CUP: Chris Buescher unable to gain any positions despite quick return from Stage 1 ending accident
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
SCREENSHOT: NASCAR on USA
Chris Buescher picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #17 Fifth Third Bank Ford finished under power, completing 151 of 166 laps.
The finish, which came in Buescher’s 391st series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series points-paying race since March 3, 2024 at Las Vegas, 95 races ago (LINK). In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 34th for the #17, the 49th while running, and the 772nd for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 53rd for the #17, the 66th still running, and the 1,100th for Ford.
Buescher’s sixth and most recent series victory may have been his most impressive – a last lap, toe-to-toe battle with Shane Van Gisbergen at Watkins Glen, where Buescher wrestled the victory away heading into Turn 5. He endured a winless season last year, and for a second-straight season ended up the highest-ranked driver outside the Playoffs in 17th position. While still winless in 2026, this year has seen a marked improvement with just one DNF all year – a crash in the closing stages at Nashville. He’s held a spot in the Top Ten in points for nearly the entire year, though both a 21st-place showing in Richmond and 18th last Sunday in Loudon dropped him from 9th to 10th in the standings. He still clinched his spot in the Chase, arriving in Daytona 121 points over the cutline.
Buescher’s search for victory continued into Saturday’s race, site of his 1-2 victory over RFK Racing teammate and team co-owner Brad Keselowski in 2023. That race marked his only win with sponsor Fifth Third Bank, and he’d run an identical paint scheme in this race. He was also one of 41 drivers entered for 40 spots. With no practice scheduled, his Ford was the 29th to take time in qualifying, where he advanced to Round 2 with the 5th-fastest lap of 49.002 seconds (183.666mph). In that session, he jumped to the outside pole with a time of 48.859 seconds (184.204mph), just 0.051 second off polesitter Ross Chastain. Sent home was Gray Gaulding, whose #66 Randy Blain Construction Ford for Carl Long’s Garage 66 effort missed the cut by just 0.13 second.
Securing the 40th and final starting spot was Joey Gase, who was making just his second Cup start of the season and first since Talladega. Just as in that race, Gase drove for John Cohen’s NY Racing Team with primary sponsorship from the National Fire Prevention Association, this time with a new paint scheme for associate backer LED Pros. Two others joined Gase in the back of the field. The first was veteran Casey Mears for unapproved adjustments on Beard Motorsports’ #62 The Gracie Foundation Chevrolet. The other was for the #35 Tree Top Toyota, which Riley Herbst qualified an impressive 5th on Friday. Still feeling the effects of a serious crash in Turn 3 last Sunday in Loudon, Herbst stepped out of the car on Saturday, bringing on 2024 race winner Harrison Burton.
When the green flag dropped, Mears started on the outside of the final row behind the #44 of Gase, who was on the outside of Burton in the #35. Intervals showed Gase across the stripe in 37th, 3.782 seconds back of the lead, ahead of 38th-place Daniel Dye, Friday’s last-place finisher, this time in Live Fast Motorsports’ #78 Champion Container Chevrolet (3.820), then 39th-place Burton (3.990) and last-place Mears (4.106).
On the break, Mears stayed in line with Gase, then saw Dye get a run to his inside entering Turn 4 with Burton now behind Dye’s #78. Mears fought back in the high lane, keeping Burton in last at the end of Lap 1. By Lap 3, Dye held the spot, 2.335 seconds back of the lead and a tenth back of 39th-place Mears, who now had Cole Custer’s #41 Standard Nuclear Chevrolet in front of him. Custer and Mears then dropped to the final two spots on Lap 4, moving Dye up to 38th, before Custer took last on Lap 5, though battling side-by-side with Mears to his outside. Ahead of Custer on the inside line was A.J. Allmendinger in the #16 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet. The pair got a good draft on Lap 7, dropping Mears back to last, now following Dye in the high lane.
Over the next few laps, drivers tried to make moves to the inside, only to quickly lose ground. Custer caught Allmendinger on Lap 8, but his line stalled, dropping him back to last as Mears rushed by in the high lane. Custer then linked up with Mears and on Lap 9 tried to work past Allmendinger, but Custer remained in last for the next two laps. On Lap 12, Dye tried a move to the inside, but Custer rushed past him in the high lane headed into Turn 3. This dropped Dye to last once more, now 3.548 seconds back of the lead and two-tenths back of Custer. Dye then dropped Allmendinger to the back on Lap 13, 3.828 seconds back of the lead, before Allmendinger dropped Custer to last again on Lap 16.
