James Buescher (30) avoids a multi-car accident in turn 4 and took the lead to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series opener at Daytona Saturday. Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR
Coming down the backstretch on the last lap of Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway, James Buescher found himself in 11th position, well out of the contention for the win.
Half a lap later, the 21-year-old was weaving through the melee of a 10-car pile-up involving the lead pack, and would score the victory in the DRIVE4COPD 300, the first NNS win of his career.
“They all piled up in front of me and we made it through,” Buescher said. “It’s hard to describe the feeling when you make it through the wreck and you’re the only guy. You don’t see anybody in front of you coming to the checkered flag. It’s pretty incredible. Definitely will never forget it.”
Buescher said it was hard to put his first win into words.
“I got to thank Mr. (Steve) Turner (Buescher’s car owner) first and foremost for letting me not only drive in the Truck Series, but let me drive in the Nationwide Series, and Trent (Owens, crew chief) for giving me an awesome racecar.”
James Buescher celebrates winning the Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona Saturday, his first career NASCAR Nationwide Series win. Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR
Buescher was in the right place at the right time, as leader Kurt Busch moved high coming to the checkered flag to try to block the runs of Joey Logano and Tony Stewart, making contact with Logano and setting off a 10 car pile-up. Among those involved were Stewart, who was going for a fifth-straight and seventh overall victory in the event, Logano, Elliott Sadler, Trevor Bayne, and Brad Keselowski.
Buescher said he had enough time to think about what he needed to do to get his race car through the mess ahead of him.
“It happened quick, but it was kind of slow in the moment,” he said. “I was far enough back that I saw the outside line going to try to pass for the lead, and whoever was leading, I think it was the 1 car maybe (Kurt Busch), I don’t know if I’m right or wrong, I think he went up and tried to block a little bit, everybody started rubbing fenders. They all turned into the wall together.
I had enough time to point my car to the bottom, thought about going to the apron. I was worried if I went all the way to the apron I’d spin myself out. Kept it straight, made it through, dodged all the bullets. Only car that came out the other side out front.”
Leaders Joey Logano (20), Kurt Busch (1), Trevor Bayne (60), Tony Stewart (33) and Elliott Sadler (2) are all involved in a last lap accident in Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series event that opened the door for James Buescher to score the victory. Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR
It was almost predictable that something would happen in the final laps. After a reasonably clean race, the event was slowed two other multi-car shunts in the final 20 laps.
Pole sitter Danica Patrick led the opening lap, with the race settling down early in the going. The action saw a combination of two-car tandem and multi-car pack racing throughout the field. The lead would change hands several times over the first 50 laps of the event, with several drivers taking turns at the point, including Bayne, Stewart, Hornish, Mike Bliss, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Kurt Busch.
The first major incident occurred on lap 49, when Patrick made contact with the third turn wall after being clipped by her teammate, Cole Whitt. The contact sent Patrick’s car sliding down onto the apron, then back up across the track and into the wall.
Patrick was uninjured, showing her frustration over the team’s radio with a slew of cursing as the brought her damaged Chevrolet back to the pits.
The caution would fly again on lap 60, when Mike Bliss was turned into the wall on the backstretch. Bliss had been drafting with Joe Nemechek when he backed out of the throttle to avoid a slower car. The resulting contact from Nemechek turned Bliss into the wall, ending his day.
The yellow flag again flew on lap 74, when Brian Scott hit the outside wall in the tri-oval off the front bumper of Michael Annett. The caution sent several drivers to the pits, as they tried different pit strategies just inside their fuel windows.
On the restart, brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch would push to the lead. As the laps began winding down, several drivers took turns at the top spot, including Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Earnhardt, Jr., Timmy Hill, and Kenny Wallace.
This 19-car accident with 16 laps remaining brought out a red flag and set up the finish to Saturday's race. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR
The first of three major incidents occurred on lap 103, when contact between Benny Gordon, Kenny Wallace and Justin Allgaier triggered an accident that gathered up around a dozen cars, and saw Reed Sorenson’s car driving up under Allgaier’s Chevrolet. Others involved include Robert Richardson, Jr., Mike Wallace, Michael Annett, T.J. Bell, Johanna Long, and Ryan Truex.
Officials put out the red flag to allow workers to make repairs to the safer barrier. When the race resumed, it was again Kurt Busch moving to the lead, pushed by brother Kyle.
As the leaders vied for position, Hornish spun after a tag from David Ragan off of turn four as Ragan was being pushed by Bayne. Several cars were involved, with Annett, Nemechek, and Ragan seeing their races come to an end. Earnhardt, Jr. was also involved, receiving damage to the front and passenger’s side of his Chevrolet.
