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Nationwide
NNS: Buescher Wins Wild Series Opener
James Buescher survives as several multi-car crashes mar season opener...
Saturday’s kickoff Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway was a mix of pack drafting, tandem drafting, Danica drafting and absolute chaos.
The DRIVE4COPD 300 ended with James Buescher in victory lane, but his victory perhaps was overshadowed by more adventures featuring Danica Patrick, the new NASCAR superstar who has yet to run a Sprint Cup race, and several major accidents involving, well, almost everybody.
Race activity saw a combination of traditional Daytona drafting and tandem drafting.
The biggest crash was the last one – and it happened in the last turn of the last lap. At that point, Buescher, a 21-year-old who started the race winless in Nationwide competition, was 11th. He had no chance to win unless mayhem erupted in front of him.
Mayhem erupted.
The Busch brothers – Kurt and Kyle – were rushing toward the finish in the front two-car draft entering turn four when several other tandem drafts barreled toward the front on the outside. Kurt, in the lead, moved high on the track, breaking the draft with his brother, and then the trouble began.
The field had proven in two previous incidents that it was virtually impossible to race three-wide in big groups in the turns. In the final turn, cars spun wildly as Kurt Busch moved up the track.
Most of the lead pack either crashed or slowed. Buescher sprinted through the chaos and emerged first at the finish line as caution flew over the track.
The victory was Buescher’s first in 35 Nationwide races.
“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 and you’re the only guy coming to the checkered flag.”
NASCAR said Buescher won the race because he held the lead when the final caution flag appeared a few seconds before he reached the checkered flag.
Following Buescher were Brad Keselowski, Elliott Sadler, Cole Whitt and Austin Dillon.
Kurt Busch said he made a move to “crowd” the outside lane near the finish.
“I went to crowd the outside lane and didn’t know that there were two cars up there,” he said. “I thought it was just a single lane. I was trying to side-draft to get the best finish I could at the end.
“Everybody was racing to the end. Man, a lot of tore-up cars. That’s just everybody full-throttle at the end.”
The uncertainties associated with the new Daytona draft bit Patrick on the 49th lap of the 120-lap race. Cole Whitt, her teammate at JR Motorsports, was bump-drafting Patrick in turn three when the contact sent Patrick into a slide, onto the track’s inside apron and then into the outside wall.
Her team radio crackled with obscenities as she questioned Whitt’s actions. She was able to drive the car to the garage, where the Tony Eury Jr.-led team started repair work, and Patrick eventually returned to the race, finishing 38th.
Patrick won the race’s pole position Friday and led the first two laps of the race.
The race’s Other Big One occurred with 16 laps remaining as the Busch brothers shot through the middle of the leaders in a two-car draft in turn four, sparking a crash that ultimately involved 17 cars. Behind them, traffic slowed slightly as the field compacted, and several cars went into slides or spins.
Included in the crash was a rather unusual occurrence. Reed Sorenson’s momentum carried him most of the way under Justin Allgaier’s slowing car as Sorenson lifted Allgaier from the racing surface.
The crash caused a red flag and a four-minute delay because of damage to the outside wall.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The DRIVE4COPD 300 ended with James Buescher in victory lane, but his victory perhaps was overshadowed by more adventures featuring Danica Patrick, the new NASCAR superstar who has yet to run a Sprint Cup race, and several major accidents involving, well, almost everybody.
Race activity saw a combination of traditional Daytona drafting and tandem drafting.
The biggest crash was the last one – and it happened in the last turn of the last lap. At that point, Buescher, a 21-year-old who started the race winless in Nationwide competition, was 11th. He had no chance to win unless mayhem erupted in front of him.
Mayhem erupted.
The Busch brothers – Kurt and Kyle – were rushing toward the finish in the front two-car draft entering turn four when several other tandem drafts barreled toward the front on the outside. Kurt, in the lead, moved high on the track, breaking the draft with his brother, and then the trouble began.
The field had proven in two previous incidents that it was virtually impossible to race three-wide in big groups in the turns. In the final turn, cars spun wildly as Kurt Busch moved up the track.
Most of the lead pack either crashed or slowed. Buescher sprinted through the chaos and emerged first at the finish line as caution flew over the track.
The victory was Buescher’s first in 35 Nationwide races.
“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 and you’re the only guy coming to the checkered flag.”
NASCAR said Buescher won the race because he held the lead when the final caution flag appeared a few seconds before he reached the checkered flag.
Following Buescher were Brad Keselowski, Elliott Sadler, Cole Whitt and Austin Dillon.
Kurt Busch said he made a move to “crowd” the outside lane near the finish.
“I went to crowd the outside lane and didn’t know that there were two cars up there,” he said. “I thought it was just a single lane. I was trying to side-draft to get the best finish I could at the end.
“Everybody was racing to the end. Man, a lot of tore-up cars. That’s just everybody full-throttle at the end.”
The uncertainties associated with the new Daytona draft bit Patrick on the 49th lap of the 120-lap race. Cole Whitt, her teammate at JR Motorsports, was bump-drafting Patrick in turn three when the contact sent Patrick into a slide, onto the track’s inside apron and then into the outside wall.
Her team radio crackled with obscenities as she questioned Whitt’s actions. She was able to drive the car to the garage, where the Tony Eury Jr.-led team started repair work, and Patrick eventually returned to the race, finishing 38th.
Patrick won the race’s pole position Friday and led the first two laps of the race.
The race’s Other Big One occurred with 16 laps remaining as the Busch brothers shot through the middle of the leaders in a two-car draft in turn four, sparking a crash that ultimately involved 17 cars. Behind them, traffic slowed slightly as the field compacted, and several cars went into slides or spins.
Included in the crash was a rather unusual occurrence. Reed Sorenson’s momentum carried him most of the way under Justin Allgaier’s slowing car as Sorenson lifted Allgaier from the racing surface.
The crash caused a red flag and a four-minute delay because of damage to the outside wall.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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