Not many eyes were on Chris Buescher and his No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang entering the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona Int’l Speedway on Saturday night.
With two wins on the season, Buescher was already safely locked in the playoffs — opposed to the 17 drivers who were a win-and-in situation at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
But it didn’t matter much on lap 163, when the No. 17 was pushed toward the finish line by teammate Brad Keselowski and went on to claim his third victory of the year at the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
“What a heck of a push from Brad in those closing laps for that entire restart. 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,” Buescher said. “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.”
Keselowski finished runner-up in his No. 6 Ford, while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola came in third.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, who finished fourth, was unable to secure a playoff berth for the first time in his Cup Series career. Though the No. 9 was a lead contender through the race, he simply wasn’t able to make it happen in the closing laps.
“I liked where we were before the caution. After the restart, we still had the lane that we wanted,” Elliott said in his NBC interview. “We really had all the help we could ask for from behind. I just couldn’t stay locked on Kevin like I needed to.”
Team Penske’s Joey Logano finished fifth.
Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Corey LaJoie completed the top 10.
Wallace Secures Final Playoff Position
Buescher’s triumph allowed 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace to lock into the playoffs via points with a 12th-place finish.
“This place is mostly out of your control, so I just tried to focus on doing those things that I can do,” Wallace told NBC following the race. “Proud to be locked in the playoffs, this is special for our team, 23XI Racing. Third year in, and we’re getting both cars in the playoffs.”
Ty Gibbs, who was Wallace’s main rival for the final playoff position, was taken out of contention in his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota during a massive wreck on lap 96. Teammate Christopher Bell gave Gibbs a push in turn three, sending the No. 54 into the right rear of Ryan Blaney, who was leading.
Blaney shot up into the outside wall in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford, with Gibbs, Harrison Burton, Austin Cindric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, Harvick and A.J. Allmendinger piling up behind him.
“I guess the 20 (Bell) kind of got Ty (Gibbs) in a weird spot it looked like and just got into my right-rear and off she went. It stinks to end our night that way. We had a fast car,” Blaney said. “Thought we made a good move to try to win the stage and just couldn’t catch a break. Luckily, everyone is alright. We’ll go to next week.”
The incident brought out the red flag.
Other Notes
By the end of stage two, Martin Truex Jr. accumulated enough points to secure the regular season championship over Denny Hamlin. With 15 extra playoff points in his back pocket, Truex Jr. will begin the playoffs as the No. 2 seed.
The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota finished 24th at Daytona. Hamlin finished 26th.
Ryan Preece endured a nasty crash on the backstretch with five laps to go.
Ryan Preece FLIPPED down the backstretch. 😳 #NASCAR | @NBC and @Peacock pic.twitter.com/Qztmvjd0NA
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 27, 2023
The No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing entry barrel rolled 10 times before coming to a stop on the infield grass. Preece exited the car with the help of the safety crew, was taken to the infield care center on a stretcher and was later transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The incident also involved teammate Chase Briscoe, who took on major damage to his No. 14 entry and was unable finish the race. After leading the field to the green from the pole, Briscoe led a total of 67 laps through the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
Round Of 16 Playoff Grid
1. William Byron, 2. Martin Truex Jr., 3. Denny Hamlin, 4. Chris Buescher, 5. Kyle Busch, 6. Kyle Larson, 7. Christopher Bell, 8. Ross Chastain, 9. Brad Keselowski, 10. Tyler Reddick, 11. Joey Logano, 12. Ryan Blaney, 13. Michael McDowell, 14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 15. Kevin Harvick, 16. Bubba Wallace