NASCAR: Erik Jones wins 2020 Busch Clash crashfest in beat-up car

Erik Jones won a crashfest of a Busch Clash to unofficially open up the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season in a car that looked like it could’ve easily been in the garage.

It was the longest Busch Clash in NASCAR history, but for all six (of 18) drivers who finished it, it was worth the wait.

Especially for Erik Jones.

Jones’s chance to win the exhibition race, which has been jokingly renamed the “Busch Crash” for the day, at Daytona International Speedway took a shot when he overshot his pit box and lost a lap.

But with every ensuing wreck, even the several wrecks in which he was involved, they slightly increased.

Skip ahead to the checkered flag, and it was Jones piloting his #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, which looked like it could have easily been in the garage undergoing major repairs, across the finish line ahead of the rest of the field.

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“Rest of the field”, of course, is a relative term; only five more drivers were still in the competition, as 12 were knocked out after being involved in one or more wrecks.

Jones got a late push from teammate Denny Hamlin, who had previously wrecked and gone a lap down. Hamlin, out of contention for the win (but still running in sixth place), used his #11 Toyota to give his teammate the boost he needed to take the lead and lead the only lap he needed to lead to win.

And the final lap was, in fact, the only lap of the 88-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked superspeedway oval in Daytona Beach, Florida that Jones led, just like when he won his first Cup Series race at the venue back in July of 2018.

Jones, who started the race in 12th place, finished 0.697 seconds ahead of Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon in second place in his #3 Chevrolet. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer finished in third in his #14 Ford ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson in fourth in his #42 Chevrolet and Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman, the race polesitter, in fifth in his #6 Ford.

The race featured 14 lead changes among 11 of the 18 drivers in the race. Of the six drivers who finished the race, only Bowyer did not lead the race. Six of the 12 drivers who wrecked out spent time at the front; in fact, they combined to lead 60 laps.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, who was the highest “finisher” of the non-finishers in seventh place in his #9 Chevrolet, led the race, as did Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr.

Keselowski, who was taken out in the first wreck that also involved Logano and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, led more laps than anybody else in the field with 33 laps led.

The race ended up featuring five caution flag periods, including a competition caution after lap 25. The several late caution flag periods resulted in numerous overtime periods, which extended the race by 13 laps from its planned distance of 75 laps to 88.

Here are the full race results of the 2020 Busch Clash at Daytona International Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Erik Jones
2nd – Austin Dillon
3rd – Clint Bowyer
4th – Kyle Larson
5th – Ryan Newman
6th – Denny Hamlin
7th – Chase Elliott
8th – Ryan Blaney
9th – Joey Logano
10th – Aric Almirola
11th – Jimmie Johnson
12th – Kurt Busch
13th – Kevin Harvick
14th – William Byron
15th – Alex Bowman
16th – Martin Truex Jr.
17th – Brad Keselowski
18th – Kyle Busch

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The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to officially get underway next Sunday, February 16 with the 62nd annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, and it is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.

But before that race takes place, the starting lineup still needs to be solidified, and that is scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 13 in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels. Those two races are set to be broadcast live from the track on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET.

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