Story By: BRANDON LEE / RFK RACING – DAYTONA BEACH, FL – RFK Racing was on the wrong end of the big one in the Daytona 500, as all three Fords were collected in multi-car incidents. As a result, Chris Buescher was credited with an 18th-place finish, David Ragan finished 20th, and Brad Keselowski 33rd in the ‘Great American Race.’
The 66th running of the Daytona 500 was pushed to Monday due to heavy rain in the Daytona Beach area most of Saturday, and all of Sunday. Keselowski began the day from the 16th position with Buescher in 19th, and Ragan in 40th.
The race opened with a strange opening stage of 65 laps, dominated by fuel strategies and various packs throughout the field. RFK’s three Fords finished 20th (Keselowski), 22nd (Buescher) and 26th (Ragan) at the end of the 65-lap stage.
Stage two ran caution-free with Keselowski crossing the stripe 12th, Buescher 10th – earning stage points – and Ragan in 25th in the BuildSubmarines.com Ford.
From there, Keselowski and Ragan methodically worked their way to the front as the No. 60 led once for a pair of laps, and Keselowski led the race two different times for a handful of laps. Keselowski ran third with 20 to go with Ragan just in front.
Then, as the laps continued to wind down, Keselowski was P2 with eight to go, and was hooked in the right rear, resulting in a massive crash that collected 23 different cars. That incident ended Keselowski’s quest for a Daytona 500.
“I don’t know,” Keselowski said after the incident. “I got hit in the back, so I couldn’t really tell you. It’s a shame. I was kind of making a move for the lead with eight laps to go in the Daytona 500 and I’m here talking to you. It’s just one of those deals. We were mixed up in the middle of the soup most of the race. We executed really well in the final stage and put ourselves in position, but that’s just the way Daytona goes.”
Buescher unfortunately sustained heavy damage to his Fastenal Ford in the same crash, which ultimately proved to be too costly for him to remain competitive in the final restart and closing laps.
“We had a fast Fastenal Ford Mustang and I am excited about that heading into next week,” Buescher added. “That is about where my excitement ends on the day. The crash, that sucks, there is no way around that. That definitely ruined our ultimate result. It was a really strange race. One of the most frustrating races I have been a part of in a long time. Tons of fuel saving and it was all about the pit stop, one pit stop for every stage and then some massive blocks by single cars that weren’t up to speed. It is a lot different than the last go around. I didn’t have as much fun as I hoped to but we will be good for next weekend.”
Ragan did skirt through that crash mostly unscathed, giving him a chance on the final restart. After restarting outside the top-10, he unfortunately was collected in a crash that occurred coming to the white flag, which ultimately ended the race under yellow.
Atlanta Motor Speedway hosts race two on the NASCAR Cup Series season next weekend. Race coverage Sunday is set for 2:30 p.m. ET (FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).