Posted on by Staff Report

Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacation Duel at Daytona International Speedway (7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will set the field and lineup for the 2021 Daytona 500 (Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Alex Bowman nabs pole | Who has charters? | How the Daytona 500 lineup is set

Below are the lineups for each duel race.

*indicates Open team that is not locked into the Daytona 500 (only two of those will race into Sunday’s event — Ryan Preece and David Ragan made the field based on their qualifying speed Wednesday night as the top two Open teams on the speed chart)

Duel #1

Startpot Driver Car Number/Team
1 Alex Bowman No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
2 Aric Almirola No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
3 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
4 Christopher Bell No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
5 Ryan Preece No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
6 Daniel Suarez No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet
7 Denny Hamlin No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
8 Kyle Larson No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
9 Matt DiBenedetto No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
10 Austin Cindric* No. 33 Team Penske Ford
11 Joey Logano No. 22 Team Penske Ford
12 Ryan Newman No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
13 Cole Custer No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
14 Michael McDowell No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
15 Erik Jones No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
16 Tyler Reddick No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
17 Ty Dillon* No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota
18 Jamie McMurray No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
19 Quin Houff No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet
20 Timmy Hill* No. 66 Motorsports Business Management Ford
21 Cody Ware No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
22 Josh Bilicki No. 52 Rick Ware Racing Ford

Duel #2

Start
 Driver Team/Car Number
1 William Byron No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
2 Bubba Wallace No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
3 Kevin Harvick No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
4 Austin Dillon No. 3 Richard Childress Racing
5 Chase Elliott No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 David Ragan No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford
7 Kurt Busch No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
8 Kyle Busch No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
9 Ryan Blaney No. 12 Team Penske Ford
10 Kaz Grala* No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
11 Chase Briscoe No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
12 Ross Chastain No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
13 Brad Keselowski No. 2 Team Penske Ford
14 Martin Truex Jr. No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
15 Chris Buescher No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
16 Anthony Alfredo No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
17 Corey LaJoie No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
18 Garrett Smithley* No. 13 Motorsports Business Management Ford
19 BJ McLeod No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Ford
20 Joey Gase No. 53 Rick Ware Racing Ford
21 Derrike Cope No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
22 Noah Gragson* No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet
Posted on by Holly Cain

Alex Bowman swapped car numbers for the 2021 season – from 88 to 48 – but has certainly retained his Daytona magic, earning the pole position for Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), giving the Hendrick Motorsports driver a record fourth consecutive front row start in the NASCAR Cup Series season-opener.

Bowman, 27, went out late in the qualifying order (38th of 44 drivers) Wednesday night – the first night-time pole qualifying session in race history – but his Chevrolet handily set the pace with a lap of 191.261 mph (47.056 secs.), taking the top-spot from Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron by more than a quarter-second. 

“It was fast,” Byron said, smiling about Bowman’s pole-winning lap.

RELATED: Full lineups for Duel races | Qualifying speeds

The Hendrick teammates also started alongside one another in 2019, when Byron edged Bowman for the pole position. Bowman earned his first Daytona 500 pole in 2018 and started second last year. Hendrick Motorsports now has 14 Daytona 500 pole positions.

“It doesn’t really have a whole lot to do with me, right,” Bowman said on pit road after qualifying. “It’s a testament to these guys and everybody back in the shop at Hendrick Motorsports. They work so hard on these superspeedway cars. They are beautiful when they get to the race track. Our Ally Camaro has been really fast since we unloaded and they focused a lot on trying to get the pole for the Daytona 500.

“It means a lot to us and we were able to achieve that.”

And, he added, “It’s more about the people that make it happen. I floored it, but I’m pretty sure everyone else did too. I’m just appreciative my race car is fast.”

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola was third fastest in the No. 10 Ford followed on the speed chart by Bubba Wallace, who earned rave reviews in his debut driving the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, which is co-owned by three-time and defending Daytona 500 winning driver Denny Hamlin and NBA Hall of Famer, Michael Jordan. Wallace’s lap was good enough for the top spot only to be taken by Byron three cars later.

Wallace was fastest in an hour-long practice Wednesday afternoon – his first official laps with the new organization and he was clearly feeling optimistic about the week. He finished runner-up in his very first Daytona 500 in 2018.

RELATED: Bubba tops opening practice | Bubba Wallace: ‘We’re doing big things’

“Everything’s shaping up to be a great ending for us, we just have to get through it,” Wallace said. “It’s kind of the same feeling I had in 2018, my first 500. The speed was there, we qualified decent and had a really good Duel and finished second in the 500.

“I think the way things are going, we just have to keep it going, keep the positive momentum going. Everything’s kind of going well in the car. I’m confident. Still getting things worked out but all in all it comes pretty natural when you have a great team behind you.”

Wallace said he got a “very positive” text from Jordan after qualifying and said the basketball superstar arrives in Daytona on Thursday in time for the Bluegreen Vacation Duel (7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) that will ultimately set the starting lineup for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Hamlin, the three-time defending Daytona 500 winner was 12th fastest in qualifying. The two joked about Wallace being faster.

“I’m aware,” Hamlin said with a smile, adding, “It’s actually a pretty solid qualifying effort certainly for our FedEx team, just barely out of the top 10 there so that’s a good starting spot for us and we’re excited about it.

“Obviously that was a great run by the 23 team. They just barely missed it there by a tenth or so to get that locked in spot (on the front row). But now they get to go out there and race and get the experience they need to get a good finish on Sunday.”

Speed wise, last year’s polesitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. proved fast again – fifth quickest in the JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford), Christopher Bell (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota), Ryan Preece (No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet), 2018 Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) and Daniel Suarez (No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet) rounded out the top 10.

Preece and 13th-place qualifier David Ragan were quickest among Open car teams needing to qualify based upon time. The rest of the Open car team drivers – Austin Cindric, Kaz Grala, Timmy Hill, Noah Gragson, Ty Dillon and Garrett Smithley – will have to battle it out in the Duel races with the highest finisher among them in each Duel earning a spot in the Daytona 500.

Gragson failed pre-qualifying inspection three times and lost the lap in his No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet as a result. A crew member from the No. 62 has also been ejected as a result of the pre-qualifying inspection failures.

Bluegreen Vacation Duel 1 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start Thursday, while Bluegreen Vacation Duel 2 is set for 9 p.m. ET right afterward. Both will air live on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Contributing: NASCAR.com staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

In a recent interview with Graham Bensinger during his show “In Depth,” two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch explained why he and former crew chief Adam Stevens parted ways.

Going into the offseason after the 2020 season, Busch asked Stevens to make some “personnel” changes on the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team. Stevens did not see eye to eye with Busch’s requests.

“I asked Adam for a couple changes to be made over the offseason, and he didn’t agree with my philosophy on those changes,” Busch told Bensinger. “So he said you know what, I’m going to do something different and let you do something different and we’ll see what happens.'”

RELATED: Kyle Busch sidesteps crash to win Busch Clash at Daytona

Stevens now works with Joe Gibbs Racing newcomer Christopher Bell on the No. 20 Toyota team, while Busch has new chief chief Ben Beshore at the helm for the 2021 season.

Busch said he was “shocked” when Stevens told him that he wanted to end their relationship.

“I was like, well, essentially you just told me you quit on me,” Busch said. “So … uh, OK. See you later. Now I have to go find somebody else on who’s going to be the next guy to step in and take over the reins to be crew chief for the 18 M&Ms team.

“I flat-out told him in the beginning of the conversation that I believe in you. I trust in you. I want you. You’re my guy. We’ve done this already for six years. We’ve won two championships. Like, there’s chemistry here and we have a working relationship where we understand one another.”

For more comments from Busch, the full segment of the episode with Busch can be found here.

Posted on by Staff Report

Bubba Wallace topped the leaderboard in Wednesday afternoon’s first NASCAR Cup Series practice for the 2021 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Wallace turned his first laps in the new No. 23 Toyota for 23XI Racing, posting a fastest time of 45.057 seconds at 199.747 mph. Toyota linked up early to practice drafting in the 50-minute session to take the top-five fastest positions between 23XI Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing.

