DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a Sunday afternoon matinee that could have been called the “Busch Crash” instead of the Busch Clash, Erik Jones found help from a friend on the final lap and made his way to victory lane at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
Jones, whose front nose appeared more fit for the junkyard than the Daytona high banks after he was involved in a myriad of late crashes, was in the right place during a third attempt at NASCAR overtime to get help from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, who was a lap down.
The two then steamed through what was left of the lead pack coming down the backstretch, breaking away in the final two corners as Hamlin shoved Jones to his first win in the non-points exhibition event.
Jones celebrated in victory lane as virtually the last man standing, with only six cars reaching the checkered flag out of the 18 that took the initial green for the 75-lap race – which, by the way, was extended 13 circuits beyond its advertised distance due to the triple-overtime finish.
The Byron, Mich., native didn’t care how long it took, though. He was just glad he got the trophy.
“It was an awesome race,” Jones said. “I’ve got to give a huge thanks to Denny. He gave us a huge push that last run. It wasn’t the fastest car in the race, but we brought it home to victory.
“I think, honestly, it was so draggy it wasn’t too much for him to lock on and push us to the win,” added Jones of his destroyed race car. “Hopefully, next Sunday (in the Daytona 500) we can cap off another one.”
Sunday’s race – more akin to a demolition derby – was fairly calm until roughly 10 laps to go, when a secondary pack of drivers that pitted for fuel prior to lap 50 caught a pack of Chevrolets trying to stretch their gas to the end.
With Logano at the head of the field, three-wide racing quickly broke out after that, with Hamlin shoving Kyle Busch up to challenge for the lead in turns three and four on the 66th lap.
Logano first threw a block to the outside, and then when Busch ducked to the middle lane to try and draft past, Logano’s car got loose and the pair made contact that spun Logano in front of the field.
Among those collected were all three Team Penske Fords – Logano, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney – as well as the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson.
That incident set up a restart with three to go in regulation, where wheel spin on the green flag saw both Ryan Newman and William Byron get out of shape and go spinning, leading to another pileup that collected most of the contenders and forced a seven minute, 27 second red flag for associated cleanup.
Following the resumption, Hamlin jetted out to the lead on the first overtime attempt, clearing Aric Almirola with help from Chase Elliott.
However, a right-rear tire let go on Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota Camry entering turn three, sending him spinning into the oncoming pack and ultimately seeing 11 of the 18 starters involved in the chaos.
A second attempt at overtime saw Elliott pit for a new right-rear tire, then link up with Kyle Larson after the green flag waved again in a Chevrolet tandem that sped to the lead halfway down the backstretch.
Unfortunately, Elliott’s push went awry as he tried to slide down the track and take the lead from Larson in turn three, getting Larson out of shape and sparking yet another crash – one that collected Jones for the second time and pared the field down to a scant six cars for the final restart attempt of the day.
Austin Dillon led the field to green to kick off the final overtime run, the cleanest car on track at that point, but it was Ryan Newman who worked his way through the field to lead at the white flag.
That was about the point that Jones and Hamlin linked up, and once they connected it was game over for the rest of the field. Hamlin shoved Jones clear of the remaining few, and that was that.
Sunday’s victory was Joe Gibbs Racing’s record-extending ninth Clash win as a team, and Hamlin noted afterward that it was indeed that – a team triumph.
“I knew he was going to be in for a ride,” Hamlin said. “It was just a matter of whether he could handle it or not. That last lap, he needed to strap in, because I was going to push him. I didn’t care if I pushed him into a wreck — I was going to push him. Thankfully it worked out well for us.”
Dillon survived to come home as the runner-up, followed by Clint Bowyer, Larson and Newman.
Hamlin was scored as the last car running, one lap down in sixth, while Elliott ended up seventh as the last car to go behind the wall prior to the finish.
Keselowski led the most laps, 33, and was scored 17th after his involvement in the first major accident.
Sunday’s Busch Clash was also the first time since 1997 that the event – spotlighting pole winners from the previous season – ran under its original name, thanks to renewed sponsorship from Anheuser Busch.
That was something that Jones added made his victory a little more special.
“It’s a really cool race,” noted Jones. “It’s one that I grew up watching … and to have it back with its original name and to win it feels pretty good.”
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.