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Kyle Busch wasted no time putting a disappointing 2020 season behind him with a win in the very first NASCAR race of 2021. It doesn’t matter to Busch that the win came under bizarre circumstances and in a non-points special event.
Kyle Busch won the Busch Clash at Daytona Tuesday night, taking the lead and checkered flag when Chase Elliott wrecked leader Ryan Blaney in the final turn.
Kyle Busch had one of the worst seasons of his career in 2020, winning just one race and slumping to eighth in NASCAR Cup Series points. It was the fewest wins and worst points finish for the two-time Cup champion since 2014.
Also Read: Kyle wins as Elliott, Blaney wreck
Kyle Busch has a new crew chief
After the season, Kyle Busch parted ways with veteran crew chief Adam Stevens, who helped lead him to the Cup championship in 2015 and 2019. Steven was replaced by Ben Beshore, who had been Kyle Busch’s team engineer and Xfinity Series crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing.
The Busch Clash win by Kyle Busch came in his first Cup race with Beshore as his crew chief.
“Not too bad,” Kyle Busch said after the race. “I’ve been through a couple crew chiefs, and it always seems to go well for a little while and then it kind of fizzles out. It is what it is in the sport of racing, but we had a great car here tonight. We worked a lot of time over the wintertime focusing on what we could do for this race to know we needed to get better for race number two in two weeks.”
Though Beshore worked with Kyle Busch’s team last year, their crew is mostly new. Busch’s crew from last season followed Stevens to Christopher Bell’s No. 20 team at Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch and Beshore are working with most of the crew that worked on Erik Jones’ No. 20 car last season.
Busch said the Busch Clash win was the perfect way to start the season with a new crew.
“It’s nice to have good runs. Obviously, winning cures all,” he said. “I’m not sure that we’re mature enough or we’re ready enough in order to win as a group, but I feel like this is a good start anyways. Obviously, winning never hurts anything, but there is some stuff for us to get a little bit better on, for us to grow on. This is a good start. Doing the work that we did to prepare for this event and getting us in the right spot to be able to win tonight was what its all about. Good all around.”
Also Read: Busch Clash turns into "dirt-track" race
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Kyle Busch ran well throughout the 35-lap event on the Daytona Road Course and was in position to pounce when Elliott and Blaney wrecked. He sped into the lead as Blaney slammed into the wall and Elliott slowed with him.
“I didn’t know how it was going to play out or what was going to happen there, but I saw those guys go in there two-wide and I was like, ‘I don’t know if they’re going to come out two-wide.’ Certainly, it was a tough battle between those two. They were really good. … Those two coulda, shoulda, woulda been the two to race it out for the win, and maybe the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.). Just interesting how that plays out sometimes and what dynamic will push you into victory lane.”
NASCAR used to run the season-opening Busch Clash on the famous 2.5-mile oval at Daytona, giving drivers in the event another test session for the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s biggest race.
While this year’s Busch Clash has no bearing on Sunday’s Daytona 500, it could help drivers prepare for the second NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, which will also be run on the Daytona Road Course.
Kyle Busch believes his win could benefit his team in two weeks.
“Yeah, that was definitely the focus on this race,” he said. “It’s like a test session, it’s like our practice. Definitely I feel like we have a strong car and I think we have a strong program and balance right here. There’s still some things that could be a little bit better.”
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