Kyle Busch steals Clash win after Elliott dumps Blaney

Kyle Busch steals Clash win after Elliott dumps Blaney
CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 11: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 11, 2020 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott were locked into a two-car race on the Daytona Road Course during Tuesday night’s Busch Clash.

Blaney, on new tires, got by Elliott on the second-to-last lap of the race, but the No. 9 car we’ve seen cruise on road courses in recent memory kept up with Blaney.

The pair entered the final bus-stop turn, with Elliott going to Blaney’s inside. The cars hit, and around went Blaney, holding up Elliott from taking off and getting to the finish line as fast.

Instead, Kyle Busch – who was running third – swept in and took the win away from the pair of young guns.

“We came with an extra set of tires,” Blaney said on the FS1 broadcast. “I had to use up a lot to get to him. We were just racing hard. What are you gonna do?”

Elliott wasn’t happy about it after the race.

He didn’t mean to dump Blaney off like that, but both drivers were frustrated that neither of them won.

“Well, neither one of us won, that’s the big part of it,” Elliott said on the broadcast. “I’d be mad at myself for not at least trying. Obviously, I don’t mean to wreck anybody much, especially him. I feel like you have to go for it at an event like this.”

Instead, Busch – a driver who ran 33 regular season races last season before getting his first win – starts off his season with a W.

That gets even more impactful when factoring in that Busch will bring in a new crew chief this season in Ben Beshore. The two are off to a momentous beginning.

Martin Truex Jr. is a driver that we’re used to seeing perform well on road courses, however, he brought out the race’s final caution of the night after he got loose on some dirt that had troubled drivers all night in the backstretch chicane.

Daytona Speedweek continues on Wednesday evening, as Daytona 500 qualifying goes live on Fox Sports 1, once again at 6:00 p.m. CT.

2021 Busch Clash Results 
1. Kyle Busch
2. Chase Elliott
3. Joey Logano
4. Tyler Reddick
5. William Byron
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Alex Bowman
8. Erik Jones
9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
10. Matt DiBenedetto
11. Austin Dillon
12. Aric Almirola
13. Ryan Blaney
14. Ryan Newman
15. Kevin Harvick
16. Chris Buescher
17. Brad Keselowski
18. Ty Dillon
19. Kurt Busch
20. Cole Custer
21. Martin Truex Jr.