Kurt Busch Wins the Daytona 500 with Last Lap Pass

AP Photo/Chuck Burton

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – RIS – Kurt Busch lurked all day.  In the last 15 laps, he was mostly in third place.  Waiting to make his move is a virtue at Daytona.  Get too aggressive, and you go home early.  He even was passed by Kyle Larson with precious few laps left, but he waited and waited.  He got past Chase Elliott with two laps to go and then it was time for the final lap.  Busch moved to the outside, got a little push and sailed by then-leader Chase Kyle Larson.  It was clear sailing from there, even if Ryan Blaney was right behind him.  Busch and Blaney finished 1-2 in a Daytona 500 win to remember. 

The 2017 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway was a lot less than pretty.  There were only 26 of the 40 cars in the field running at the end, mainly because cars were brutally damaged with a little help from a NASCAR rule that mandated that if any car could not be repaired in 5 minutes or goes to the garage.  Most of the favorites to win the Great American Race crashed out or couldn’t meet one of the new rules for 2017.

Busch, who won what was then called the Nextel Cup as the series champion in 2004, took the checkered flag in the No. 41 Ford that was partly sponsored by Monster Energy, the new title sponsor for NASCAR.

AJ Allmendinger was third in a Chevrolet, and Aric Almirola was fourth for Richard Petty Motorsports. Larson finished 12th after he ran out gas shortly after passing pole-sitter Chase Elliott, who also came up short on fuel and finished 14th.

The race saw many of NASCAR's biggest stars knocked out in crashes. Seven-time and defending Cup series champion Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Danica Patrick, Jamie McMurray and Brad Keselowski were among those eliminated long before the checkered flag flew.

"The more that becomes unpredictable about Daytona, the more it becomes predictable to predict unpredictability," Busch said. "This car's completely thrashed. There's not a straight panel on it. The strategy today, who knew what to pit when, what segments were what. Everybody's wrecking as soon as we're done with the second segment. The more that I've run this race, the more that I just throw caution to the wind, let it rip and just elbows out. That's what we did."

It also was the first Daytona 500 win for Stewart-Haas Racing, which is co-owned by Tony Stewart. The three-time champion retired at the end of last season and watched his four Fords race from the pits.

"I ran this damn race (17) years and couldn't win it, so finally won it as an owner," Stewart said.

The win was a huge boost for Ford, which lured Stewart-Haas Racing away from Chevrolet this season and celebrated the coup with its second Daytona 500 victory in three years. Joey Logano won in a Ford in 2015.

The race was slowed by wreck after wreck after wreck, including a 17-car accident at the start of the final stage that ended the race for seven-time and reigning series champion Johnson and Patrick. It was a particularly rough incident for Patrick and her Stewart-Haas Racing team, which had all four of its cars collected in the accident.

"Just seems like that could have been avoided and was uncalled for," Johnson said of the aggressive racing behind him that triggered the accident.

Patrick wasn't sure how bad her car was damaged, but knew it couldn't be fixed in five minutes.  Also eliminated in the wreck was new SHR teammate Clint Bowyer.

"The five-minute clock is an interesting new element," she said. "I don't know if it is good or bad, but we don't want to go on track with stuff that isn't safe. It is a real shame. I feel like we could have been a contender at the end, for sure we could have been an influencer."

Kurt Busch continued, but most of the top contenders found themselves on the outside looking in.

"Some years I think we have it where we run here and nobody wrecks and it's great racing," said Brad Keselowski, "and then you have other years like this where everybody wrecks all the time."

Roughly two hours before the race, NASCAR chairman Brian France issued drivers a stern warning about blocking.

France rarely wades into competition matters, especially in public, but stepped to the microphone to admonish the drivers. The Truck Series and Xfinity Series races were sloppy wreck-fests, and France hardly wanted the same spectacle for his Super Bowl.

"This is our biggest event," France told the packed drivers meeting. "What I don't normally do, and I'm going to do this today, is bring up a competition issue. This is for the drivers. And what I want you to think about. We realize blocking is part of racing. We understand that. We accept that.

"Do not look for NASCAR ... when you block somebody out there. It causes almost all the big incidents. Do not look for NASCAR ... you better hope there's a Good Samaritan behind you who is going to accept that block, because they have that lane and the right to it. And I don't often make those statements."

A few didn’t listen and the result was chaos.  Aggressive driving was the theme for the race.  Many veterans made wild moves that caused huge pileups and many stars of the sport found themselves out of the race.

The new rules left one thing certain.  Drivers must do well in the segments (there are three each race and points are awarded according to finishing position).  Kurt Busch is your championship leader with 56 points and Blaney is second with 44 points.  Compare that to Harvick with 42 points and winning a segment.

In all, there were 37 lead changes among 37 drivers and eight cautions for 40 laps (100 miles).  harvick led the most laps with 50 and Elliott had 39.

So, all in all, the 2017 version of the Great American Race was exciting television, but will the championship changes attract new fans or frustrate old fans.  We are about to find out.

