Jones wins crash-fest in Busch Clash at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. >> The first race of the NASCAR season was a demolition derby that turned Daytona International Speedway into a giant junkyard.

The Busch Clash? More like the Busch Crash.

Erik Jones won the Feb. 9 race that left a multi-million dollar trail of destruction and masked the fact the Clash was a made-forTV exhibition race. Only 18 cars were entered and only six were on track when the checkered flag flew at the end of a third overtime.

Jones crossed the finish line in a Toyota with a crumpled hood after a huge push from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and defending Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin.

“I’ve got to give a huge thanks to Denny there ... he stuck with us there that whole last lap,” Jones said. “It wasn’t the fastest car I don’t think left in the race, but we brought it home. I owe him one for that one, for sure.”

Hamlin was a lap down after a blown tire on the previous overtime attempt caused him to crash half the cars remaining on track, but he had enough speed to push Jones along the outside and give Gibbs yet another win. The Gibbs organization won 19 races last year, went 1-2-3 in the Daytona 500 and won the Cup Series title.

Joe Gibbs is now the alltime winningest owner in Busch Clash history with nine victories.

Brad Keselowski was among those incensed by the aggressive late blocking. The race was fairly anti-climactic until two wrecks in the final nine laps sent it into overtime, and as Keselowski railed against the racing that ended his day, Hamlin got a flat tire as the leader on a restart and collected most of the cars on track.

“Dumb, dumb racing,” said Keselowski, who slapped the side of an ambulance with both hands in frustration.