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Kurt Busch's road to redemption got a bit shorter with a win in the Nationwide race at Daytona International Raceway on Friday night.
The race came down to a green-white checkered flag finish.
“We brought it home to Victory Lane at Daytona,” an emotional Busch said. “That there is a statement - that's what (owner) James Finch is all about. He loves Daytona and I'm happy that we were able to deliver.
“All of (the crew) came out to the start/finish line to be a part of the celebration. It's all about heart, and it's all about passion with these guys and I couldn't be more proud of this team effort tonight.”
Pushing Busch to the win was pole-sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr., followed by Michael Annett.
“(Kurt) was fast all night and I just pushed him to the win,” Stenhouse said. “I was hoping I could make a move there, but I saw the No. 3 (Austin Dillon) car and everybody coming, so I tried to duck out and block them and we ended up second. It was a fun race.”
The reason for redemption is that the volatile one-time Sprint Cup champ parted ways with Penske Racing at the end of last season leaving the driver without a top ride for the first time in his career. James Finch who owns the tiny Phoenix Racing team hired Busch as he tries to regain a championship contending team.
“There's no other guy that gets as excited for Daytona as James Finch,” Busch said. “He wanted his cars orange so that they could be seen up front and so that the car could be recognized without a sponsor on it. We drove an unsponsored car into Victory Lane tonight.”
It was his second Nationwide win of the year. Earlier he won in a Kyle Busch Motorsports cars.
The race set a Nationwide Series record with 42 lead changes and 16 different leaders, besting the previous mark set at Daytona in February.
A combination of tandem drafting and big pack racing produced “the big one,” a 16-car wreck on lap 66 of the 100-lap race. A total of 26 cars suffered damage in the event.
Later Danica Patrick having one of her best runs and contending for the win when her car was spun and she hit the inside wall with about 16 laps to go.
The race came down to a green-white checkered flag finish.
“We brought it home to Victory Lane at Daytona,” an emotional Busch said. “That there is a statement - that's what (owner) James Finch is all about. He loves Daytona and I'm happy that we were able to deliver.
“All of (the crew) came out to the start/finish line to be a part of the celebration. It's all about heart, and it's all about passion with these guys and I couldn't be more proud of this team effort tonight.”
Pushing Busch to the win was pole-sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr., followed by Michael Annett.
“(Kurt) was fast all night and I just pushed him to the win,” Stenhouse said. “I was hoping I could make a move there, but I saw the No. 3 (Austin Dillon) car and everybody coming, so I tried to duck out and block them and we ended up second. It was a fun race.”
The reason for redemption is that the volatile one-time Sprint Cup champ parted ways with Penske Racing at the end of last season leaving the driver without a top ride for the first time in his career. James Finch who owns the tiny Phoenix Racing team hired Busch as he tries to regain a championship contending team.
“There's no other guy that gets as excited for Daytona as James Finch,” Busch said. “He wanted his cars orange so that they could be seen up front and so that the car could be recognized without a sponsor on it. We drove an unsponsored car into Victory Lane tonight.”
It was his second Nationwide win of the year. Earlier he won in a Kyle Busch Motorsports cars.
The race set a Nationwide Series record with 42 lead changes and 16 different leaders, besting the previous mark set at Daytona in February.
A combination of tandem drafting and big pack racing produced “the big one,” a 16-car wreck on lap 66 of the 100-lap race. A total of 26 cars suffered damage in the event.
Later Danica Patrick having one of her best runs and contending for the win when her car was spun and she hit the inside wall with about 16 laps to go.