Unlike other recent superspeedway races, the tail end of the field didn’t quickly come apart, leaving cars running by themselves or in small drafts of two or three cars. As late as Lap 19, last-place Custer was still just 4.609 seconds back of the lead. That soon changed after Dye pulled out of line to try and pass both Mears and Gase off Turns 3 and 4. The pair quickly made it back by, bringing with them the duo of Allmendinger and Custer on the run into Turn 1. Dye quickly got back in line, but was already trailing the pack by about a half-second. “We might’ve jus screwed ourselves there,” said the team. “Learned my lesson there,” said Dye. By Lap 21, Dye was 5.782 seconds back of the lead to 39th-place Custer’s 4.368. As Dye reported his car felt loose running by itself, Custer also started to lose touch with 38th-place Allmendinger on Lap 23. That time by, Allmendinger was 3.143 seconds back of the lead to Custer’s 4.243 and Dye’s 12.906. Allmendinger then started to lose touch with Mears, falling six-tenths behind the #62 on Lap 26 with Dye now 18.430 behind.
With the end of Stage 1 fast approaching, Dye hoped to stay on the lead lap, but his crew said “It’s gonna be close.” On Lap 30, he was 30.121 seconds behind, then 33.395 on Lap 31. By then, Allmendinger had latched back onto 37th-place Mears, but 39th-place Custer was now 17.022 seconds behind in 39th and also running by himself. On Lap 34, Dye was clocked at 43.079 seconds back of the lead, nearly a full lap down, then lost his first lap on Lap 35, pulling to the inside entering Turn 1. At the time, 39th-place Custer was now 28.589 behind with just one lap left in Stage 1, meaning Dye could still earn the “Lucky Dog.” The leaders didn’t catch Custer by the time the green-and-white-checkered flag fell, but they also triggered a multi-car crash.
Throughout the opening stage, Buescher had one of the best cars. After starting outside-pole, he took the lead on Lap 5 and held it for five laps, then retook it at the white flag, set to earn ten bonus points as the Stage 1 winner. But entering the tri-oval within sight of the flagstand, 4th-place Shane Van Gisbergen’s #97 Red Bull Chevrolet bumped 2nd-place Kyle Larson’s #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet into the back of Buescher. Since Larson and Buescher weren’t lined up, Larson’s car steered Buescher’s right-front into the outside wall, sending both spinning along with teammate Ryan Preece, running 3rd in the low lane in the #60 Kroger / Oikos Ford. Buescher’s rear tires briefly left the ground as the roof flaps deployed, then spun to a stop. All three drivers involved continued with Preece still earning 8th-place stage points, but Larson and Buescher left empty-handed.
Buescher made his first pit stop on Lap 39 for tires and examining the body damage. There, the crew found they could barely remove the right-front wheel because the suspension was so badly bent from its contact with the wall. On Lap 41, when Dye got his lap back, he remained in the 40th spot with Buescher now 39th, followed by Preece in 38th and Larson in 37th after both pitted their cars. Work on the damaged left-front of Preece’s car dropped him to last on Lap 41 until he returned to the track ahead of Larson, who took the spot before he left a few seconds later. Larson made a second stop on Lap 42 for work on the right-front corner with Buescher now up to 35th. But Buescher, too, pitted again, this time for the crew to look under the hood on Lap 43. Buescher briefly shut off the engine before he returned to the track on Lap 44, just as the field restarted. As the leaders streamed into Turns 1 and 2, Buescher was ow the only driver off the lead lap, two laps down.
By the start of the following Lap 45, Buescher was already slowing again and returning to pit road. He then made the hard left turn behind the wall at the opening behind Larson’s pit stall, Number 41, the closest to pit entrance on the Turn 4 side. He then made a hard left and drove into the “Damaged Vehicle Policy” Zone, which was Garage Stall No. 52 on the Turn 4 side. The crew set to work on repairs and on Lap 49 jacked up the right side while also looking under the hood. They completed repairs on Lap 55, at which point Buescher fired the engine and returned to the pits through the same entrance, now 13 laps down. Once again, all 40 starters were running.
Now firmly in survival mode, Buescher hoped that further attrition would allow him to climb the leaderboard in the race’s second half. But as the green flag stayed out in Stage 2, he continued to lose laps. On Lap 68, he pulled below the yellow line entering Turn 1 and slowed, letting the closing leaders put him a 14th lap down. On Lap 81, his crew advised him that he’d likely be lapped a 15th time before the end of Stage 2, which happened the next time by as he entered Turn 3. Again, Buescher slowed and pulled below the line, but this time had a harder time getting back on the banking in Turn 4. By the last lap of Stage 2, the 39th-place running Gase had now lost touch with the field and was lapped by the leaders halfway down the backstretch. This should have given Gase the Lucky Dog when the caution came out the next time by. Instead, Gase remained a lap down and Buescher was given one of his back, putting him 15 laps down once again. The two remained in this running order when the final stage began on Lap 102.
