Kyle Busch wins Busch Clash after Chase Elliott wrecks Ryan Blaney on final lap 

The Busch Clash at Daytona came down to Chase Elliott and good friend Ryan Blaney, and Elliott made a rare mistake to give away the race.

Elliott rarely makes a mistake on a NASCAR road course, but he made a big one in the Busch Clash Tuesday night, wrecking Blaney on the final lap and allowing Kyle Busch to steal the win in the season-opening NASCAR race.

Elliott was battling Blaney for the lead in the Busch Clash when he slammed into him on the final lap, sending Blaney's car spinning and slamming into the wall of the Daytona oval.

As Blaney wrecked, Busch, who was running third, sped past the slowing Elliott to take the checkered flag for his second career win in the Busch Clash.

“I knew to keep my head down and keep focused ahead and see if I could keep hitting my marks to get close enough to have a shot like that if something like that were to materialize," Busch said on the Fox race telecast. "Fortunately, it did for us."

Blaney took the lead with two laps to go in the Busch Clash and was trying to hold off Elliott on the final lap when Elliott dove to his outside and slammed into his right-side door.

“Neither one of us won, that’s the big one," Elliott said. "I was close enough to drive it in there and I feel like I’d be mad at myself for not at least trying. Obviously, I don’t mean to wreck anybody, especially him. Some guys I wouldn’t mind, but he’s not one of them. Hopefully he’s not too mad at me. I feel like you’ve got to go for it here in an event like this in any situation. I can’t be sorry about going for the win, but I certainly didn’t mean to wreck him."

You need to watch this final lap. @DAYTONA | #BuschClash pic.twitter.com/qzSD9agXUR

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 10, 2021

Elliott apologized to Blaney and accepted blame for the wreck. He and Blaney talked on pit road after the Busch Clash but did not have an angry confrontation.

“I hate it happened, too,” Blaney said. “It didn’t work out for either of us. We were just racing hard and I had a little bit fresher tires there. We saved a set and got back to second there and his car was really good. I had to use up a lot to get to him and I kind of tried to protect and I drove into the last corner really deep to try to make sure I didn’t get dive bombed like that, but we just came together there. What are you gonna do?”

Blaney was not happy with Elliott after the Busch Clash but accepted his explanation and apology.

"It's better than not saying anything. Chase and I are good enough friends we are going to talk about it. I'm not happy with him ... but an apology is nice. ... We are not going to see eye to eye on it but we are going to talk about it. It's just one of those things."

Busch Clash: How did Elliott and Blaney wreck?

Elliott drew the seventh starting spot for the Busch Clash but had to drop to the rear of the field because of an unapproved adjustment prior to the race. He steadily worked his way through the field, however, and took the lead of the Busch Clash when the leaders pitted under caution with seven laps to go.

Blaney, meanwhile, started on the pole for the Busch Clash but missed the frontstretch chicane and ran off course early in the race. He worked his way back through the field, however, and charged into second on the last restart. With fresher tires, he blasted past Elliott with two laps to go in the Busch Clash and opened up a lead.

Hear from Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott after the last-lap tangle that cost both of them the win in the Busch Clash. pic.twitter.com/67NC5zhUxq

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) February 10, 2021

Daytona 500: TV schedule, start times, qualifying

Elliott closed onto Blaney's bumper multiple times over the final two laps of the Busch Clash and dove to his outside in the final turn, slamming into the side of Blaney's car.

"I drove in there and, just that corner gets so tight and I didn’t want to just completely jump the curb to the right. But I feel like I tried to get over there as far as I could. And at that point we were coming together at the same time. I hate it. We had a fast Chevrolet in a position to have a shot at it. We’ll try again on Sunday.”

“Just two guys going hard,” Blaney said. “We didn’t really get away from him like I needed to on the last lap there after we passed him. I didn’t get away from him. I kind of slipped up one or two corners and he was able to get into me there and kind of keep me close. I hit the mud hard on the backstretch and kind of let him get even closer and then I was trying to protect against the dive bomb there and I braked deeper in that corner than I had braked all night and he set it off in there and we came together and neither one of us won the race. It definitely sucks for sure, but I appreciate the fast car and it’s a shame it didn’t happen.”

Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott wreck in the Busch Clash.

How did the Busch Clash unfold?

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin led early in the Busch Clash as drivers battled dirt on the windshield of their cars from running through the grass and dirt near the curbing.

Martin Truex Jr. took the lead from Hamlin with eight laps remaining in the Busch Clash, but wrecked while trying to hold off Blaney. Truex missed the chicane on the frontstretch under caution on Lap 16 and had to drop to the rear of the field. He battled back, however, and passed Hamlin, his teammate, for the lead. But Truex wrecked moments later, spinning in the chicane and slamming into tthe wall on the big track.

The Busch Clash had been run on the 2.5-mile Daytona oval since 1979 before moving to the Daytona Road Course this year. Instead of serving as preview of the Daytona 500, the race wound up helping teams prepare for the second NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, which was moved from California Speedway to the Daytona Road Course because of the spike of COVID cases in Southern California.