Chris Buescher wins, Ryan Preece wrecks in NASCAR regular-season finale
If you had Chris Buescher winning three times — and in a span of five races, at that — on your 2023 NASCAR bingo card, raise your hand. Then put your hand down, because you're lying.
Yet, with help from teammate and co-owner Brad Keselowski, Buescher held off all challengers in the final laps at Daytona on Saturday night, preventing a new winner from spoiling the playoff field.
This was good news for Bubba Wallace, who came into Saturday night holding NASCAR's final playoff spot and held serve to make the 16-man field for the first time in his career.
It was bad news for Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez and all the other hopefuls who watched their 2023 title hopes come to an end.
The big highlight of the race, however, had nothing to do with the playoff picture or the fight for the win. It had to do with a horrific accident suffered by Ryan Preece, who barrel-rolled down the backstretch with a handful of laps to go.
Preece received an ill-timed push from Erik Jones, slid sideways into Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Chase Briscoe and his car then launched airborne and rolled more than 10 times in the infield grass before coming to a rest right-side-up near the inside wall.
Thankfully, Preece got out of his car under his own power, though he was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. No injuries are known, and Preece himself posted an update on X, seeming to give the indication that he avoided anything serious.
Preece's wreck wasn't the only case of torn-up sheet metal, as "The Big One" occurred on the final lap of Stage 2 when Ty Gibbs got turned by teammate Christopher Bell at the front of the field. Ryan Blaney took the hardest hit, slamming the outside wall at a high rate of speed, and more than a dozen others were collected.
NASCAR's Gen 7 car took a lot of criticism last season due to its safety concerns, with multiple drivers including Kurt Busch — who has now officially announced his retirement — suffering concussions from minor-looking impacts.
The fact that everybody was able to walk away from the mayhem on Saturday night is a testament to all the improvements made over the offseason.
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