DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The last time Jack Roush’s team had won a NASCAR race of any type was July 1, 2017, when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the #17 Ford Fusion to victory lane.
Thursday night, Jack Roush’s team returned to the winner’s circle under a new name.
On the first official race weekend for RFK Racing, their two cars swept the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Brad Keselowski (the team’s new co-owner) and Chris Buescher won Duels 1 and 2, respectively.
The first duel ran caution-free with the Hendrick trio of Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Chase Elliott leading the early portion until pit stops, when different manufacturers grouped together to pit on the same lap.
Eventually, the Ford Mustangs of Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric wound up at the front, with Keselowski prevailing after a late pass on Blaney with four laps to go.
Keselowski was all smiles on the special night for his new team.
“It sure is (a great start),” said Keselowski, who will now start third in the Daytona 500. “I felt pretty good about our car in practice on Tuesday.
“I’ve got to give credit to the other Fords. We worked really well together, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe. We had great strategy… Austin Cindric… and we stuck together and drove away and got ourselves in position where we could control the finish of this race, and I’m happy to see all those Fords up front.”
As for the non-charter teams, Kaz Grala overcame a digital dashboard pre-race penalty and a pit road speeding penalty to pass J.J. Yeley on the final lap and advance into the Daytona 500 with Floyd Mayweather’s Money Team Racing.
“It’s a relief, I can tell you that,” Grala said. “I thought we weren’t going to make it for a bit. But got the hiccups out the way, and hopefully will have a smooth Sunday.
“Right down to that last lap, there was no relief,” Grala said. “Definitely took years off my life.”
The second Duel was much more action-packed, with manufacturers again aligning with each other and grouping together during the race. Ultimately, it was a group of Fords that led the way at the end once more.
On the final lap, Chris Buescher made a move to the inside of Joey Logano. Logano’s attempt to block was unsuccessful, and the 2015 Daytona 500 champion nosed into the wall off turn 2, leaving Buescher to take the win.
For Buescher, it’s his first Cup win of any type since August 2016 at Pocono.
“What a way to start Speedweeks out here, to put both RFK Ford Mustangs in Victory Lane, give Fastenal their first win on a Cup car,” Buescher said. “It’s not the big show, but we’ve got a really good hot rod here.”
While Logano was frustrated with crashing on the last lap, he said he had no one to blame but himself.
“Driver screwed up,” Logano said. “That’s really all there is to it. “I thought I was still clear, and the run (from Buescher) came a lot quicker than I thought it would.
“I tried to block it a little bit and just got a tag in the left rear, and off it went. It’s my fault. It stinks, because it tore up our car and kind of puts us in a spot as a race team. It’s just a dumb mistake.
Greg Biffle was the highest finisher of the non-chartered teams in the 2nd Duel, meaning the 15-year Cup veteran will make his first start since the 2016 season finale.
“It feels really good,” said Biffle, who returned to the Cup Series to drive for the NY Racing Team headed by John Cohen. “I’ll tell you, I have not slept much in the last couple days just trying to keep a cool composure.”
The 64th Daytona 500 is set to see the green flag around 2:45 p.m. local time.