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Sprint Cup
CUP: Kurt Busch Wins In Wild Shootout Finish
Denny Hamlin makes late-race move to front but is blackflagged for racing below yellow line…
Kurt Busch celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the 2011 Bud Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Kurt Busch won the first race of the NASCAR season Saturday night when Denny Hamlin made a last-gasp move to the front that resulted in a NASCAR penalty.
Busch grabbed the first checkered flag of the year in the non-points Budweiser Shootout after a night of frantic two-car drafting ended in a dramatic finish. The 75-lap race featured a record number of lead changes – 28 – and an evening of drivers challenging each other repeatedly in tight two-car drafting pairs.
Ryan Newman, who had a shot at winning the race, called it “the most unexpected race I’ve ever been a part of.” Busch described the night as “this whole new game of Daytona.” Other drivers called the racing very different from any previous restrictor-plate track event.
Newman and Hamlin were locked in a drafting pair moving toward the finish alongside the pair of Busch and Jamie McMurray.
Hamlin dropped low in the trioval to attempt to pass Newman and did so, but he dropped below the yellow line to make the pass. Although Hamlin finished first, NASCAR blackflagged him for advancing his position below the yellow line, dropping him to 12th in the finish order.
With Hamlin and Newman busy on the inside wrestling for the win, Busch slipped through with the help of McMurray’s push and won the race.
“I’ve got to thank my motor department – Jamie McMurray,” Busch said in victory lane. “When you have a friend like that in this two-car draft, that’s what it takes.”
The mix of the race changed dramatically three laps into the closing 50-lap segment when the cars of Regan Smith, Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr. tangled on the backstretch, sending traffic slipping and sliding into and off of turn three.
Juan Pablo Montoya, Joey Logano and Kevin Conway also were involved in the accident.
Earnhardt Jr. summed up the wreck as “too many race cars going for the same real estate.”
Six laps later, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch lost control of their cars as they drafted together in turn one. Both cars were damaged; Martin drove to the garage area, while Busch stayed in the race after pit-road repairs. He parked a few laps later.
With 26 laps remaining, a similar incident occurred in turn three as Michael Waltrip and Tony Stewart drafted tightly together. Waltrip’s car slipped and spun and then dropped off the banking, producing another caution period.
The first 25 laps of the race – it was run in two segments – featured the two-car drafting pairs that were dominant – and exceptionally fast – in Shootout practice.
The best duo in the opening segment was the Richard Childress Racing pairing of Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick. Their cars were practically glued together for most of the segment, and Burton led the race by the blink of an eye over Harvick at the end of the 25 laps.
Burton led 13 of the first 25 laps as drafting pairs blitzed around the speedway at more than 206 miles per hour. The average speed for the first 25 laps was 196.587.
Kasey Kahne left the race after only seven laps with engine troubles.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Busch grabbed the first checkered flag of the year in the non-points Budweiser Shootout after a night of frantic two-car drafting ended in a dramatic finish. The 75-lap race featured a record number of lead changes – 28 – and an evening of drivers challenging each other repeatedly in tight two-car drafting pairs.
Ryan Newman, who had a shot at winning the race, called it “the most unexpected race I’ve ever been a part of.” Busch described the night as “this whole new game of Daytona.” Other drivers called the racing very different from any previous restrictor-plate track event.
Newman and Hamlin were locked in a drafting pair moving toward the finish alongside the pair of Busch and Jamie McMurray.
Hamlin dropped low in the trioval to attempt to pass Newman and did so, but he dropped below the yellow line to make the pass. Although Hamlin finished first, NASCAR blackflagged him for advancing his position below the yellow line, dropping him to 12th in the finish order.
With Hamlin and Newman busy on the inside wrestling for the win, Busch slipped through with the help of McMurray’s push and won the race.
“I’ve got to thank my motor department – Jamie McMurray,” Busch said in victory lane. “When you have a friend like that in this two-car draft, that’s what it takes.”
The mix of the race changed dramatically three laps into the closing 50-lap segment when the cars of Regan Smith, Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr. tangled on the backstretch, sending traffic slipping and sliding into and off of turn three.
Juan Pablo Montoya, Joey Logano and Kevin Conway also were involved in the accident.
Earnhardt Jr. summed up the wreck as “too many race cars going for the same real estate.”
Six laps later, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch lost control of their cars as they drafted together in turn one. Both cars were damaged; Martin drove to the garage area, while Busch stayed in the race after pit-road repairs. He parked a few laps later.
With 26 laps remaining, a similar incident occurred in turn three as Michael Waltrip and Tony Stewart drafted tightly together. Waltrip’s car slipped and spun and then dropped off the banking, producing another caution period.
The first 25 laps of the race – it was run in two segments – featured the two-car drafting pairs that were dominant – and exceptionally fast – in Shootout practice.
The best duo in the opening segment was the Richard Childress Racing pairing of Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick. Their cars were practically glued together for most of the segment, and Burton led the race by the blink of an eye over Harvick at the end of the 25 laps.
Burton led 13 of the first 25 laps as drafting pairs blitzed around the speedway at more than 206 miles per hour. The average speed for the first 25 laps was 196.587.
Kasey Kahne left the race after only seven laps with engine troubles.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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