Now caught up with the tail end of the pack, Buescher was able to keep pace with the cars around him and at times made moves in the low lane to try and pass them. On Lap 104, he got under both Gase and Dye, who then cleared him again off Turn 4. He attempted the same on Christopher Bell, whose #20 Rheem Toyota was running 37th on Lap 106. On Lap 108, Buescher remained in the high lane and was within sight of 37th-place Ty Gibbs in the #54 Monster Energy Toyota an 38th-place Bubba Wallace in the #23 Columbia PFG Toyota. On Lap 113, Buescher trailed the #47 Onin Staffing Chevrolet of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Lap 115 saw Denny Hamlin’s #11 Progressive Toyota drop to 38th, just in front of Buescher, before he worked the inside line to drop Josh Berry into Buescher’s path in the #21 eero Ford. Buescher still trailed Berry on Lap 129, lost ground on Lap 130, then closed back on him the next time by. By Lap 139, Buescher was discussing with his crew whether his accident still would have happened if they were running the Gen-Six car.
Attrition remained surprisingly minimal through much of the final stage, and the race soon reached a point where even if a crash happened, Buescher wouldn’t be able to gain any ground. On Lap 141, he was still 15 laps down and following Dye. On Lap 146, he was drafting teammate Brad Keselowski in the #6 Consumer Cellular Ford. With seven laps to go, when Mears was now the car ahead of him, Buescher let the field pull away, leaving him trailing by open track. He was still well back of the field on Lap 155, when Carson Hocevar’s bid at taking the lead from Zane Smith caused Hocevar to lose control of his #77 Miner Docks, Doors and More Chevrolet, sending him skating up the track and into the wall. An instant later, Hocevar was struck by a blocked Erik Jones in the #43 Dollar Tree Toyota, drawing the caution flag.
Both cars were towed to the garage, and a nine-lap caution period pushed the race well past overtime. Had the race finished in its regulated distance, Buescher would have been ten laps behind both Hocevar and Jones. Instead, by the time Ryan Preece completed his successful rebound from the same wreck that damaged Buescher to score his first career win in his 249th start and a Chase berth to go with it, Buescher was just three laps behind the two wrecked cars. Mears and Gase completed the Bottom Five.
Some surprising underdogs escape Daytona’s last-lap carnage – others don’t
In addition to Preece’s landmark victory, Zane Smith had one of the best cars in the field on Saturday, leading twice for 15 laps and staying in and around the Top Five for much of the night. Running a “throwback” scheme to Michael Waltrip’s iconic Aaron’s Dream Machine, Smith’s #38 Ford was leading off Turn 2 on the final lap when contact from Tyler Reddick put him in the outside wall, sending him tumbling to a disappointing 32nd-place finish. Also collected in the melee was Cody Ware, whose #51 Super.com Chevrolet led twice for another eight laps before he was sent into a spin down the backstretch, leaving him 35th.
Barely escaping the melee was Josh Berry, who matched Morgan Shepherd’s streak of five consecutive top-ten finishes for the Wood Brothers last set in the summer of 1994. Berry suffered right-front damage from Smith’s spin, but managed to hang on to 9th when the caution fell as the leaders entered Turn 3. Two spots behind him in 10th came Cole Custer, who for a third in the last four Daytona points races was among the Top Ten on the final lap. And two spots behind him in 12th came substitute Harrison Burton, who finished 12th in his first Cup start in nearly two full years.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Buescher is the first Cup Series last-place finisher to lead at least one lap in the same race since May 3, 2026, when Christopher Bell led 22 laps at Texas.
*This marked the third-straight last-place finish where Buescher has led at least two laps in the same race.
*Both Buescher and the #17 most recently finished last in a Cup race at Daytona on August 28, 2021, where he was disqualified due to an illegal track bar mount.
*This was the first time a Cup driver finished last while still under power in a points-paying race at Daytona since July 7, 2007, when Denny Hamlin’s #11 FedEx Kinko’s Chevrolet completed 99 laps and led 10 in the Pepsi 400.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #17-Chris Buescher / 151 laps / running
39) #43-Erik Jones / 154 laps / crash
38) #77-Carson Hocevar / 154 laps / crash
37) #62-Casey Mears / 165 laps / running
36) #44-Joey Gase / 165 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Trackhouse Racing (6)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (4)
3rd) Hendrick Motorsports (3)
4th) 23XI Racing, Kaulig Racing, Live Fast Motorsports, RFK Racing (2)
5th) Garage 66, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (15)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (5)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
