CUP: RFK Racing’s dominance of Duel Race 1 begins to falter after Chris Buescher’s wreck; Mears goes full-throttle into 500 field
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
SCREENSHOT: FS1
Chris Buescher finished last in Thursday’s America 250 Florida Duel Race 1 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #17 Body Guard Ford was eliminated in a multi-car accident after 55 of 63 laps.
Last year marked the first time in the NextGen era that Buescher went winless in RFK Racing’s #17 entry, and his second-straight season ranking highest of all non-Playoff drivers at season’s end. His best run came at Michigan, where he led 13 laps and finished runner-up to Denny Hamlin. The season also saw Buescher start to run an orange-and-black paint scheme for longtime sponsor Fastenal’s line of BodyGuard products, which would also back him for Daytona. In honor of the late Greg Biffle and the other victims of the December 18, 2025 plane crash, Buescher would join his teammates in carrying Biffle-style numbers on his Ford.
Opening practice at Daytona saw Buescher join 43 of the 45 entrants on track, of which he ranked 18th with a lap of 48.954 seconds (183.846mph). This placed him 5th on the grid for Duel Race 1. He then drew 34th in qualifying, and with that late draw turned the 8th-fastest lap in Round 1 with a speed of 49.168 seconds (183.046mph). Buescher defended his 8th spot in Round 2, this time with a lap of 49.184 seconds (182.986mph). This secured him 5th on the grid for Duel Race 1.
Securing the 23rd and final starting spot was Noah Gragson, who accidentally violated a recent NASCAR rule change that banned drivers from holding their hands out the window for an aerodynamic advantage in qualifying. No drivers incurred tail-end penalties, so Gragson – already a last-place finisher of a Duel race in both Race 1 in 2022 and Race 2 in 2024 – would roll off at the tail end of the inside line in the final position.
When the race started, Gragson slotted behind teammate Chandler Smith, holding 21st in the #36 Quick Tie / Matheus Lumber Ford. To his right, the outside line seemed to stack up and a puff of smoke came from beneath 22nd-place starter Casey Mears in the #66 SI Yachts / Gracie Foundation Ford. Down the backstretch, Gragson pulled to the outside line behind Mears as the pair got a big run into Turn 3, dropping to last place Shane Van Gisbergen in the #97 SuperFile Chevrolet. At the line to start Lap 2, Van Gisbergen was 1.476 seconds back of the lead, one-tenth of a second behind new 22nd-place runner Daniel Suarez in the #7 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet. Van Gisbergen remained in Suarez’ tire tracks until Lap 8, when Van Gisbergen dropped Suarez to last. By then, Suarez apparently had some radio issues as the team struggled to hear him.
On Lap 11, Suarez caught new 22nd-place runner Jimmie Johnson and pulled alongside his #84 Carvana Toyota. Suarez dropped Johnson to last the next time by, at which point the team remarked, “It’s hard to tell because nobody’s running hard.” By Lap 14, Cody Ware dropped to 22nd in the #51 Jacob Construction Chevrolet, and Johnson inched ahead of Ware on Lap 15. Ware made it back by Johnson on Lap 21, opening up a two-tenth advantage, and Johnson responded by pulling alongside on Lap 32 to move back into 22nd. The pair continued to trade the spot as the field remained locked in one big pack: Johnson took the spot on Lap 37, Ware on Lap 38, Johnson again on Lap 39, then back to Ware on Lap 44.
On Lap 45, Johnson briefly retook the position as the first group of cars pulled onto pit road – only for the first incident of the night to take place. A few cars ahead, Mears locked-up the rear tires and lost control, causing him to collide with Gragson. Both were sending both spinning into the infield grass. When the caution eventually fell, Gragson had to back up to get back onto pit road while Mears needed an assist to activate the car’s emergency lift kit. Already in last place, Mears lost a lap as he made it to pit road, where the crew attended to minor splitter damage and a locked-up right-front wheel with a flat tire. Mears returned to the track under caution and took the Lap 50 restart as the only driver off the lead lap. At the time, Ware and the other 21 lead lap cars were separated by just 1.528 seconds.
Mears was still in last place on Lap 56, when trouble broke out among the leaders. Bubba Wallace took the lead off Turn 2, but his #23 XFINITY Toyota was quickly caught by Austin Dillon’s #3 Bass Pro Shops / Winchester Chevrolet, which was receiving a push from Buescher. Up to that point, Buescher and his RFK Racing teammates had dominated the event, at one point sweeping the top four positions. Three of the four led at least one lap, excluding only the #99 Trimble Ford of Corey LaJoie, who for much of that same race was running in the final transfer spot. But as Buescher and Dillon caught Wallace for the lead, contact turned Wallace sideways into the side of William Byron’s #24 Raptor Chevrolet, triggering a five-car accident that also damaged Chandler Smith’s #36. Swept up in the wreck, Buescher was now stranded in the infield grass, his right-front fender damaged. Taking last on Lap 58, Buescher soon dropped the window net and climbed out, done for the night. Buescher was ranked behind Byron, who broke at least one toe link as he drove diagonally onto pit road. Both dropped behind Mears, who earned his lap back under the yellow, and each were sent to backup cars along with Suarez and the #1 Busch Light Chevrolet of Ross Chastain, also involved in the last-lap wreck. Buescher will start 41st and last on Sunday.
On the ensuing overtime restart, Mears was running by himself a couple car lengths behind the lead pack. Entering Turn 3, a similar wreck exploded among the leaders, collecting LaJoie among others. Committed to the wide-open high lane, Mears jammed the gas pedal, barely avoiding a wrecking LaJoie before rear-ending Suarez. The last-lap caution froze Mears in the 8th spot – well ahead of the wrecked LaJoie in 19th and the damaged Smith in 16th – securing Mears the 17th spot on the grid for Sunday’s Daytona 500. That race will mark Mears’ first 500 start since 2019 and the first for team owner Carl Long’s Garage 66 program since 2020. For LaJoie, who was bumped out of a transfer spot for a second-straight race, he’d also missed locking himself in on speed by just four-thousandths of a second to Justin Allgaier’s #40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #17 in a Duel race at Daytona.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
23) #17-Chris Buescher / 55 laps / crash / led 1 lap
22) #24-William Byron / 55 laps / crash
21) #1-Ross Chastain / 62 laps / crash
20) #16-A.J. Allmendinger / 62 laps / crash
19) #99-Corey LaJoie / 62 laps / crash
