2017 Advance Auto Parts Clash

2017 Advance Auto Parts Clash

Race details [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Race 1 of 2 exhibition races in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Date	February 19, 2017 (2017-02-19)
Location	Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4 km)
Distance	75 laps, 187.5 mi (300 km)
Average speed	143.831 mph (231.474 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske
Most laps led
Driver	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	48
Winner
No. 22	Joey Logano	Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network	FS1
Announcers	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth Announcers	Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers	Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Kyle Rickey (3 & 4)

The 2017 Advance Auto Parts Clash was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was to be held on February 18, 2017 but was postponed to the following day because of rain. Contested over 75 laps, it was the first exhibition race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Daytona International Speedway, where the race was held.

The track, Daytona International Speedway, is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four–turn superspeedway that is 2.5-mile (4.0 km) The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

Format and eligibility

The race is 75 laps in length, and is divided into two segments; the first is 25 laps and the second is 50 laps. The race is open to those drivers who won a pole in the 2016 season or had won "The Clash" previously.

The 2017 Clash at Daytona will not be a predetermined number of cars; rather, the field is limited to drivers who meet more exclusive criteria. Only drivers who were 2016 Pole Award winners, former Clash race winners, former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full–time in 2016 and drivers who qualified for the 2016 Chase are eligible. Daniel Suarez was also allowed to race, as Joe Gibbs Racing already had a car prepared for Carl Edwards who surprisingly retired less than a month before the race.

Entry list

No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford
3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
19	Daniel Suárez (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford
24	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota
88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
Official entry list

Starting lineup

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
3	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
4	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
5	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota
6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
7	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
8	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford
10	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
11	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
12	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
13	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
14	24	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
15	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
16	19	Daniel Suárez (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
17	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
Official starting lineup

Practice

First practice

Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 46.972 and a speed of 191.604 mph (308.357 km/h). ^[8]

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	46.972	191.604
2	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	47.013	191.436
3	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	47.034	191.351
Official first practice results

Final practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 45.795 and a speed of 196.528 mph (316.281 km/h). ^[9]

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	45.795	196.528
2	19	Daniel Suárez (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	45.853	196.279
3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	45.860	196.249
Official final practice results

Race

Segment 1

Brad Keselowski led the field to the green flag at 11:35 a.m. under mostly sunny skies, after it was postponed from the night before. ^[10] The field wasted little time packing together to form multiple lines of three-wide racing. Chris Buescher found himself out to dry as he lost the draft early on. Denny Hamlin drove to the outside of Keselowski in Turn 1 to challenge for the lead on the eighth lap. Keselowski powered back ahead, but Hamlin worked his way to the lead on lap 10. Martin Truex Jr. brushed the wall exiting Turn 4 on lap 11. The first caution of the race flew on lap 17 for a single-car wreck on the frontstretch. Exiting Turn 4, Jimmie Johnson's car broke loose, turned down and hooked the right-rear of Kurt Busch's car into the outside wall and the tri-oval grass. ^[11] Busch said he was keeping to his "own business in the low groove and we got tagged in the right-rear. It's kind of a shame — all of the hard work and the effort everybody puts into the off-season — Doug Yates and his engines and everybody from Ford and everybody at Stewart-Haas, all of the effort put towards building a car and we didn't even make it to the first pit stop, so it's kind of a bummer.” ^[12] He was credited with finishing last. ^[13] Kyle Busch exited pit road with the race lead. Alex Bowman (speeding) and Keselowski (too many pit boxes) restarted from the tail-end of the field.

The race restarted on lap 23. Coming to the end of the segment, a few cars – including race leader (Kyle) Busch – short-pitted the end of the segment. This handed the lead to Joey Logano as the second caution flew on lap 26 for the end of the first segment. When Logano pitted under the caution, the lead cycled to Hamlin. Busch restarted the race from the tail-end of the field for speeding.

Segment 2

The race restarted on lap 30. Contrary to the two runs in the first segment, this run featured a three-car breakaway in the lead (Hamlin, Daniel Suárez and Matt Kenseth) that became a seven-car breakaway (joined by Logano, Jamie McMurray, Truex and Austin Dillon). The third caution flew on lap 50 for a single-car wreck on the frontstretch. Exiting Turn 4, Johnson broke loose a second time, slid down the track and slammed the inside wall head-on. ^[14] He described both incidents as "bizarre because it drove really good everywhere else, then off of (Turn) 4 the first time I had a handling problem was when it broke free and I got into the No. 41 (Kurt Busch) and then after that, it was really loose. After that caution and the last long stretch before I crashed again, just off of Turn 4, the Sun certainly sits on that edge of the track a little bit harder than anywhere else." ^[15]

The race restarted with 21 laps to go. The first five cars – consisting of Hamlin, Suárez, Kenseth, Busch and Dillon – broke away from the field. Heading down the backstretch with 17 to go, Truex was drafting with Kevin Harvick until Truex cut down across Kyle Larson, got turned and collected the wall in Turn 3, bringing out the fourth caution.

The race restarted with 11 to go. The Gibbs Toyotas controlled the lead, a viable outside line wasn't forming and the field was virtually single-file with five to go. With five to go, however, Keselowski, Logano and Harvick pulled out of line and made their way to the front. Busch split Harvick from the Penske teammates, but found himself split from his teammates as well. Using side-drafting, Keselowski and Logano split Kenseth and Suárez from Hamlin in the closing laps. ^[16] With one lap to go, Hamlin was a sitting duck and the Penske teammates made their final push. Rounding Turn 1, Keselowski dove to the bottom line to pass Hamlin. ^[17] Hamlin made a poorly-timed move down to block, caught himself on Keselowski's nose and got turned sideways. ^[18] Logano drove to the high-side of the spin in Turn 2 and drove on to score the victory. ^[19]

Post-race

Driver comments

Logano said in victory lane that the Toyotas worked so well for most of the race because they're "selfless" and "they do such a good job working together and think of one car winning. We had to think the same way as Ford and with the Stewart-Haas and Penske cars. We were able to get a good enough run to work together enough to break them up and make the passes, and then there at the end, it was kind of a mess. I could see the block was coming way too late and it wasn't going to work. It was pretty plain what was going to happen -- I knew they were going to crash -- so I just headed to the top. Everything was going on, and I was just in the right place at the right time." ^[20]

Keselowski said of his final lap move that he pulled up "beside Denny. Everything happens so fast here, he probably thought he was clear, I don’t know. We made a little contact there and I feel bad for everybody. It is the Clash, it’s not the (Daytona) 500 and I guarantee he knows and everyone else who is watching today (knows) that I’m going to make that move again. I had to make the move. I know all the other drivers are back watching and they know not to make that block on me again.” ^[21]

Asked what he'd do different if given the chance to redo those last laps, Hamlin said there wasn't "much I can do differently at the end. Perhaps staying in the middle lane there through one and two and trying to side draft. He (Keselowski) had help from the 22. I was in a bad spot there. He was just coming so much faster than what I was. There's not much that I could have done to defend. We lined up so well as Toyota teammates throughout the race that once those guys started breaking that up and leap frogging, he (Keselowski) had commitment from the 22 and the 4 and when they were able to back up there that really put us at a speed differential.” ^[22]

Race results

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps
1	9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	75
2	13	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	75
3	8	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	75
4	12	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	75
5	7	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	75
6	1	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	75
7	14	24	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	75
8	16	19	Daniel Suárez (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	75
9	17	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	75
10	3	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	75
11	15	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	75
12	4	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	75
13	2	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	74
14	11	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	61
15	5	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	60
16	6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	48
17	10	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	17
Race results

Media

FS1 covered the race on the television side, Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon handled the call in the booth for the race, Matt Yocum, Jamie Little, Chris Neville and Vince Welch handled pit road for the television side. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a guest analyst in the FS1 booth.

Television

FS1
Booth announcers	Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip Guest Analyst: Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Jamie Little Chris Neville Vince Welch Matt Yocum

Radio

MRN Radio
Booth announcers	Turn announcers	Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace	Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Backstretch: Mike Bagley Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey	Alex Hayden Winston Kelley Steve Post

References

1. "2017 Cup schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 5, 2016. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
2. "Daytona International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
3. "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 13, 2017. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
4. "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 17, 2017. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
5. "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 17, 2017. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
6. "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 17, 2017. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
7. "Advanced Auto Parts Clash at Daytona Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 19, 2017. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
8. Spencer, Lee (February 17, 2017). "Keselowski tops first Daytona clash practice". Motorsport.com . Daytona Beach, Florida: Motorsport Network . Retrieved February 17, 2017.
9. Utter, Jim (February 17, 2017). "Denny Hamlin leads Toyota quartet in final Clash practice". Motorsport.com . Daytona Beach, Florida: Motorsport Network . Retrieved February 17, 2017.
10. Tucker, Heather (February 18, 2017). "Rain postpones NASCAR Clash at Daytona until Sunday". USA Today . Daytona Beach, Florida: Gannett Company . Retrieved February 22, 2017.
11. Scott, David (February 19, 2017). "Joey Logano avoids final-lap crash to capture NASCAR's Clash". The Charlotte Observer . Daytona Beach, Florida: The McClatchy Company . Retrieved February 22, 2017.
12. Jones, Yvonne (February 19, 2017). "Kurt Busch starts Monster Energy era, Ford reunion with 'bummer'". KickinTheTires.net. Daytona Beach, Florida: Kickin' The Tires. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
13. Beard, Brock (February 19, 2017). "CUP: Kurt Busch's Monster Energy Ford finishes last in title sponsor's first race". brock.lastcar.info. LASTCAR.info. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
14. Tucker, Heather (February 19, 2017). "Joey Logano wins season-opening NASCAR Clash at Daytona". USA Today . Daytona Beach, Florida: Gannett Company . Retrieved February 22, 2017.
15. White, Tucker (February 19, 2017). "Logano wins 'The Clash' thanks to final lap crash". SpeedwayMedia.com. Speedway Media. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
16. Weaver, Matt (February 19, 2017). "Observations: Advanced Auto Parts Clash at Daytona". Autoweek . Daytona Beach, Florida: Crain Communications . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
17. Albert, Zack (February 19, 2017). "Hamlin, Keselowski clash at Daytona's opening weekend". NASCAR.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
18. Willis, Ken (February 19, 2017). "Logano wins Clash; Elliott, Earnhardt capture 500 front row". The Daytona Beach News-Journal . GateHouse Media . Retrieved February 22, 2017.
19. Long, Mark (February 19, 2017). "Logano takes advantage of late crash, wins Clash at Daytona". Associated Press. Daytona Beach, Florida: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
20. Oreovicz, John (February 19, 2017). "Joey Logano takes advantage of last-lap wreck to win Clash". ESPN.com . Daytona Beach, Florida: ESPN Inc. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
21. Utter, Jim (February 19, 2017). "Keselowski vows "to make that move again" despite last-lap wreck". Motorsport.com . Daytona Beach, Florida: Motorsport Network . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
22. Whisler, Caleb (February 19, 2017). "Logano Stuns Clash Field". SpeedwayDigest.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: STS Motorsports Inc. Retrieved February 23, 2017.