Chris Buescher Wins Daytona, Elliott Misses Playoff Cut

In a race with so much on the line for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Chris Buescher charged to the lead in overtime to score the win Saturday night in the NASCAR Cup Series regular series finale at Daytona International Speedway.

The win came with a huge shove on the final restart from his teammate – and part team owner – Brad Keselowski that pushed both past Kevin Harvick to the lead.

From there, with cars stacked up three wide behind them, Buescher crossed under the checkered flag to take the win.

“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 what we work so hard to execute 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 to finally get it done here tonight is special.”

It marks the third win of the season for Buescher – one of resurgence for Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing – and the fifth of his series career. It also gives the team a lot of energy going into the Playoffs.

“We certainly have the momentum on our side right now.” Buescher said. “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.

“That’s an RFK win right there. That was as much Brad driving or maybe even more than me down here tonight, but so cool to be right here in victory lane.”

Keselowski crossed the finish line in second, giving RFK Racing its first 1-2 finish since 2014 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Just a really great day for RFK,” Keselowski said. “A few weeks we were sitting down, kind of going over the goal and visions, what we value. One of the things we brought up was 1-2 finishes. It’s been a long time since this company has had 1-2 finishes. I can’t stay say a specific date. Of course, I wanted to be the one on the front of that. Proud nonetheless of Chris and his efforts and both teams, where they’ve grown and come together. Doing all the right things to grow us and to just take us to that next level.

“Today was just another kind of feather in our cap. We’re really proud.”

Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace made the cut into the Playoffs with a 12th place finish after his nearest competitor, Ty Gibbs, was taken out in a lap 96 crash while he was fighting for the lead.

With Buescher, who was already locked into the Playoffs, getting the win, Wallace locked himself in with a solid finish.

“Proud to be locked into the Playoffs,” Wallace said. “23XI, 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. No matter how much we set ourselves back, we know that we have a … group and can bounce back from everything.”

“My wife puts up with me through the stressful times. I wasn’t myself. Sorry, babe. I was focused trying to get us in and pay for this house that you wanted,” Wallace added with a laugh.

Meanwhile, Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott finished fourth on the night, but needed the win to make the cut to the Playoffs. It marks the first time in seven years that he has failed to contend for the title.

“Yeah, I really liked where we were before the caution,” Elliott 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 (Harvick) 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.”

Martin Truex, Jr., who finished the night in 24th, clinched the regular season championship just after the end of the second segment of the race. That’s worth an extra 15 points going into the Playoffs.

“It feels great,” Truex said. “Obviously at the beginning of the year you set out to be the best. For the regular season championship, it’s a huge deal, the 15 points that come along with it are very, very important for the Playoffs.

“Just really proud of my team. Thankful to turn it around from last year, missing the Playoffs, to being here tonight is a big deal for all of us. Thankful to all our partners and everybody that makes this happen. Hopefully we can keep this going throughout the Playoffs.”

Aric Almirola finished the race in third, with Elliott fourth, and Joey Logano in fifth.

Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Harvick, and Corey LaJoie rounded out the top 10.

The race was marred by a pair of frightening crashes. The first occurred as the field raced to the end of the second segment on lap 96 as Ryan Blaney and Ty Gibbs raced for the lead. Gibbs’ car was turned by contact from behind from Christopher Bell. Gibbs hooked the right rear of Blaney’s car, turning it head on into the outside safer barrier with such force that the barrier moved at least a foot.

That triggered a multi-car shunt that gathered up at least 16 cars, including Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, A.J. Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Harrison Burton, Riley Herbst, Harvick, Denny Hamlin and others. The race was briefly red flagged by officials to allow for clean up.

Fortunately, Blaney climbed out of the car under his own power uninjured.

“I’m alright,” Blaney said. “I don’t know. I guess it kind of seems like the 54 (Gibbs) got turned into me. The 20 (Bell) shoved him and it was kind of just a weird spot I guess and I got right-reared, so not in a fun spot. It’s a shame. We had a fast car and came from the back to the front multiple times and thought we made a good move to try to win the stage and just can’t catch a break. Luckily, everyone is alright. We’ll go to next week.”

For Gibbs, who needed a win to make the Playoffs, it was an end to what looked to be a strong run.

“I felt like I was getting a great push,” said Gibbs. “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 (Bell) for all of the pushes he gave me, I really do.”

The most frightening moment of the night came on the backstretch with five laps to go, when Ryan Preece made contact with Erik Jones, turning Preece’s car down into pole sitter Chase Briscoe. That spun Preece’s car down into the grass, where it barrel rolled side over side several times before coming to rest on it’s wheels.

Preece climbed from the car under his own power, but was transported to an area hospital for further evaluation. While an update on his condition wasn’t immediately available, he did make a post on social media late Saturday night.

“If you want to be a race car driver, you better be tough,” Preece posted. “Dammit. Fast @racechoice @FordPerformance Mustang. I’m coming back.”

With the end of the regular season, attention turns to the championship field, which includes Truex, Byron, Buescher, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Larson, Bell, Ross Chastain, Blaney, Reddick, Logano, Stenhouse, Michael McDowell, Harvick, and Wallace. The first round of the Playoffs opens at one of the crown jewel races of NASCAR, the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, September 3.

NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Coke Zero Sugar 400 – 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) J.J. 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) B.J. 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) A.J. 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: 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

Playoff Standings: 1. William Byron – 2036 (5 Wins); 2. Martin Truex, Jr. – 2036 (3 Wins); 3. Denny Hamlin – 2025 (2 Wins); 4. Chris Buescher – 2021 (3 Wins); 5. Kyle Busch – 2019 (3 Wins); 6. Kyle Larson – 2017 (2 Wins); 7. Christopher Bell – 2014 (1 Win); 8. Ross Chastain – 2011 (1 Win); 9. Brad Keselowski – 2010; 10. Tyler Reddick – 2009 (1 Win); 11. Joey Logano – 2008 (1 Win); 12. Ryan Blaney – 2008 (1 Win); 13. Michael McDowell – 2007 (1 Win); 14. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 2005 (1 Win); 15. Kevin Harvick – 2004; 16. Bubba Wallace – 2000.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series