forced three extra laps.

With Buescher’s repeat win, Wallace clinched the 16th and final spot in the series Playoffs on points. Hemmed in by an armada of Fords after the overtime restart on Lap 162, Elliott—whose only path to the Playoffs was victory on Sunday—couldn’t move forward.

Kevin Harvick blocked Elliott in the bottom lane, and Aric Almirola and Joey Logano on the outside prevented Elliott from making a move to the top. Elliott came home fourth behind Buescher, Keselowski and Almirola, but NASCAR’s most popular driver and 2020 series champion will miss the Playoffs for the first time in his Cup career. 

Buescher restarted second and Keselowski third on Lap 162. Keselowski quickly locked onto Buescher’s bumper and pushed him to the lead. A lap later Buescher secured his fifth career victory and first at Daytona by .098 seconds over his teammate.

“That's as much Brad's win as ours right there,” Buescher said. “That was the right help, aggressive, sticking with us. I was waiting for him to do something there coming to the finish. I figured we'd be side by side. Looked like it stalled out a little behind there.

“Just so thankful for Brad for all those pushes at the right time. Found each other here and there throughout the race, lost each other, and got back on it when it counted.”

The 1-2 finish was the first for RFK Racing since Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. claimed the top two spots for owner Jack Roush at Bristol in 2014. 

Wallace claimed his Playoff spot with a 12th-place finish, because—thankfully from his point of view—no winless driver below him in the standings was able to knock him out of the top 16 by winning. 

“That was the most stressed, but also the most locked in I've ever been,” said Wallace, who entered the race with a 32-point edge over Ty Gibbs for the final Playoff berth. “Knowing that this place is mostly out of your control, I just tried to focus on doing the things that I could do. Missing that wreck (a pileup in Turn 4 on Lap 95) was massive. 

“Proud to be locked into the Playoffs. 23XI Racing, third year in, getting both cars in the Playoffs. We've gone through a lot of trials and tribulations. So proud of the effort we put in.”

Elliott, who missed seven races during the regular season—six with injury and one on suspension—took his failure to make the postseason with grace.

“Yeah, I really liked where we were before the caution (for Preece’s accident),” he said. “Honestly, after the restart there, we had the bottom lane that we wanted. I knew the 6 (Keselowski) was going to go with the 17 (Buescher). I thought the 4 (Harvick) was going to take the bottom, and they did. We really had all the help we could ask for behind.

“I couldn't stay locked onto Kevin like I needed to to surge the bottom lane forward. Brad and Chris were there. Just had a good enough hold on that top lane, and they could kind of control each of them. Yeah, it's a bummer, for sure. Hate the season has worked out like it has. The good news is the car got in in the owners’ points. That's a big deal.”

The wreck that forced the overtime was breathtaking in its magnitude. As the pack of cars cleared Turn 2 on Lap 156, Preece’s Ford turned sideways on the backstretch and slammed into Stewart-Haas Racing teammate and pole winner Chase Briscoe’s Mustang in the bottom lane.

The contact launched Preece’s car high into the air, and it barrel-rolled more than a half-dozen times before it landed on its roof and bounced upright. Preece got out of his car and stood talking to medical personnel before being placed on a stretcher and taken to a local medical facility for further evaluation.

If Preece’s accident was a lasting image from the race, so was the action that preceded it. 

Despite rapid-fire exchanges of the lead throughout the second stage, the race ran caution-free except for the Stage 1 break—until the final corner of the final lap of Stage 2.

That’s when the No. 54 Toyota of Ty Gibbs, fighting for the stage win, broke loose after a bump from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell as the cars raced through Turn 4, turned down into the No. 12 Ford of Ryan Blaney and ignited a wreck that involved 16 of the 39 cars that started the race.

Blaney and Gibbs shot side-by-side into the outside wall, and the cars behind them were helpless to avoid the melee. Gibbs’ Camry was eliminated, ruining any outside chance he had of overtaking Bubba Wallace for a Playoff spot.

Gibbs took the disappointment philosophically.

“I felt like I was getting a great push,” Gibbs said. “I feel like all of our teammates were working really well together tonight. I may have got a push in a bad spot, but we were going for the stage win. I want to thank Christopher for all of the pushes he gave me—I really do.”

Other casualties of the wreck included AJ Allmendinger, defending race winner Austin Dillon, Austin Cindric and Harrison Burton, all of whom were trying to force their way into the Playoffs with a victory.

Elliott, on the other hand, was masterful in weaving his way through the chaos unscathed, finishing the stage seventh behind winner Keselowski. Elliott, however, couldn’t parlay that adroit driving into the victory he needed.

Joey Logano finished fifth, followed by Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Harvick and Corey LaJoie.

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Coke Zero Sugar 400
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida

Saturday, August 26, 2023

    1. (11)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 163.
    2. (12)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 163.
    3. (2)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 163.
    4. (23)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 163.
    5. (14)  Joey Logano, Ford, 163.
    6. (31)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 163.
    7. (18)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 163.
    8. (27)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 163.|
    9. (10)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 163.
    10. (37)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 163.
    11. (30)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 163.
    12. (4)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 163.
    13. (39)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 163.
    14. (26)  Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 163.
    15. (36)  Chandler Smith(i), Chevrolet, 163.
    16. (15)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 163.
    17. (25)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 163.
    18. (24)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 163.
    19. (33)  JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 163.
    20. (22)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 163.
    21. (28)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 163.
    22. (29)  Josh Berry(i), Chevrolet, 163.
    23. (38)  BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 163.
    24. (13)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 163.
    25. (20)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 163.
    26. (19)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 162.
    27. (7)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 161.
    28. (3)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 160.
    29. (17)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 160.
    30. (1)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, Accident, 156.
    31. (9)  Ryan Preece, Ford, Accident, 155.
    32. (35)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, Overheating, 131.
    33. (21)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 102.
    34. (32)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 96.
    35. (5)  Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, Accident, 94.
    36. (8)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 94.
    37. (16)  Austin Cindric, Ford, Accident, 94.
    38. (6)  Riley Herbst(i), Ford, Accident, 94.
    39. (34)  Brennan Poole(i), Ford, Accident, 93.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  158.389 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 34 Mins, 22 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .098 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  3 for 18 laps.

Lead Changes:  22 among 17 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   C. Briscoe 1-22;D. Hamlin 23-34;M. Truex Jr. 35-37;J. Logano 38-46;A. Allmendinger 47-49;C. Elliott 50-51;A. Allmendinger 52-54;R. Chastain 55-57;A. Allmendinger 58-59;R. Chastain 60-75;R. Blaney 76-79;R. Stenhouse Jr. 80;A. Almirola 81-83;H. Burton 84-87;D. Suarez 88;H. Burton 89;K. Busch 90-94;B. Keselowski 95-100;W. Byron 101;M. Truex Jr. 102;C. Briscoe 103-147;K. Harvick 148-161;C. Buescher 162-163.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Chase Briscoe 2 times for 67 laps; Ross Chastain 2 times for 19 laps; Kevin Harvick 1 time for 14 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 12 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 9 laps; AJ Allmendinger 3 times for 8 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 6 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 5 laps; Harrison Burton 2 times for 5 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 2 times for 4 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 4 laps; Aric Almirola 1 time for 3 laps; Chris Buescher 1 time for 2 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 2 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 1 lap; William Byron 1 time for 1 lap; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,20,4,54,22,23,2,11,14,99

Stage #2 Top Ten: 6,8,99,48,24,45,9,3,1,22