Chris Buescher Steals Daytona

Daytona. The stock car capital of the world. The birthplace of NASCAR. If there is one place that any NASCAR driver would want to win at, it would be Daytona. After the stars of NASCAR came back South from Watkins Glen to Daytona, the big story was William Byron. Byron earned his fifth win of the season at Watkins Glen in a dominating performance. With just one race left in the regular season and one playoff spot up for grabs, who would make it into the playoffs? Entering Daytona, Bubba Wallace had a 32-point cushion over Ty Gibbs for the last playoff spot. Coming out of Daytona, a familiar face was in victory lane from recent weeks.

Buescher Goes Daytona Dreaming:

It has been well documented throughout the year that RFK Racing has been fast. Thanks to the efforts of both Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher, Roush is back to the top of the Ford campaign in NASCAR. Coming into Daytona, both Buescher and Keselowski were locked into the playoffs. Buescher had won back-to-back races just a few weeks ago at Richmond and Michigan. Keselowski earned enough points above the playoff cutline to clinch a spot at Watkins Glen. The goal was set for the two RFK drivers. Win, and earn as many playoff points as they could. That’s exactly what the two teammates did. Keselowski ended up winning the second stage, while Buescher led the last two laps to win at Daytona.

This win for Buescher at Daytona is huge not only for Buescher but for RFK Racing, as well as Ford. Ford has been the slowest manufacturer out of the three in the Cup Series up to this point this year. They had only won one race before Richmond earlier in August, that was Atlanta in March with Joey Logano. They have now won four of the last five races, three of which are thanks to Buescher. This is what Buescher and Keselowski needed before the playoffs, momentum. It would not be a shocker to see either Buescher or Keselowski making a deep run into the playoffs.

A Horrific Crash for Ryan Preece:

Unfortunately, the big story from Saturday night belongs to Stewart-Hass Racing driver, Ryan Preece. With just five laps to go, a push gone wrong from Erik Jones to Preece, sent Preece spinning down towards the infield grass on the back straightaway. As soon as the car hit the grass, it started to become airborne. The car then flipped about 12 or 13 times before coming to rest on all four tires. Preece would somehow climb out of the car under his own power. But as a precaution, medical workers would take Preece to a local hospital for further evaluation. He would, thankfully, be released from the hospital the next morning. So far, there has been no update on Preece’s health a few days after the wreck.

There hasn’t been a flip that was as violent as Preece’s in almost 30 years. Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, these wrecks were common at Talladega and Daytona. The concerning part about this wreck is how easily the car got airborne, and how the roof hatch came off the car after the first hit to the roof. Another issue with the crash was the window net became unattached during the flipping. NASCAR has already taken Preece’s car back to Charlotte for further safety evaluation. These are issues that need to be addressed, but they may not be fixable.

What to Expect from Darlington:

This coming weekend, the stars of NASCAR head back to the oldest intermediate track on the circuit. Darlington. Darlington is nicknamed “The Lady in Black” for a reason. There’s a saying when it comes to racing at Darlington. “If you haven’t earned a Darlington stripe, you aren’t racing hard enough.” The Southern 500 race weekend is all about tradition. This weekend kicks off the first round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Keep an eye on certain playoff drivers, such as Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, and Joey Logano. Hamlin has won at Darlington four times, Logano once, but Larson hasn’t won at Darlington. But Larson has been close several times and had a shot of winning at Darlington in the Spring, but was involved in a late-race incident. This will be a race weekend that you don’t want to miss.

Current Playoff Standings:

1^st: #24 William Byron: +29 points above the cutline.

2^nd: #19 Martin Truex Jr: +29 points above the cutline.

3^rd: #11 Denny Hamlin: +18 points above the cutline.

4^th: #17 Chris Buescher: +14 points above the cutline.

5^th: #8 Kyle Busch: +12 points above the cutline.

6^th: #5 Kyle Larson: +10 points above the cutline.

7^th: #20 Christopher Bell: +7 points above the cutline.

8^th: #1 Ross Chastain: +4 points above the cutline.

9^th: #6 Brad Keselowski: +3 points above the cutline.

10^th: #45 Tyler Reddick: +2 points above the cutline.

11^th: #22 Joey Logano: +1 point above the cutline.

12^th: #12 Ryan Blaney: +1 point above the cutline.

13^th: #34 Michael McDowell: -1 point below the cutline.

14^th: #47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr: -3 points below the cutline.

15^th: #4 Kevin Harvick: -4 points below the cutline.

16^th: #23 Bubba Wallace: -8 points below the cutline.