Kurt Busch wins in "The Great Pumpkin" at Daytona
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| Credit: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images |
"The Great Pumpkin is here, and he's not gonna lift." Busch joked with his team in reference to the florescent orange color on his No. 1 Hendrickcars.com Chevy for James Finch's Phoenix Racing. "This is what James Finch is all about. He loves Daytona. I'm happy we were able to deliver."
Busch was asked whether the win is vindication for him, "It's not vindication, you want to deliver for James Finch. You want to deliver for these guys." Changing the subject, Busch said, "I don't care about me right now, tonight is about Phoenix Racing."
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| Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images |
Upon being released from the infield care center, Wallace took full blame for the accident, saying in part, "I guess I caused a wreck. I didn't think I did." Wallace also spun on Lap 41 but was able to continue.
The race 42 lead changes among 16 different leaders, setting a Nationwide series record. The previous record from February's Daytona race was 38 lead changes and 16 different leaders.
Among those leaders, Danica Patrick was running her best race of the year, leading 5 different times for a total of 13 laps before being caught up in a five-car wreck at Lap 84. Her No. 7 GoDaddy car was crushed after hitting the wall hard, the steering column pushed far into the cockpit. Thankfully, she was uninjured and walked away from the accident.
Despite the accidents, there were many drivers who got notable finishes. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s second spot was his first top five since his win at Iowa. Michael Annett earned a third place finish, now his career-best after one-upping his finish at Kentucky . Mike Bliss recorded his first top 10 of the season, finishing in eighth and Timmy Hill got his second top 10 of the season; the first one also came at Daytona.
Jeremy Clements often gets overlooked but had an 11th place finish, and after running as high as fourth, rookie Johanna Long ended up in 12th, her best finish of the season.
Joey Logano looked as if he might take the win but wound up fifth in the battle for the checkered flag. The No. 20 SportClips Toyota failed post-race inspection after being found too low in the front.
Austin Dillon went across the finish line backwards after Annett got into the bumper of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevy, yet still scored fifth place. As top-finishing rookie, he was in the media center post-race and spoke about his looming penalty for failing tech inspection for having an open cooling hose after qualifying. Just last week, Dillon's team also failed post-race tech inspection after their win at Kentucky.
"I'm not concerned (about the penalty). It was a mistake we made. It was a bummer because it was two in a row, and grandfather was upset with the guys," Dillon said. We will find out early next week what penalty NASCAR will levy against the team." He added that the team that worked on the car were from the Truck series where that hose isn't required to be taped up.
Elliott Sadler, who finished in sixth, keeps the championship points lead by four points over Dillon, though that spread could change as early as Monday. Stenhouse Jr. remains in third place.
Race results:
- Kurt Busch
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Michael Annett
- Austin Dillon
- Joey Logano
- Elliott Sadler
- Justin Allgaier
- Mike Bliss
- Timmy Hill
- Sam Hornish Jr.
- Jeremy Clements
- Johanna Long
- Danny Efland
- Jason Bowles
- Tayler Malsam
- Josh Richards
- Robert Richardson Jr.
- Eric McClure
- Blake Koch
- Bryan Silas
- Erik Darnell
- Joe Nemechek
- Kyle Busch
- Brad Sweet
- John Wes Townley
- Clint Bowyer
- Casey Roderick
- Kevin Harvick
- Cole Whitt
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Danica Patrick
- Brian Scott
- Bobby Santos
- James Buescher
- Brad Keselowski
- Mike Wallace
- Joey Gase
- Mike Harmon
- T.J. Bell
- Chase Miller
- Josh Wise
- Stephen Leicht
- Jeff Green
Kurt Busch wins in "The Great Pumpkin" at Daytona
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Saturday, July 07, 2012
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Saturday, July 07, 2012
Rating:
