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Daytona 500: Kurt Busch Takes The Win

By Tabitha Britt
Published on: 11:59 PST, Feb 26, 2017

Kurt Busch – driving the No. 41 Ford – took the lead on Sunday, Feb. 26, winning the 59th running of the Daytona 500, making it the driver’s 29th career win on the Monster Energy Cup Series.

On the final lap, Busch passed Kyle Larson in turns One and Two. Shortly after Busch’s pass, Larson ran out of fuel and fell to the back of the pack.

“The more that becomes unpredictable about Daytona, the more it becomes predictable to predict unpredictably, I mean this car was completely thrashed, not a straight panel on it,” Busch said in an interview with CBS Sports.

“The strategy today, who knew what, to pit when. Everybody’s wrecking as soon as we’re done with the second segment. The more that I’ve run this race, the more that I’ve thrown caution to the wind and just let it rip. That group put on a fantastic run to the end and everyone did a get job not to wreck each other.”

With just 30 laps to go, Busch’s rear-view mirror fell off.

“My rear-view mirror fell off with 30 to go, I was like ‘that’s an omen,'” Busch continued, “because I’m not going to have to look at it anymore. I got to drive defensively and take advantage of other people’s mistakes.”

Ryan Blaney finished second with AJ Allmendinger third, Aric Almirola fourth, and Paul Menard in fifth.

Busch’s win will be the first victory for Tony Stewart as an owner of Stewart-Hass Racing at Daytona.

“I ran this damn race 18 years and I couldn’t win it,” car owner Tony Stewart told Fox Sports. “He deserved that one for sure.”

The race ended with nine cautions and 37 lead changes, with three separate multi-car crashes involving half of the field knocking out Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Danica Patrick, Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, and several others.

“It was the funnest (Daytona) 500 I’ve ever had,” Patrick told Fox Sports. “Well, probably not 500, more like 300 or 250. It is a real shame. I feel like we could have been a contender at the end, for sure we could have been an influencer.”

Jimmie Johnson also commented on the “Big One,” which was a 17-car pileup.

“It just seemed like that could have been avoided and was uncalled for,” Johnson told Fox Sports after the wreck. “From the minute we got off Turn Two I kept getting hit and lifting the rear tires off the ground. I know there was a lot of energy behind me in the pack but I didn’t have a chance.”

The Top 10 finishers at the Daytona 500:

  1. Kurt Busch
  2. Ryan Blaney
  3. AJ Allmendinger
  4. Aric Almirola
  5. Paul Menard
  6. Joey Logano
  7. Kasey Kahne
  8. Michael Waltrip
  9. Matt DiBenedetto
  10. Trevor Bayne

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2017 Daytona 500 Results:

  1. Kurt Busch
  2. Ryan Blaney
  3. AJ Allmendinger
  4. Aric Almirola
  5. Paul Menard
  6. Joey Logano
  7. Kasey Kahne
  8. Michael Waltrip
  9. Matt DiBenedetto
  10. Trevor Bayne
  11. Brendan Gaughan
  12. Kyle Larson
  13. Martin Truex Jr.
  14. Chase Elliott
  15. Michael McDowell
  16. Landon Cassill
  17. Denny Hamlin
  18. Cole Whitt
  19. Austin Dillon
  20. Elliott Sadler
  21. Ryan Newman
  22. Kevin Harvick
  23. Joey Gase
  24. Corey LaJoie
  25. David Ragan
  26. Jeffrey Earnhardt
  27. Brad Keselowski
  28. Jamie McMurray
  29. Daniel Suarez
  30. Ty Dillon
  31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  32. Clint Bowyer
  33. Danica Patrick
  34. Jimmie Johnson
  35. Chris Buescher
  36. D.J. Kennington
  37. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  38. Kyle Busch
  39. Erik Jones
  40. Matt Kenseth

[Feature Image By Sean Gardner/Getty Images]

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