Busch wins the Bud Shootout
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[/media-credit]Kyle Busch pushed Tony Stewart to the lead in the final laps of Saturday night’s exhibition Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Then Busch ducked to the outside of Stewart as they headed to the finish line. Busch edged Stewart by .013 seconds to win the 2012 Budweiser Shootout.
Busch drove and incredible race with two spectacular saves to stay in contention to win the race. “I don’t know how many times I spun out, but I didn’t spin out, you know?” Busch said in victory lane.
The final save from Busch came after contact from Jeff Gordon. Busch spun on the inside while Gordon went high and into 3-wide traffic. Gordon slid on his side for approximately 1,000 feet before barrel-rolling to a stop on his roof. While upside down, Gordon climbed out the window and said this was the first time in his career he’d been on his roof. Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray are also involved.
The 75-lap race was marred by two big accidents after it appears the big pack racing is back and NASCAR has successfully split up the two-car tandem racing.
The first big one came out on lap 9 in turns 1 and 2. Michael Waltrip, Paul Menard, Mark Martin, David Ragan, Matt Kenseth, Juan Montoya and several others were involved.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Budweiser Shootout, February 18, 2012 – Exhibition
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 2 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 3 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 82 | Running |
| 4 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 82 | Running |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 6 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 82 | Running |
| 7 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 8 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 9 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 82 | Running |
| 10 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 11 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 12 | 22 | A.J. Allmendinger | Dodge | 80 | Running |
| 13 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 79 | Running |
| 14 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 75 | Running |
| 15 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 73 | Running |
| 16 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 73 | In Pit |
| 17 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 73 | Running |
| 18 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 54 | In Pit |
| 19 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 54 | Running |
| 20 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 54 | Running |
| 21 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 54 | Running |
| 22 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 54 | In Pit |
| 23 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 8 | In Pit |
| 24 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | 8 | Running |
| 25 | 140 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | 8 | Running |
Bobby Gerhart wins Eighth ARCA Daytona Race in Last Lap Mayhem
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[/media-credit]For the eighth time in his career, Bobby Gerhart won the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway.
Gerhart came home with the victory after coming from fifth to first off of corner four when both Brandon McReynolds and Chris Windom ran out of fuel.
“Unreal,” Gerhart said. “That last lap was a dream. I always learned to take what was infront of me. I just went high and all it takes is for the leader to mess up.”
Gerhart had to start at the back after failing post-qualifying inspection when he had qualified on the pole.
The race ran clean till seven laps to go when James Hylton spun off the bottom, collecting Sloan Henderson and Rick Clifton. Some drivers pitted while others stayed out.
The race restarted with five to go, before a last caution with three to go. The caution came out after Nelson Canache spun Chris Buescher in the tri-oval. Once again, some drivers pitted while others stayed out.
The green would come out for a green-white-checkered, which immediately drivers began running out of gas, including a whole group coming to the checkereds.
Unofficially, Drew Charlston finished second in his first ARCA start
“That was awesome,” Charlston said. “I feel like I won the race.”