Unofficial Race Results for the 59th Annual Daytona 500

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, St 1, St 2, Pts, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Laps, Status
1, 8, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, , 3, 48, 1, 1, 5, 200, Running
2, 36, Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 3, 10, 44, 1, 2, , 200, Running
3, 38, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger Click List Chevrolet, , 6, 39, 1, 2, , 200, Running
4, 13, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Foods Ford, , , 33, 1, 2, , 200, Running
5, 33, Paul Menard, No. 27 Menards/Peak Chevrolet, , , 32, , , , 200, Running
6, 15, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, , 2, 40, 3, 16, , 200, Running
7, 26, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, , , 30, 2, 7, , 200, Running
8, 30, Michael Waltrip, No. 15 Aaron's Toyota, , , 29, , , , 200, Running
9, 25, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 EJ Wade Construction Ford, , , 28, , , , 200, Running
10, 11, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, , , 27, , , , 200, Running
11, 39, * Brendan Gaughan(i), No. 75 Beard Oil Distributing Chevrolet, , , 0, , , , 200, Running
12, 16, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 6, 8, 33, 6, 16, , 200, Running
13, 35, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER BOATS Toyota, , , 24, 2, 2, , 200, Running
14, 1, Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, , , 23, 5, 39, , 200, Running
15, 22, Michael McDowell, No. 95 K-Love Radio Chevrolet, , , 22, , , , 200, Running
16, 27, Landon Cassill, No. 34 Love's Ford, , , 21, , , , 199, Running
17, 4, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 8, , 23, , , , 199, Running
18, 17, Cole Whitt, No. 72 Florida Lottery Ford, , , 19, 1, 3, , 199, Running
19, 10, Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Chevrolet, , , 18, 1, 7, , 199, Running
20, 40, * Elliott Sadler(i), No. 7 Golden Corral Chevrolet, , , 0, 1, 5, , 199, Running
21, 14, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, , 9, 18, , , , 198, Running
22, 5, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's Ford, 2, 1, 34, 6, 50, 1, 197, Running
23, 29, Joey Gase(i), No. 23 Best Home Furnishings Toyota, , , 0, , , , 196, Running
24, 31, * Corey LaJoie, No. 83 Dustless Blasting Toyota, , , 13, , , , 193, Running
25, 20, David Ragan, No. 38 Camping World Ford, , , 12, , , , 188, Running
26, 32, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Little Joes Autos/Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, , , 11, , , , 145, Accident
27, 7, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 4, 4, 24, 1, 2, , 143, Accident
28, 3, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna McDonald's Chevrolet, 7, , 13, 1, 13, , 141, Accident
29, 19, Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, , , 8, , , , 141, Accident
30, 18, Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, , , 7, , , , 140, Accident
31, 23, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, , , 6, , , , 133, Accident
32, 6, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford, , 7, 9, , , , 128, Accident
33, 12, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford, 10, 5, 11, , , , 128, Accident
34, 24, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 9, , 5, 1, 7, , 127, Accident
35, 37, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Cottonelle Mega Roll Chevrolet, , , 2, , , , 127, Accident
36, 28, * DJ Kennington, No. 96 Lordco/Castrol Toyota, , , 1, , , , 127, Accident
37, 2, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 5, , 7, 1, 8, , 106, Accident
38, 21, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 1, , 11, 3, 18, 1, 103, Accident
39, 34, Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-hour Energy Extra Strength Toyota, , , 1, , , , 103, Accident
40, 9, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, , , 1, , , , 103, Accident

#= Rookie; (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series; *=non-franchise team

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 29 Mins, 31 Secs.
Average Speed: 143.187 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.228 Seconds
18,4,21,2,88,42,1,11,48,10
4,22,41,2,10,47,14,42,31,21
 Race Comments: Kurt Busch won the 59th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, his 29th victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #48, 21, 27 (Backup Car) 
 Failed to Qualify: (2) 55, 51.
 Caution Flags: 8 for 40 laps: Laps: 32-35 (#83 Incident Frontstretch [77]); 62-67 (Stage 1 Conclusion [33]); 106-112 (#88, 18, 77, 20, 13, 7 Incident Turn 3 [Red Flag 17:00] [11]); 122-125 (Stage 2 Conclusion [78]); 129-133 (#48, 14, 37, 10, 4, 96, 11, 6, 42, 34, 32, 75, 72, 41, 78, 23, 22 Incident Turn 3 [19]); 137-141 (#17, 6, 21, 7, 33 Incident Frontstretch [13]); 143-148 (#1, 2, 31, 11, 34, 33, 19, 13, 24, 95, 75 Incident Backstretch [None]); 151-153 (#23, 75, 24 Incident Backstretch [None]).
 Lead Changes: 37 among 18 drivers: C. Elliott 1-5; J. McMurray 6-18; K. Harvick 19-22; C. Elliott 23-24; K. Harvick 25-29; B. Keselowski 30-31; K. Larson 32; K. Harvick 33-41; Kyle Busch 42; M. Truex Jr. 43; Kyle Busch 44-48; R. Blaney 49-50; Kyle Busch 51-62; A. Allmendinger 63-64; K. Larson 65-68; K. Harvick 69-72; K. Larson 73; K. Harvick 74-89; J. Johnson 90-96; D. Earnhardt Jr. 97-104; E. Sadler(i) 105-109; K. Harvick 110-121; J. Logano 122; K. Larson 123-125; C. Elliott 126; K. Kahne 127; C. Elliott 128-135; K. Kahne 136-141; A. Dillon 142-148; J. Logano 149-151; C. Whitt 152-154; A. Almirola 155-156; K. Larson 157-162; J. Logano 163-174; C. Elliott 175-197; M. Truex Jr. 198; K. Larson 199; Kurt Busch 200; 
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award:  Kyle Busch, #18 
Ingersoll Rand Power Move:  AJ Allmendinger, #47 10 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race:  Roush-Yates Engines, #41 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Kurt Busch, #41 
Moog Go the Extra Mile:  Kasey Kahne, #5 -0.436 secs
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap:  Austin Dillon, #3 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Daniel Suarez, #19

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

Read More on Cup / XFINITY / Truck news
Volume 2016, Issue 8, Posted 8:47 PM, 02.26.2017