Busch ‘Whacked’ at Daytona

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was in position to challenge for his first points-paying restrictor-plate victory Saturday night at Daytona, but he saw those chances vanish when he was turned on the final turn of the final lap and relegated to a 23rd-place finish.

 

Busch was able to overcome a pit-road miscue on the first stop of the night to contend late. When the competition caution waved on lap 20, Busch followed the rest of the leaders to pit road for a planned right-side tire stop. But when the racecar pitting in front of him stopped short, it blocked Busch into his stall. Crew chief Tony Gibson called an audible, instructing the Monster Energy/Haas Automation team to change the lefts as well. The extra time spent on pit road dropped Busch from seventh to 27th.

 

Busch worked the draft to gain spots on the racetrack, and Gibson made pit calls that allowed Busch to race at the front of the pack over the closing laps. It appeared Busch might finally get his first restrictor-plate victory, but he fell just short of accomplishing the goal when the No. 22 sent Busch spinning on the final lap.

 

“I don't know where (Joey) Logano wanted to go,” Busch said. “He was going to go from fifth to first? There’s not a chance that he had to win it. We positioned ourselves to be the car to get a run off the bottom. It just didn’t work out with him trying to drive straight through us.

 

“It would have worked out better if he would have pushed us, we could have had a shot at the No. 2 car (race winner Brad Keselowski). And with the way that it turned out, I feel disappointed I wasn’t able to get the win for Gibson and all these guys that work on the No. 41 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing. We did everything right tonight except cross the line where we were supposed to. I think he (Logano) made an aggressive mistake. It’s a shame that we ended up spun around and wrecked. We could have come out of here with the points lead.”

 

Busch’s teammate Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Ducks Unlimited Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 26th after an accident with 13 laps to go. He led one lap on the night. Despite his misfortune, Stewart moved into the top-30 in the driver standings by a three-point margin over 31st-place Brian Scott. If Stewart can remain in the top-30 through the 26th race of the season, he will secure his spot in the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff by virtue of his victory last week at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

 

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS for SHR, salvaged a 27th-place finish, 31 laps down, after being involved in a multicar accident just past the race’s midpoint.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 39th after being involved in the same multicar accident.

 

Keselowski won the Coke Zero 400 to score his third victory of the season and his 20th in 250 career Sprint Cup starts.

 

Keselowski finished .159 of a second ahead of runner-up Kyle Busch, while Trevor Bayne, Logano and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-five. Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Michael McDowell comprised the remainder of the top-10.

 

There were five caution periods for 28 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish the 161-lap race, which went into overtime and was extended by one lap.

 

With round 17 of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR and the series in the championship standings. He is first with 565 points, 14 ahead of Keselowski, who moved into second place with his first victory at Daytona.

 

Kurt Busch dropped to third with 545 points, 20 behind leader Harvick.

 

Harvick earned a spot in the Chase via his win March 13 at Phoenix International Raceway, and Busch secured his position via his win June 6 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

 

Patrick is 26th with 302 points, 93 ahead of 31st-place Brian Scott. Like Stewart, if Patrick can win a race and finish among the top-30 in points following the 26th race of the season, she will earn a Chase berth.

 

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Kentucky 400 on Saturday, July 9, at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. NBCSN will broadcast the race starting at 7 p.m. EDT.

 

SHR Release.