RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher wins his 3rd race of the 2023 season in the cutoff race at Daytona. With this win, Bubba Wallace is locked into the playoffs for the first time in his career, leaving 2020 champion Chase Elliott and Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman on the outside looking in.
The outside drivers showed up early on, with the top 5 positions in the starting line-up being made up by drivers not locked into the playoffs. SHR teammates Chase Briscoe and Aric Almirola locked out the front row and led the field to green.
Briscoe led the early running with his ford teammate behind him, but with 12 to go in the stage JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. worked their way to the front.
On the final lap of the stage, Hamlin was battling Truex and newcomer Riley Herbst for the stage win. Down the backstretch Hamlin threw a block on Herbst, sending the #36 down the order and opening the door for Truex to win the stage.
Truex’s win allowed him to secure the regular season championship, and the 15 playoff points that come with it.
Stage One Results:
- #19
- #20
- #4
- #54
- #22
- #23
- #2
- #11
- #14
- #99
Joey Logano in the #22 and Truex in the #19 led the field at the start of the second stage. 10 laps into the stage, Chase Elliott began making up ground on the third groove. The #9 would battle for the lead with Logano and fellow bubble driver Allmendinger before being forced out of line and tumbling back through the pack.
After a cycle of green flag pit stops, the battle for the stage win was between Kyle Busch in the #8, Ty Gibbs in the #54 and Ryan Blaney in the #12. Going into turn 3, Blaney made a move to the inside of Gibbs and drew door to door with the #54. In turn 4, Gibbs got a bad push from Bell and was sent into the side of Blaney, turning him into the wall. 12 drivers would be involved in the accident, 7 cars would not finish the race. The race would be red-flagged for clean-up. Ty Gibbs was out of the race, meaning that Wallace would be in the playoffs barring a new winner.
Brad Keselowski made his way through the carnage and won the second stage.
Stage Two Results:
- #6
- #8
- #99
- #48
- #24
- #45
- #9
- #3
- #1
- #22
Chase Briscoe in the #14 led the start of the final stage with Aric Almirola in the #10 pushing him.
After the final cycle of green flag pit stops, Kevin Harvick took the lead with Chase Elliott behind him. The second pack of drivers caught up and Chase Elliott jumped to the outside to battle Harvick.
With 5 to go, Harvick pulled out ahead. On the backstretch, Ryan Preece received a bad push from Jones in the #43, sending him across the nose of Briscoe and flipping in the backstretch grass. The car would flip 10 times before coming to rest. Preece would be taken to a local hospital for further medical evaluation. He is reported to be awake and alert, as well as communicating with friends and family. He will be kept at the hospital overnight for continued observation.
With 2 to go, the race was sent underway again. The #17 of Buescher took the lead on the outside with team owner Brad Keselowski in the #6 pushing him. Buescher led at the white flag with Harvick and Elliott on the bottom trying to challenge. The #9 tried to make a move coming to the line but to no avail. Buescher won his 3rd race of the year with Keselowski behind him, resulting in a 1-2 finish for the new RFK Racing team.
Chase Elliott’s 4th place finish was not enough, and the 2020 champion will miss the playoffs for the first time in his cup series career. Along with him, Alex Bowman will miss the playoffs for the first time since taking over the 4th Hendrick car in 2018.
Bubba Wallace will make the playoffs for the first time in his cup series career, joining 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick and making them one of two organizations to have all cars in the playoffs, along with RFK.
The playoffs kick off next weekend with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, at 6PM ET
Featured Image Credits: NASCAR on Twitter
pitboxpress.com 