DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Kyle Busch scored the first win of the new season and jumped past NASCAR champion Chase Elliott after Elliott leader Ryan Blaney spun in the final piece of the Busch Clash exhibit.
Blaney chased Elliott off the track at Daytona International Speedway to take the lead with two more laps in Tuesday night’s 35th lap of the Speedweeks. Elliott, winner of NASCAR’s last four track races dating back to 2019, does not let Blaney go away and proposes him for a final chance to win.
He crept Blaney into the chicane and turned in the final 4 turn, and when Elliott closed on his bumper, the two made contact and Blaney spun into the wall. It cost Elliott his momentum and Busch overtook for the surprise victory.
“I just knew to keep my head and focus and just see if I could hit my points to get such a shot if something like that were to happen,” Busch said.
Busch led only the last 300 feet of the race to victory for Joe Gibbs Racing. This follows a disappointing season for one win for the 2019 NASCAR champion. The lack of success led to an outburst with his Toyota team no. 18.
For Busch, the victory comes after a disappointing season with one win for the NASCAR champion in 2019. He struggled in the second half of the season, and for the first time since 2014 did not advance to the final fourth championship round and his number 18 Toyota team was refurbished during the winter.
Gibbs made so many changes to Busch’s crew, and he joked that he felt he was the one who was fired and moved to a new ride.
“I’m not sure if we’s mature enough or that we’m ready to win as a group, but I feel it’s a good start,” Busch said. “Winning never hurts anything, but there are a few things for us to get a little better at, on which we can grow.”
Elliott finished second and Blaney was third. The two are close friends off the track and chatted with Blaney’s damaged race car after the finish.
“If I’m sorry I tried to win a race, I’m wrong,” Elliott said. “Obviously I do not want to destroy anyone. I feel you have to go for it at an event like this.”
Blaney hosted it in the first event since the final season of November in the run.
“Of course he did not mean to destroy me, but I eventually crashed,” Blaney said. “I told him, ‘If you’re going to take such a step, make sure you win the race and not let third place win. ‘
The Clash has always been the opening event of Speedweeks, which traditionally spans two weekends before the season opening Daytona 500. NASCAR is experimenting with a shortened schedule this year and all races span six days and conclude with Sunday’s big show.
This year’s run was first on Daytona’s roadway, a plan announced before the 2020 season began. NASCAR has moved from the traditional oval to answering fans’ calls for more variety on the schedule, and thought it would be one last race in the current car before the Next Gen model is introduced.
But the Next Gen was postponed until 2022 due to the pandemic, and NASCAR used the Daytona roadway for a points-paying race in August last year when it had to change its schedule to complete the season. Elliott won the first Daytona road race.
The Clash was much smoother than last year’s race at Daytona’s Oval, a crash event in which each car was in at least one case and only six cars drove to the finish. The race also had 12 preliminary changes, one less than August’s race here with 30 additional laps.
NASCAR will once again hold the road course on February 21 in a point payment event. The race was moved to Daytona due to pandemic restrictions in California, where NASCAR would participate at Fontana.