Race Weekend Central

RFK Sweeps As Chris Buescher Wins Second Duel, Greg Biffle Makes Daytona 500

It appeared to be a caution-free night racing in the Bluegreen Vacation Duels on Thursday (Feb. 17) night, until the leaders hit the backstretch on the final lap of the second one.

Chris Buescher drove toward the yellow line in an attempt to pass leader Joey Logano. The contact between the two sent Logano into the wall, and Buescher won the second Duel at Daytona International Speedway once the caution flew.

Buescher joined teammate Brad Keselowski as the RFK Racing duo swept the Duels and will make up the starting second row for the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

See also
Brad Keselowski Wins Duel 1, Kaz Grala Snags Daytona 500 Spot

“I just made a mistake,” Logano told FOX Sports 1 after being released from the infield care center. “I didn’t think the run would come that quick. Even watching the replay, it happened faster than I thought it would. I knew the run would happen at some point on the last lap. I thought that was pretty early. I didn’t think it would happen there. The speed at which it happened was quicker than I thought. I thought I was still clear and I wasn’t. So, I apologize to my race team. I wrecked their car and tore up the No. 21 as well. Dumb move; we were in a position to at worst finish fourth and just blew it.”

As a result of the damage to Logano’s No. 22 Ford, his Team Penske crew pulled out his backup car for the race. Logano will drop to the rear of the field before the green flag.

Defending Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell finished second. Rookie Harrison Burton came home third, though he suffered damage to his No. 21 Ford as Logano made contact with him as he careened toward the wall.

See also
Daytona International Speedway: Feb. 15 - 20

“I feel like our team worked really well together tonight,” Burton said post-race. “We were in position late and that’s all you can ask for. We had a really fast Ford. Gosh, hate that we got damaged, hate that Joey crashed. It was good to work on a repertoire with him and figure out what he does in the draft, what I do in the draft, and we’ve built something there. There’s something for me to get better at and I learned a lot and that’s all you can ask for.”

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Although Greg Biffle endured a lengthy green-flag pit stop and was unable to finish on the lead lap, he advanced to the Daytona 500 by finishing 13th.

“It was a tough go. I got to thank Chevy, RCR and Hendrick engines and [crew chief] Jay Guy,” Biffle told FOX Sports 1 post-race. “The car drove so good and this was a last-minute deal. These team guys were thrown together. We had trouble getting fuel in the car. I ran out of gas with two laps to go. Everything happened tonight but we finished 14th. I’m glad the fuel stop wasn’t because I might’ve been in that wreck.”

Biffle will start 38th in his 15th Daytona 500. He has never won the famed race.

MBM Motorsports suffered a rough night in its attempt to have both its drivers qualify for the season opener. JJ Yeley barely failed to advance in the first Duel, and teammate Timmy Hill finished multiple laps down, joining Yeley as the two DNQs for the race.

Duel 2 Results

The starting lineup for the Daytona 500 is now set. These 40 drivers will take the green flag for the race on Sunday, Feb. 20, at 2:30 p.m. ET, with TV coverage provided by FOX.

About the author

Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.

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Echo

Last year joey cost Brad a 500 win. Joey is well known as an aggressive blocker, maybe he will learn this time. I remember when Carl Edwards was taught that lesson from Brad.

DoninAjax

It’s going to be an interesting lap 200 on Sunday and a lot of GWCs. I don’t think the cars will spread out like that on Sunday considering all the cautions should keep the cars two wide a lot longer.

Echo

I agree. A whole bunch of green drivers driving a green car will make it very interesting.

Bill B

I just hope they don’t get strung out an can stay 2×2 for the majority of the race. As long as it isn’t a parade it should be interesting. Based on the 20 car fields last night they got strung out too many times. Lots of smaller packs of 4 to 8 cars. They also seemed more draft sensitive the way guys kept losing the lead pack for what seemed like no reason. It also seemed that if one of those packs really worked as a team they could gain on another pack and pass them over a 20 lap run. So that could be interesting.

Echo

Looking at the list of drivers, I think at least half the cars get really strung out and lapped. I noticed Denny worked hard to get behind bubba a couple times. He bailed when it got to dicey there. I wonder if Gibbs reminds Denny where his loyalty should be, probably not.

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