RELATED: Practice results

Martin Truex Jr. finished second in the first practice session of 2021 with a time of 45.069 seconds at 199.694 mph in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, followed by 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin with a time of 45.07 seconds at 199.689 mph in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Tuesday night’s Busch Clash winner, Kyle Busch, ended the session in fourth (199.627 mph), while teammate and new No. 20 Toyota driver Christopher Bell finished fifth (199.623 mph).

Spire Motorsports drivers Jamie McMurray and Corey LaJoie were the fastest Chevrolets in the practice session, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.

Michael McDowell led the Ford Performance brigade with the eighth-fastest time, followed by Ryan Newman and Cole Custer to round out the top 10.

Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is Daytona 500 qualifying at 7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Posted on by Staff Report

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Wednesday that Martin Truex Jr. will continue in its No. 19 Toyota beyond the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season after signing a contract extension.

Terms of the contract extension with the 2017 Cup Series champ were not disclosed. It’s the second high-profile re-signing for JGR in as many weeks, coming on the heels of an extension announced Feb. 1 for Denny Hamlin and sponsor FedEx for the organization’s No. 11 team.

RELATED: Martin Truex Jr. career stats

“Extending Martin’s agreement has been a big priority for us this offseason,” team owner Joe Gibbs said in a JGR release. “Martin brings so much to our organization. Obviously he’s talented and shown he can win at any race track but his insights also helps to make all our teams better.”

Truex, 40, is set to begin his 16th season in the Cup Series this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. He moved to NASCAR’s top division in 2006 after clinching two consecutive championships in what’s now called the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

“I’m happy to get this news out there so we can focus on this season and the future with Joe Gibbs Racing,” Truex said. “This is where I wanted to be and to continue building on the success we have had together the past two years. I appreciate Coach, my team, everyone at JGR and all of our partners like Bass Pro Shops, Auto-Owners Insurance, Reser’s Fine Foods, Stanley Black & Decker and Toyota for making this possible and I look forward to continuing those relationships as we move forward.”

The most recent stage of Truex Jr.’s career has been his most prolific, with 25 of Truex’s 27 Cup Series victories coming in a successful six-season span that included the 2017 series title with then-JGR affiliate Furniture Row Racing.

Truex joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019 after Barney Visser’s Furniture Row team ceased operations. His previous Cup Series stops included Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Michael Waltrip Racing, where he produced one victory each.

Posted on by Press Release

PHILADELPHIA — Today, Xfinity continued to reinforce its commitment to NASCAR as it enters its second season as a Premier Partner of the NASCAR Cup Series and its seventh season as the Entitlement Partner of the NASCAR Xfinity Series by renewing several signature programs and introducing a collaboration with one of the sport’s most recognizable and successful drivers.

Next weekend’s Daytona Road Course race will mark the brand’s 200th race entitling the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Xfinity continues to change the way fans experience NASCAR. In 2021, the brand will focus on showing how the speed of Xfinity xFi is synonymous with the speed of NASCAR, so fans can do more of what they love with faster Internet. In addition to Xfinity xFi, Xfinity X1 brings fans closer to the sport they love with a personalized viewing experience at home and on-the-go access via the Xfinity Stream app.

RELATED: NASCAR Cup Series schedule | NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule

A centerpiece change to the 2021 program is the signing of Kevin Harvick, two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion and 2014 NASCAR Cup Series Champion as a brand ambassador for Xfinity. In addition to fire suit and helmet branding, Harvick will participate in a variety of Xfinity initiatives designed to engage NASCAR fans on and off the track, while supporting Xfinity’s extensive product offerings and brand moments. To celebrate the partnership, Kevin Harvick and Xfinity will host a Reddit “Ask Me Anything (AMA)” today for fans at 2pm ET on r/NASCAR.

“As we head into our seventh season as a NASCAR partner, this sport, the fans, the drivers, and the teams have become an important piece of our marketing efforts as we find new ways to give fans unparalleled access to the sport they love,” said Matt Lederer, Vice President, Brand Partnerships & Activation at Comcast. “This year, we’re excited to partner with two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion Kevin Harvick and renew our signature programs that are designed to not only celebrate achievements on the track but celebrate the work that is being done by members of the sport at all levels off the track to better the communities they live and work in.”

