Sometimes it just pays to be in the right place at the right time. Coming out of turn four on the final lap of the Drive4COPD 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, the right place was 11th position as the leaders wrecked up front fighting for the win as they headed toward the checkered flag. The 11th spot was where Camping World Truck Series regular and part-time Nationwide Series driver James Buescher found himselves as the cars of the leaders started piling up. From that 11th position, Buescher drove by to take his first series win.
"I hope there's many more to come," Buescher said of his win in victory lane. "This is awesome."
The race saw a record number of lead changes with just under 40, but Buesher wasn't a mainstay up front through most of the race. He was just in the right place at the right time.
"Nobody wanted to work with me at the end there," Buescher said. "We got a draft off of anybody we could."
The racing at Daytona on Saturday was somewhat of a hybrid of two-car tandem racing that came into vogue last season and pack racing of old, with drivers including Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch among the drivers who spent a significant amount of time up front.
Early cautions in the race looked to be the result to tandem bump drafting, with the rear car making too much contact or contact in the wrong spot, sending the front car into the wall. It was those types of incidents that drivers including Danica Patrick, who started on the pole, and Brian Scott fell victim to.
The final three cautions of the race, though -- one with 15 laps remaining, one with seven to go and one on the final lap to end the race -- were products of pack racing and involved several cars. Casey Roderick, Hamlin, Robert Richardson Jr., Justin Allgaier, Kenny Wallace, Mike Wallace and Reed Sorenson all saw their chances at the win go up in smoke 15 laps from the checkered flag.
"I quickly reminded myself why I don't normally run these races," Hamlin, a Sprint Cup Series regular said, after climbing out of his wrecked race car. "I was just one of those guys who happened to be in the middle of the pack at the wrong time."
As aforementioned, even more attrition came in the final laps. Drivers caught up in the final two cautions of the race included Michael Annett, Same Hornish Jr., David Ragan, Earnhardt Jr., Scott Speed, Eric McClure, Joe Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Busch, Stewart, Trevor Bayne and Kyle Busch.
One of the frontrunners who managed to miss the wreck up front on the final lap was Elliott Sadler, who was trying to push Richard Childress Racing teammate Tony Stewart to the win.
"We had that race won," Sadler said.
Sadler made his way through unscathed to unofficially finish second.
Brad Keselowski, who was running near Buescher prior to the wreck, like Buescher, made his way by the carnage to finish third.
"I think we were running eight or 10th when that happened there," Keselowski said.
Austin Dillon was fourth and Taylor Malsam rounded out the top-five.
NOTE: Finishing results behind Buescher are unoffocial at time of publishing and are subject to change.
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