Tony Stewart sends Kyle Busch crashing, wins wild one at Daytona
Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch (18) slides on top of the car of Kasey Kahne after losing control on the last lap of Saturday night's Coke Zero 400. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Scene
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Stewart-Haas Racing's Tony Stewart prevailed in a sensational finish Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway as he bumped and thumped his way past Kyle Busch to win the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
Busch made a bold move to take the lead from Stewart as the white flag flew, but Stewart stayed glued on his bumper for the final trip around the track. Roaring along the trioval toward the checkered, Busch tried to block Stewart, moving low then high. Running out of space, Stewart hit the rear of Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing car, sending him spinning.
Stewart crossed the finish line first as chaos erupted behind him. Busch’s spinning car caused the rest of the field to scatter as 25 drivers approached the finish line. Richard Petty Motorsports' Kasey Kahne slammed into Busch’s car and pushed it into the air, and Busch was hit by at least two other cars.
“I don’t know that I was real proud of that,” Stewart said in victory lane. “But I don’t know what else I could have done. He [Busch] did what he had to do, and I did what I had to do. I don’t like winning them like that.
“When he went to block me, I was already there.”
It marked the second straight restrictor-plate race in which the second-place driver bumped the leader approaching the checkered flag, changing the running order but causing a huge crash. Brad Keselowski won at Talladega Superspeedway in April after crashing into leader Carl Edwards and sending Edwards’ car flying into the frontstretch fence.
Busch climbed from his mangled race car and walked about halfway down pit road before officials basically forced him into an emergency vehicle to be checked at the infield medical center.
Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson inherited second place. Following in the finishing order were JGR's Denny Hamlin, Roush Fenway Racing's Edwards and Penske Racing's Kurt Busch.
It was a night marked by slippery track conditions – courtesy of blazing heat – and a raft of caution flags. Two of those came in the closing laps and bunched the field for restarts as Stewart, Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Johnson wrestled at the front.
Among early crash victims were Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Martin and Matt Kenseth were involved in a wreck after only 10 laps, and Earnhardt Jr. parked his car after being collected in a 13-car crash on lap 77.