“Xfinity has been an incredible partner in our sport for the last seven years. From bringing fans closer to NASCAR through their innovative technology to honoring community champions, they’ve truly made NASCAR better by being involved in the sport,” said Kevin Harvick. “I’m so fortunate for this opportunity and am looking forward to partnering with Xfinity to create awesome memories for our fans on and off the track.”

Additional elements of the 2021 Xfinity Racing program include:

— Comcast Community Champion of the Year — One of NASCAR’s most prestigious awards — The Comcast Community Champion of the Year — returns in 2021 to honor NASCAR industry members for their impacts on the communities and people around them. Last year’s champion, Bubba Wallace, was chosen by a panel of Comcast NBCUniversal and NASCAR executives as well as 2019 Comcast Community Champion Mike Tatoian, who received the award for his work with USO Delaware. Since its inception, this program has donated more than $700,000 to 18 different charitable organizations in the NASCAR community. To learn more about the Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award, please visit com.

— NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash – The four-race NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash returns for the 2021 season. The program, which awards $100,000 for each of four races to the top competing eligible driver, is open to drivers competing for NASCAR Xfinity Series driver points. The popular format will kick off at Martinsville Speedway (April 9) and continues for the races at Talladega Superspeedway (April 24), Darlington Raceway (May 8) and Dover International Speedway (May 15).

— Xfinity Fastest Lap – The Xfinity Fastest Lap integration will return this season across broadcast, radio, digital, social and NASCAR.com. This ownable moment, highlighting the driver with the Fastest Lap each race, further connects the speed of Xfinity with that of NASCAR. Kevin Harvick had the most Xfinity Fastest Laps in 2020.

— Xfinity 500 at Martinsville – 2021 will mark the second year that Xfinity will serve as the race entitlement partner of the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 on Sunday, October 31 at Martinsville Speedway. The race will showcase heightened drama as the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 elimination race, leading into NASCAR Championship Weekend.

For more information about Xfinity and to receive updates to its 2021 NASCAR program, please follow @XfinityRacing on Twitter and Instagram and visit Xfinity.com/NASCAR. 

Posted on by Jason Christley

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – A lot has gone wrong so far for Derek Griffith and Patrick Emerling during the 55th World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, but Tuesday night they got it right.

The 50-lap Super Late Model feature belonged to defending division champion Griffith. Earlier in the evening, the Hudson, New Hampshire, driver saw his Pro Late Model race come to a sudden end when the left rear suddenly broke as he drove through Turn 4. His Super Late Model ride was the complete opposite as he rolled to his second victory of the week in dominant style.

Emerling set fast time in qualifying, started fourth after an invert and then raced to the front of the field to claim his fifth overall World Series victory in the second Tour-Type Modified race of the week.

Griffith, who also won on Friday, started second alongside Jacob Goede. Goede led the opening laps only for Griffith to slip past him on the eighth circuit. He would go on to lead the remainder of the feature unchallenged to cap off his 24th birthday.

“I knew we had a really good car all day,” said Griffith. “My spotter came over the radio and said the 21 car (Jesse Love) was coming, so I knew I had to turn it on there towards the end.

“It probably would have been a good race between us if he got up here.”

Love, the reigning ARCA Menards Series West champion, came home second ahead of Stephen Nasse, Daniel Dye and Goede.

The tour-type Modified victory was a breath of fresh air for Emerling, who said he’s had nothing but bad luck so far during his time at New Smyrna this week.

“Last night was pretty unfortunate for us. We were decent, we were good enough to stay in the top-five and lead some laps last night, but we got taken out last night, so this definitely makes up for it,” Emerling said. “Man, we’ve had a lot of stuff go wrong so far during Speedweeks. I had the primary car blow an engine, we pulled out the backup car.

“We had to miss practice because the lift gate stopped on the trailer and we had to fix that. So far there has just been a lot of things go wrong, so it’s good to have one thing go right for once.”

Emerling was the fourth different leader during Tuesday’s 35-lap feature. McKennedy led early on after starting from the pole before giving way to Matt Hirschman on lap 10. Eric Goodale would then take the lead from Hirschman during a restart on lap 16.

The pass for the victory would come during another restart, this time on lap 22, when Emerling was able to stick with Goodale and clear him coming out of turn four. Emerling then held off Goodale during a restart with three laps left to claim the win.

