Buescher win puts Wallace in playoffs; Elliott out
Chris Buescher won the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night, eliminating fan favorite Chase Elliott from playoff contention and sending Bubba Wallace into the postseason.
Buescher and teammate Brad Keselowski finished 1-2 for RFK Racing. It was Buescher’s third victory in the past five races, making him a title contender no one could have expected two months ago.
“We certainly got momentum on our side right now,” Buescher said.
Because Buescher had previously won this season, Wallace took the 16th and final playoff spot on points.
“That was the most stress, but also the most locked in I’ve ever been,” Wallace said. “Proud to be locked into the playoffs. We’ve gone through a lot of trials and tribulations. So proud of the effort we put in.”
Drivers had to regroup in the waning laps after Ryan Preece flipped about a dozen times and came to a halt in his mangled No. 41 Ford. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was able to get out with help before emergency personnel put him on a gurney and into an ambulance for a quick trip to the infield care center. He was later transported to a hospital for further evaluation.
Preece made contact with SHR teammate Chase Briscoe, and his car started flipping when he slid across the infield grass.
A look at what happened to the No. 41 car on the backstretch.@RyanPreece_ has exited the vehicle. pic.twitter.com/NkmPJEtOKm
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 27, 2023
Preece addressed the crash on social media Saturday night, writing, “If you want to be a race car driver, you better be tough.”
The crash sent the race into overtime. Buescher was out front for the restart with two laps to go, and Keselowski stayed in line to keep them 1-2 at the checkered flag.
“Second is the first loser,” Keselowski quipped. “But you could have ended up in a ball of flames in (turns) three and four too, and that would have been pretty dumb. … It would have been really difficult to pull a move off without probably wrecking both of us.”
Aric Almirola finished third in another Ford, followed by Elliott and defending series champion Joey Logano.
Seventeen drivers, most notably Elliott and Wallace, started the night with hopes of securing the final playoff spot.
Elliott had been facing an uphill battle for months. He missed six races after breaking his left leg in a snowboarding accident in early March and was suspended for another for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin in May. Those absences left NASCAR’s most popular driver trying to dig out of a hole all summer.
Elliott needed a victory that never came. He knew Daytona was a wild card, but he still managed to get to the front and lead two laps early. He was in the mix late but had little Chevrolet help around him.
“It’s a bummer for sure,” said Elliott, who missed the playoffs for the first time in eight Cup seasons. “I appreciate everybody’s support through this season. Hasn’t been what I would want by any means. Certainly going to be some lessons taken from it, and I think we’ll be better for it on the other end.”
Martin Truex Jr. took the regular-season championship over Denny Hamlin, giving Truex an extra 15 playoff points. Truex and Hamlin were the only drivers vying for the regular-season title at Daytona.
The more notable race was for the final postseason spot. Seven of the 17 drivers vying for the final berth were eliminated in a 12-car melee a little past the midway point.
Ty Gibbs was one of those knocked out of contention. Christopher Bell was pushing Gibbs near the front of the field but got him sideways in Turn 4. Gibbs slammed into race leader Ryan Blaney, turning Blaney’s No. 12 Ford into the outside wall. Blaney hit so hard that at least two tires lifted off the ground.
“I feel like I got pushed in a bad spot,” Gibbs said.
At least nine others were collected in the crash, including Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon and Austin Cindric. NASCAR red-flagged the race for nearly 10 minutes to clean up the carnage.
“It stinks. A lot of cars got tore up. Not fun,” Blaney said.
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Los Angeles Dodgers starter Blake Snell will back off his throwing program as he continues to recover from left shoulder inflammation, according to manager Dave Roberts.
“As he was playing catch, he just didn’t feel great,” Roberts said Wednesday afternoon before the Dodgers played the Chicago Cubs. “Right now, we’re going to slow play the throwing. Will probably get it looked at again when we get back home.”
Snell, 32, has been on the injured list since early April after making just two starts for the Dodgers. He signed a five-year, $182 million contract this past offseason.
Snell, who was set to throw a bullpen session Wednesday, felt discomfort in the shoulder while playing catch Tuesday. Roberts was asked how concerning the latest setback was.
