Date: Feb. 9, 2020
Event: Busch Clash (non-points race)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Format: 75 laps, broken into two segments of 25 laps and 50 laps
Start/Finish: 9th/18th (Accident, completed 65 of 88 laps)
Race Winner: Erik Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Race Recap:
● Kyle Busch finished 18th in Sunday afternoon’s Busch Clash at Daytona after being involved in an accident on lap 65.
● Busch started the 75-lap exhibition race ninth and moved up to sixth by lap 11.
● The 2019 Cup Series champion moved up to fourth by lap 36 and, after a pit stop on lap 46, returned to the lead pack by lap 50.
● As the laps wound down, there was a split in strategy with the field, as many of the Chevy teams chose to stay out and save fuel to make it to the end. However, many of the Toyota and Ford teams pitted and, as they ran nose to tail, caught the pack of cars that were saving fuel.
● Busch moved up to second behind Joey Logano on lap 64, then tried to maneuver around Logano into the lead.
● The M&M’S driver tried to take the lead on lap 65, but Logano blocked him not once, not twice, but three times before the two cars made contact, sending both spinning. While he was uninjured, the damage to the M&M’S Toyota was too much for Busch to be able to finish the race.
Kyle Busch, Driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:
“I was going to look low, but I knew he was driving low, so then I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to go high,’ and then he drove up the racetrack in front of me, and then I was, like, ‘OK, now I’ve got to cut back down and cut low.’ When I did, I touched him (Logano) just a little bit, which then turned his car, and then we were just sandwiched and the wreck was on. I don’t know. Either you can race or you can wreck. The reason why we ride in single file is because we don’t know how to race. Just a product of a few bad decisions there and we’re all crashed. We had a good M&M’S Camry, but I guess we’ll move on to focus on next weekend.”
JGR Finish:
● Erik Jones, driver of the No. 19 Toyota, finished 1st.
● Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota, finished 6th.
● Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 20 Toyota, finished 16th.
Next Up: The Bluegreen Vacations Duel – twin 150-mile races that will set the rest of the Daytona 500 field –will take place at 7 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 13, with live coverage on FS1. Speedweeks at Daytona then culminates with the Daytona 500 at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16, with live coverage provided by FOX.
TSC PR