Hirschman finished third, followed by NASCAR Cup Series regular Ryan Preece and Tuesday’s Tour-Type Modified winner Craig Lutz.

Fourteen-year-old Conner Jones won for the second-straight race in the Pro Late Model division, holding off five-time USAC Silver Crown Series champion Kody Swanson in the final laps of the 35-lap feature.

Bill Burba dominated the 75-lap extra distance feature for the Florida Modifieds, surviving a restart with three laps left to earn a trip to victory lane.

Tour-Type Modified (50 laps)

1. Patrick Emerling, 2. Eric Goodale, 3. Matt Hirschman, 4. Ryan Preece, 5. Craig Lutz,  6. Ron Silk, 7. Ronnie Williams, 8. Jimmy Blewett, 9. Stephen Kopcik, 10. Jeremy Gerstner

11. Anthony Nocella, 12. J.R. Bertuccio, 13. Andy Seuss, 14. Amy Catalano, 15. Tyler Rypkema, 16. Matthew Galko, 17. David Sapienza, 18. Buddy Charette, 19. Danny Knoll Jr., 20. Bobby Jones

21. Jim Gavek, 22. Burt Myers, 23. Chris Ridsdale, 24. Chris Finocchario, 25. Eddie McCarthy, 26. Chuck Hossfeld, 27. Zane Zeiner, 28. Michael Curtis, 29. Doug Coby, 30. Marcello Rufrano

31. Brian Robie, 32. Jon McKennedy, 33. Tommy Catalano, 34. Tom Martino Jr., 35. Tyler Truex, 36. Jonathan Laureigh.

Super Late Models (30 laps)

1. Derek Griffith, 2. Jesse Love, 3. Stephen Nasse, 4. Daniel Dye, 5. Jacob Goede, 6. Sammy Smith, 7. Kris Wright, 8. Justin Mondeik, 9. Ryan Moore, 10. Dan Fredrickson

11. Bubba Pollard, 12. Jake Garcia, 13. Peyton Sellers, 14. Michael Hinde, 15. Gus Dean, 16. Kelly Moore, 17. Connor Mosack, 18. Kody Swanson, 19. Jake Finch, 20. Brad May

21. Mike Stacy, 22. Steve Weaver, 23. Travis Wilson, 24. R.J. Braun, 25. Jett Noland, 26. Patrick Thomas, 27. Doug Elliott.

20210209231115 D24a0450
Patrick Emerling won the tour-type Modified feature at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway on Tuesday. (Jim Dupont/NASCAR)
Posted on by Zack Albert

Fast friends Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney have had run-ins before, an eventuality that’s been bound to happen given their competitive nature in the NASCAR Cup Series. After a collision that sidelined both drivers in 2016 at Kentucky, Blaney made his buddy dinner as a way to make amends.

RELATED: Busch Clash results | Daytona Speedweeks schedule

Elliott might need to locate his own chef’s apron after Tuesday night’s lid-lifting Busch Clash on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, where the two chums crunched together in a final-lap, final-chicane tangle. That coming-together allowed Kyle Busch to squirt through for the exhibition victory while Elliott salvaged second place. Blaney took the worst of it, walloping the outside retaining wall with his Team Penske No. 12 Ford finishing an unlucky 13th.

Both drivers showed strength in search of their first Clash win, especially in the late stages where they each swapped the lead in the final eight laps. Their duel bubbled over in the final kink before the start-finish line, with Elliott forcing his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with an inside-line squeeze that cost his friend dearly.

Elliott briefly spoke to Blaney post-race, and later indicated that he wasn’t necessarily afraid to initiate contact but that the severity of the outcome wasn’t his intent.

“Obviously, I’m thinking that I can pass him and win the race or I wouldn’t do it,” said Elliott, the defending Cup Series champion. “Coming into a tight corner there, I drove in so hard and I was to the right — my angle was really bad, I just had to stop to try to make the corner, and at that point, we’re side by side, trying to stay off the curb. We both know that the curb, you don’t want to hit it any more than you have to. Yeah, I hate it. Like I said on TV there, I certainly don’t want to wreck him out of anybody, and more than anything I hate neither one of us won. I hate to hand it to somebody else like that.”

