Chris Buescher won the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night, eliminating fan favorite Chase Elliott from playoff contention and sending Bubba Wallace into the postseason.
Buescher and teammate Brad Keselowski finished 1-2 for RFK Racing, the first for the team since 2014. It was Buescher’s third victory since late July, making him a championship favorite no one could have expected five weeks ago.
Drivers had to regroup in the waning laps after Ryan Preece flipped about a dozen times and came to a halt in his mangled No. 41 Ford. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was able to get out with help before emergency personnel put him on a gurney and into an ambulance for a quick trip to the infield care center. He was later transported to a hospital for further evaluation.
Preece made contact with SHR teammate Chase Briscoe, and his car started flipping when he slid across the infield grass. The crash sent the race into overtime. Buescher was out front for the restart with two laps to go, and Keselowski stayed in line to keep them 1-2 at the checkered flag.
Aric Almirola finished third in another Ford, followed by Elliott and defending series champion Joey Logano.
Seventeen drivers, most notably Wallace and Elliott, started the night with hopes of securing the final playoff spot.
Elliott had been facing an uphill battle for months. He missed six races after breaking his left leg in a snowboarding accident in early March and was suspended for another for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin in May. Those absences left NASCAR’s most popular driver him trying to dig out of a hole all summer.
Martin Truex Jr. took the regular-season championship over Denny Hamlin, giving Truex an extra 15 playoff points. Truex and Hamlin were the only drivers vying for the regular-season title at Daytona.
The more notable race was for the final postseason spot. Seven of the drivers vying for the berth were eliminated in a 12-car melee a little past the midway point.
Ty Gibbs was one of those knocked out of contention. Christopher Bell was pushing Gibbs near the front of the field but got him sideways in Turn 4. Gibbs slammed into race leader Ryan Blaney, turning Blaney’s No. 12 Ford into the outside wall. Blaney hit so hard that at least two tires lifted off the ground.
The Cup Series playoffs begin at Darlington Raceway next Sunday. William Byron won in May at the track, and Erik Jones won the postseason race there in 2022.
