WINNERS
Erik Jones — Let’s see, overshoots his pit stall, involved in three accidents … and wins the Busch Clash a year after finishing last in this event. Even he couldn’t believe it. “I don’t know if it’s the biggest win,” Jones said of his career, “but definitely one of the coolest. I mean, just from an aspect that me and my friends will laugh about this one for a long time looking back at it, wondering how we won.” They won’t be the only ones.
History repeating (sort of) — Credit Erik Jones and his team for attempting to duplicate the victory lane photo of Terry Labonte and his team after Labonte won at Bristol in 1995 with a smashed car. Jones’ damaged car wasn’t too far off from Labonte’s.
Double Vision - 1995 at Bristol & 2020 at Daytona. Superspeedway races can feel like a good ol' fashioned short track race sometimes. Here’s proof.#TeamTOYOTA @SportClips pic.twitter.com/TH6bwUqMFs
— Erik Jones (@Erik_Jones) February 9, 2020
JTG Daugherty Racing — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. gets the accolades for winning the Daytona 500 pole with his new team, but let’s also give credit to the team for the car and its alliance with Hendrick Motorsports that gave the car Hendrick power.
Brendan Gaughan and Justin Haley — Both are guaranteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500 after being the two fastest among the non-chartered cars in qualifying.
Hailie Deegan — Michael Self won his second ARCA race at Daytona on Saturday but Deegan finished second in her first series race at Daytona. Her finish ties the highest result for a female driver in series history.
LOSERS
Team (Penske) camaraderie — Brad Keselowski was livid with teammate Joey Logano for blocks that led to both crashing, along with Kyle Busch. Said Keselowski of Logano’s blocking: “We were in a position to finish it off, and we got destroyed for no reason. You would think these guys would be smarter than that. … Somebody throws a stupid block that’s never going to work and wrecks half the field and then goes ‘eh.’ Maybe we need to take the helmets out of these cars and take the seat belts out. Somebody will get hurt and then we’ll stop driving like assholes.”
History — Never before in the history of the Busch Clash has the eighth-place car finished 10 laps down. That’s where Ryan Blaney placed because of a crash. Only six cars were running at the end of Sunday’s event.
Martin Truex Jr. — He was eliminated by a crash in the Clash for the third time in the last four years.