MORE: Frame-by-frame of contact and finish | All-time Busch Clash winners

Interestingly, Blaney notched his only road-course win in 2018 at the Charlotte Road Course in a similar manner, capitalizing when Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. crashed in a last-lap contest for the lead on that track’s final chicane. This time, he was on the losing end in the front-two mix.

Blaney said that this year’s road-race twist on the Clash was likely a fun watch for fans. His own participation, he said, was a little less fun.

“Obviously, he didn’t mean to wreck me,” Blaney said. “Of course he didn’t mean to do that, but I ended up wrecked. It’s kind of just what it is. Of course you never mean to wreck anybody, usually. And I know he didn’t mean to, but he drove off in there pretty deep and I don’t think, personally, he was going to make the corner. It was going to be very hard for him to do it. So just a shame that we ended up getting turned around.

“Am I going to make the same move if we’re in the same position two weeks from now? Hell, yeah. I mean, why not. But I told him, if you’re going to make a move like that, make sure at least you win the race. Don’t hand it to the third-place guy. Granted, it’s very ironic me saying that because I won the Roval that way being the third-place guy. To answer the question, yes, I would make the same move he did, but maybe do it a little bit differently if I was in the same spot in a couple weeks.”

WHAT THEY SAID AFTER THE RACE: Chase Elliott | Ryan Blaney

The “couple weeks” reference is a nod to the Cup Series’ return to the Daytona road course for Race No. 2 of the points-paying schedule on Feb. 21. Time will tell if a make-good dinner occurs between now and then.

“Listen, hey, we’re really good friends off the race track, but we’re both really hard competitors and we race each other really hard,” Blaney said. “So I know he’s going to make a big move. Any competitor would. If you don’t go in there trying to win the race, what are you there for?”

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Busch scored a dramatic preseason victory Tuesday night in the Busch Clash, avoiding a crash between front-runners Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, to kick off the NASCAR Cup Series season with the annual exhibition held for the first time on the Daytona International Speedway road course.

Busch led only the last of 35 laps in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, winning the Clash for the second time. The exhibition race marked the first victory with new crew chief Ben Beshore.

RELATED: Official race results | Daytona Speedweeks schedule

Defending Cup Series champion Elliott placed second, driving away from contact with Blaney in the final chicane. Joey Logano finished third with Tyler Reddick and William Byron rounding out the top five in order.

“I kinda felt like there was an interesting opportunity that was developing there,” Busch said of the Blaney-Elliott situation. “When that started happening I was hoping they would wreck long enough I could get up there and get by them and win the thing. It’s never over until it’s over in these kind of things.”

Elliott had dropped to the rear for the start because of unapproved adjustments to his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. He prevailed in the series’ only other appearance on the 3.61-mile Daytona circuit, winning a points-paying race at the track last August as part of his current four-win streak on road courses.

Elliott was strong again, leading four laps and hounding Blaney for the victory during the final circuit. But the two cars made contact, and Blaney took the worst of the damage in the outside retaining wall.

The race was not segmented into stages, but a competition caution after the 15th lap split the race into two portions. Kevin Harvick spun twice in that opening part, first looping his No. 4 Ford in the bus-stop chicane after a measure of dirt had been kicked up on the racing surface. His second off-course excursion came after a jumbled restart, complicated by Blaney’s attempt to rejoin the racing line after overshooting Turn 1.

Martin Truex Jr. led on two occasions but found trouble each time, shortly after going to the front. He was the leader at the competition-caution break, but he skipped the track’s final chicane during the caution period while looking for the pace car to pick up the field. His No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota restarted the race at the rear of the pack after the penalty. “I don’t know why I did that,” Truex said. “Terrible job, sorry.”

RELATED: Martin Truex Jr. spins, hits wall while leading

He was apologetic again after crashing into the outside retaining wall, spinning while exiting the other chicane and sustaining heavy damage. He finished 20th in the 21-car field.

All previous 42 editions of the non-points event had been run on Daytona’s 2.5-mile oval.

NOTE: The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch passed post-race technical inspection Tuesday after winning the NASCAR Cup Series’ Busch Clash at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. The No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Brad Keselowski, who finished 17th, had one lug nut not safe and secure.

Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service