Erik Jones finishes first at crash-heavy Busch Clash ahead of the Daytona 500
One week before the 2020 NASCAR season officially kicks off, Cup Series drivers took to Daytona Superspeedway in a preseason meeting of the sport’s best 18 drivers for the Busch Clash. Less than half of those 18 reached the finish line Sunday.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones finished in first place following a series of late-lap crashes that left only six cars running for the final flag.
“(This is the) craziest race I’ve ever been in,” Jones told The Athletic. “Let alone won.”
JGR teammate Denny Hamlin was able to push Jones to victory in the final two laps after three overtime restarts. Jones wrecked on the restart with four laps to go, so the crumpled car needed a boost to get to the finish.
Just a scratch. @Erik_Jones | #BuschClash pic.twitter.com/J1257nwsnK
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 9, 2020
“It was awesome,” Jones said. “He just locked on and we stuck together.”
This is the ninth Busch Clash win for JGR and the first for Jones.
“I didn’t care if I was gonna push him into a wreck,” Hamlin said. “I was just gonna push him.”
Results:
Finish | Driver | Car No. |
1 | Erik Jones | 20 |
2 | Austin Dillon | 3 |
3 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
4 | Kyle Larson | 42 |
5 | Ryan Newman | 6 |
6 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
7 | Chase Elliott (did not finish) | 9 |
8 | Ryan Blaney (did not finish) | 12 |
9 | Joey Logano (did not finish) | 22 |
10 | Aric Almiorla (did not finish) | 16 |
11 | Jimmie Johnson (did not finish) | 48 |
12 | Kurt Busch (did not finish) | 1 |
13 | Kevin Harvick (did not finish) | 4 |
14 | William Byron (did not finish) | 24 |
15 | Alex Bowman (did not finish) | 88 |
16 | Martin Truex Jr. (did not finish) | 19 |
17 | Brad Keselowski (did not finish) | 22 |
18 | Kyle Busch (did not finish) | 18 |
Two crashes occurred in the final nine laps to send the race to overtime. Then, multiple pileups forced three restarts. The race lasted 88 laps, the longest in event history.
Four Toyotas, seven Chevrolets and seven Fords competed in the Clash, but it was Jones’ Toyota that clinched the win by running the full 75 laps on the superspeedway track. He only led the last lap.
Keselowski led for most of the race (33 laps of the 64 he ran), but his No. 22 car was caught up in the first wreck sparked by Busch and Logano.
"Goodness gracious!"
That sums it up, @JeffGordonWeb.
Calamity strikes again late in the #BuschClash. pic.twitter.com/ktIdOBXC0D— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 9, 2020
“Dumb, dumb racing,” Keselowski said. “We shouldn’t be wrecking all these cars. You’d think these guys would be smarter than that. It’s the same thing over and over, somebody throws a stupid block that’s never going to work and wrecks half the field.”
In order to qualify for the race, drivers had to win either a 2019 Cup Series pole, the Clash, the Daytona 500 or Daytona 500 pole, or be a 2019 playoff driver. Twenty drivers were eligible for the race, but only 18 participated. No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing driver Daniel Suarez was eligible, but did not participate to focus on next week’s race, while the other eligible driver Daniel Hemric does not have a ride for the Cup Series.
Ryan Newman was on the pole, while Keselowski joined him on the front row for the start. Despite a last-place start and multiple wrecks, Hamlin was able to secure a sixth place finish.
Hamlin will go for his second straight Daytona 500 win next weekend, fortunately competing in a non-damaged car. The cars raced in Sunday’s exhibition event are backups for the Feb. 16 season opener.
