DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kyle Busch took the first win of the new season, tearing past NASCAR champion Chase Elliott after Elliott leader Ryan Blaney spun in the final part of the Busch Clash exhibit.
Blaney had chased Elliott on the road at Daytona International Speedway to take the lead with two laps to go in Tuesday night’s Speedweeks opener over 35 laps. Elliott, winner of NASCAR’s last four road courses dating back to 2019, didn’t let Blaney drive away and got ready for one last shot at victory.
He stalked Blaney into the chicane heading for the final push of Turn 4, and as Elliott approached his bumper, the two made contact and Blaney jerked against the wall. It took Elliott’s momentum and Busch sailed past for the surprise win.
“I just knew I had to keep my head down and my focus in front of me, and just to see if I could reach my goal of taking a shot like that if something like this happened,” Busch said.
Busch led only the last 300 feet of the race before the win for Joe Gibbs Racing. It comes after a disappointing season with one win for the 2019 NASCAR champion. The lack of success led to an off-season shake-up with his No. 18 Toyota team.
For Busch, the win comes after a disappointing season with one win for the 2019 NASCAR champion. He struggled in the second half of the season, failing to advance to the last four championship rounds for the first time since 2014 and his No. 18 Toyota team was overhauled during winter.
Gibbs made so many changes to Busch’s crew, he joked that he felt like he was the one who got fired and moved to a new attraction.
“I’m not sure if we are mature enough or if we are ready enough to win as a group, but I think this is a good start,” Busch said. “Winning never does anything, but there are things we can do a little bit better so we can grow.”
Elliott finished second and Blaney third. The two are good friends off the track and chatted to Blaney’s damaged race car after the finish.
“If I’m sorry trying to win a race then I’m in the wrong business,” said Elliott. ‘Obviously I don’t want to destroy anyone. I feel like you have to go for it at an event like this. ‘
Blaney attributed it to racing hard in the first event since the November season finale.
“Of course he didn’t want to destroy me, but I ended up breaking,” said Blaney. “I said to him, ‘If you make a move like that, you better make sure you win the race and don’t let the man in 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 concise schedule this year, with all races spanning six days, ending with Sunday’s big show.
This year’s run marked Daytona’s first time on the road, a plan announced before the 2020 season began. NASCAR switched from the traditional oval to meet fan demand for more variety in the schedule, thinking it would be a final race in the current car before the Next Gen model was introduced.
But the Next Gen has been delayed to 2022 due to the pandemic, and NASCAR used the Daytona Road Course for a points-paying race in August last year when it had to adjust the schedule to complete the season. Elliott won the inaugural race on the Daytona road.
The Clash was much smoother than last year’s race at Daytona’s oval, a crash-fest where each car had at least one incident and only six cars were running at the end. The race also had 12 lead changes, one less than the August race here with 30 extra laps.
NASCAR will retake the road course on Feb. 21 in a points-paying event. The race was moved to Daytona due to pandemic restrictions in California, where NASCAR was scheduled to race at Fontana.