The final restart came with two laps to go, setting up the wild finish.
Keselowski would recover from the melee to come home second. Elliott Sadler was credited with third, with Cole Whitt fourth and Austin Dillon fifth.
The event saw a record 38 lead changes among 16 drivers.
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
DRIVE4COPD 300 – Feb. 25, 2012
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1. (15) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 120, $114288.
2. (9) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 120, $81385.
3. (3) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 120, $79228.
4. (8) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 120, $71903.
5. (5) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 120, $65388.
6. (25) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 120, $59513.
7. (29) Timmy Hill, Ford, 120, $50770.
8. (7) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 120, $49695.
9. (11) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 120, $48445.
10. (14) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 120, $51770.
11. (2) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 120, $53113.
12. (33) Benny Gordon, Toyota, 120, $46020.
13. (41) Danny Efland, Chevrolet, 120, $52013.
14. (37) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 120, $45220.
15. (4) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 120, $45770.
16. (22) Joey Logano, Toyota, 120, $44845.
17. (31) Blake Koch, Ford, 120, $50838.
18. (24) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 119, $44445.
19. (10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, Accident, 119, $51588.
20. (6) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 119, $50963.
21. (21) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 119, $50513.
22. (20) Eric McClure, Toyota, 118, $50213.
23. (27) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, Accident, 116, $50038.
24. (39) TJ Bell, Chevrolet, Accident, 115, $49913.
25. (36) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 115, $50238.
26. (23) David Ragan, Ford, Accident, 113, $43170.
27. (16) Michael Annett, Ford, Accident, 113, $49538.
28. (28) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 112, $49463.
29. (35) Joey Gase, Ford, 108, $49363.
30. (26) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 104, $49538.
31. (18) Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, Accident, 104, $42595.
32. (17) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 103, $42520.
33. (12) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Accident, 103, $48938.
34. (42) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Accident, 103, $48888.
35. (34) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 103, $48728.
36. (32) Casey Roderick, Ford, Accident, 103, $42185.
37. (19) Brian Scott, Toyota, 96, $48588.
38. (1) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 72, $52427.
39. (13) Mike Bliss, Toyota, Accident, 59, $40960.
40. (38) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Engine, 43, $40910.
41. (40) Jason Bowles, Dodge, Engine, 28, $47333.
42. (30) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, Electrical, 14, $40810.
43. (43) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $40721.
Race statistics
Average Speed: 129.636 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 18 Mins, 51 Secs. Margin of Victory: Caution.
Caution Flags: 8 for 35 laps.
Lead Changes: 38 among 16 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Patrick 1-2; T. Bayne 3; E. Sadler 4; T. Stewart 5-8; K. Kahne 9-12; D. Hamlin 13; T. Bayne 14-15; S. Hornish Jr. 16-20; M. Bliss 21-25; D. Earnhardt Jr. 26; M. Bliss 27; Kurt Busch 28-29; D. Earnhardt Jr. 30-32; Kurt Busch 33-36; T. Stewart 37-43; Kurt Busch 44-48; D. Earnhardt Jr. 49-50; D. Hamlin 51-53; Kurt Busch 54-64; E. Sadler 65-66; D. Earnhardt Jr. 67; E. Sadler 68-72; Kyle Busch 73; Kurt Busch 74-76; R. Richardson Jr. 77; J. Nemechek 78-79; S. Hornish Jr. 80-81; Kurt Busch 82; T. Stewart 83-88; Kyle Busch 89; D. Hamlin 90; D. Earnhardt Jr. 91; T. Stewart 92-94; T. Hill 95-98; K. Wallace 99; D. Hamlin 100-101; T. Stewart 102-103; Kurt Busch 104-119; J. Buescher 120;.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kurt Busch 7 times for 42 laps; T. Stewart 5 times for 22 laps; E. Sadler 3 times for 8 laps; D. Earnhardt Jr. 5 times for 8 laps; S. Hornish Jr. 2 times for 7 laps; D. Hamlin 4 times for 7 laps; M. Bliss 2 times for 6 laps; T. Hill 1 time for 4 laps; K. Kahne 1 time for 4 laps; T. Bayne 2 times for 3 laps; D. Patrick 1 time for 2 laps; J. Nemechek 1 time for 2 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 2 laps; R. Richardson Jr. 1 time for 1 lap; J. Buescher 1 time for 1 lap; K. Wallace 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: E. Sadler – 42; C. Whitt – 40; A. Dillon – 39; T. Malsam – 38; T. Bayne – 34; B. Gordon – 32; D. Efland – 31; B. Koch – 27; R. Stenhouse Jr. – 25; S. Hornish Jr. – 25.
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