What in the heck just happened?
The 2020 Busch Clash was a tale of two races.
For the first 65 laps, things were calm and chill. Over the remainder of the event things were more unpredictable than any NASCAR race in history. And at the end of all the carnage, which included four big crashes, Erik Jones took a car that looked like it belonged in a junk yard to victory lane.
Jones was shocked to win such a chaotic event.
“Well, not one I felt I would have won,” Jones said in disbelief. “It was an awesome race. I have to give a huge thanks to Denny Hamlin in the [No.] 11. He stuck with us there that whole last lap. This thing wasn’t the fastest car left in the race, but I owe him one for sure.”
This marks Jones’ first-ever win in the Busch Clash, and it is his second win at Daytona as his first-career win came in the July race at Daytona in 2018.
The action was so wild and fierce, that only six of the 18 cars in the field were running at the end of the event. The race also went 13 laps past the advertised distance as we endured overtime finish attempt after overtime finish attempt.
Austin Dillon had about the cleanest car left in the race and finished second. Clint Bowyer ended up third, Kyle Larson was fourth and Ryan Newman ended up in fifth — despite an engine going south as he was heading to the finish line.
Denny Hamlin, who was a lap off the pace in sixth, gave his teammate Jones the push at the end that led to the win.
“It was so awesome,” Hamlin said. “I knew he needed to strap in because that last lap I was going to push him — I didn’t care if I was going to push him into a wreck, I was going to push him. It was fun. My car was so, so fast. Proud of the effort there. Glad we got a good team win. That’s all I could really do at the end, was push him to the win.”
Post Race Stat Pack