“I wouldn’t say concerning because part of the messaging from us to Blake is, it’s about later on in the season and if there’s any type of discomfort, let’s not try to fight through it,” Roberts responded.
Snell is one of several Dodgers pitchers on the mend, including left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who pitched three innings in a minor league start Tuesday, his second rehab outing this spring.
“Velocity was good,” Roberts said. “Got into the fourth inning. He’ll make a start next week. Really positive stuff.”
The Dodgers also received positive news about right-hander Tyler Glasnow after he left his last start with leg cramps. His latest bullpen session went well, according to Roberts.
Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani is throwing again after missing time on the paternity list. He’ll have another bullpen session Saturday as he recovers from elbow surgery, though the team still doesn’t have a timetable for his return to major league action.
The team was also without catcher Will Smith on Wednesday after he injured his wrist on a play at the plate in Tuesday’s loss to the Cubs.
“As he made the tag, his [left] wrist turned in and so there’s some residual soreness,” Roberts said.
Smith could get imaging done when the team returns to Los Angeles, but Roberts wasn’t overly concerned about the injury.
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Most players are happy to be done facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong might not be one of them.
The Los Angeles native has torched his childhood team this season, including Wednesday night at Wrigley Field when he went 3-for-4 with a home run, two stolen bases and a career-high four RBIs, helping the Cubs to a 7-6 win. It came one night after Chicago beat L.A. 11-10, with Crow-Armstrong contributing another home run.
He was asked Wednesday whether his production has special meaning coming against the team he used to root for.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I mean, they are regarded as the best, and I think we’ve enjoyed being able to show that we’re right there with them, and yeah, it’s always a little extra special for me getting to do it against the team I grew up going to see.”
Crow-Armstrong erased a 2-0 Cubs deficit with an opposite-field, three-run homer in the fourth inning, then added a run-scoring single an inning later, which turned out to be the final run of the night for the Cubs.
Overall, he had four home runs and nine RBIs in the seven-game season series against the Dodgers, which the Cubs won 4-3 after losing the first two games in Japan in mid-March. But that was before the Cubs’ offense took off. They’re averaging an MLB-high 6.3 runs per game.
Crow-Armstrong’s season took off as well, starting over a week ago when the teams met in Los Angeles. In the 10 games since, the 23-year-old is hitting .400 with five home runs.
“He needs to send me a bottle of wine or some golf balls with all the success he’s had,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts quipped before Wednesday’s game.
Roberts and Crow-Armstrong exchanged pleasantries before the first game of the series, as the second-year player is friends with Roberts’ son, Cole. The two played against each other growing up.
“I got a couple different connections to Doc,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He’s so great.”
That’s the same word Crow-Armstrong’s teammates are using about him as he continues to impress both at the plate and in the field. According to ESPN Research, he’s the fastest player in Cubs history to reach five home runs and 10 stolen bases, doing it in 26 games.
Plus, his pitchers love seeing him patrol center field.
“Defensively, I got to say he’s probably the best,” Wednesday’s starter, Matthew Boyd, said. “And what he’s doing at the plate is no surprise.”
Crow-Armstrong showed signs of breaking out late last year but then struggled early this season before locking in during the Cubs’ most recent road trip. He said he got “on-time” with his swing while learning how to deal with failure better. He was asked how satisfied he is with his game right now.
“If it comes out in a win, it’s very satisfactory,” he said. “It makes me feel very content. I love being able to impact it in any way I can.”
So does his manager, who called Wednesday a “wonderful game” for Crow-Armstrong.
“He made his presence felt in a big way for sure,” Craig Counsell said.
Crow-Armstrong is quickly becoming a fan favorite, as the Cubs faithful are taking to his aggressive style of play. He was asked what it’s like to hear his name chanted when he comes to the plate after producing in previous at-bats.
“I’ve tried to tune that out,” he said with a laugh. “I was actually thinking about it yesterday and I was like, I got to be 0-for-20 when they’ve chanted my name. But they continue to chant and they get behind every one of us and it’s the coolest thing.”
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