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2012 DRIVE4COPD 300

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2012 DRIVE4COPD 300
Race details[1]
Map of Speedway
Map of Speedway
Date February 25, 2012 (2012-02-25)
Official name 2012 DRIVE4COPD 300
Location Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Tri-oval
2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 120 laps, 300 mi (400 km)
Weather Sunny
Average speed 129.636 mph (208.629 km/h)
Attendance 82,000
Pole position
Driver JR Motorsports
Time 49.250
Most laps led
Driver Kurt Busch Phoenix Racing
Laps 42
Winner
No. 30 James Buescher Turner Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree

The 2012 DRIVE4COPD 300 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held on February 25, 2012 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the first race of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season. The race was the 31st running of the event. Danica Patrick won the pole but in the race's end, a surprise winner happened with James Buescher winning his first and only Nationwide Series race of his entire career in an last lap wreck that took out most of the top 10 cars.[2]

Entry List

[edit]
  • (R) denotes rookie driver
  • (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points
# Driver Team Make
01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet
1 Kurt Busch (i) Phoenix Racing Chevrolet
2 Elliott Sadler Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Danny Efland JD Motorsports Chevrolet
5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet
6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
7 Danica Patrick JR Motorsports Chevrolet
08 Casey Roderick Randy Hill Racing Ford
09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota
10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota
11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge
14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Toyota
15 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford
18 Denny Hamlin (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Tayler Malsam TriStar Motorsports Toyota
20 Joey Logano (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
22 Brad Keselowski (i) Penske Racing Dodge
23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Chevrolet
24 Benny Gordon (R) SR² Motorsports Toyota
27 David Ragan (i) GC Motorsports International Ford
28 J. J. Yeley (i) Robinson-Blakeney Racing Chevrolet
30 James Buescher (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
33 Tony Stewart (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
36 Ryan Truex Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
38 Kasey Kahne (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
39 Joey Gase (R) Go Green Racing Ford
40 Josh Wise (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet
41 Blake Koch Rick Ware Racing Ford
42 Erik Darnell The Motorsports Group Chevrolet
43 Michael Annett Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
44 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Toyota
46 Chase Miller The Motorsports Group Chevrolet
47 Scott Speed (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet
50 T. J. Bell MAKE Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet
52 Reed Sorenson Hamilton Means Racing Chevrolet
54 Kyle Busch (i) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota
60 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford
70 Johanna Long (R) ML Motorsports Chevrolet
73 Derrike Cope CFK Motorsports Chevrolet
74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet
76 Donnie Neuenberger Ray Hackett Racing Ford
81 Jason Bowles (R) MacDonald Motorsports Dodge
87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota
88 Cole Whitt (R) JR Motorsports Chevrolet
89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet
97 Johnny Sauter (i) NEMCO Motorsports Toyota
Official Entry List

Qualifying

[edit]

Danica Patrick won the pole for the race. Her time was 49.250 with a speed of 182.741 mph.

Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 7 Danica Patrick JR Motorsports Chevrolet 49.250 182.741
2 60 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 49.257 182.715
3 2 Elliott Sadler Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 49.269 182.671
4 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 49.290 182.593
5 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 49.339 182.411
6 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 49.367 182.308
7 33 Tony Stewart (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 49.383 182.249
8 88 Cole Whitt (R) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 49.421 182.109
9 22 Brad Keselowski (i) Penske Racing Dodge 49.425 182.094
10 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 49.497 181.829
11 38 Kasey Kahne (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 49.550 181.635
12 31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 49.588 181.496
13 44 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Toyota 49.606 181.430
14 1 Kurt Busch Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 49.634 181.327
15 30 James Buescher (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 49.669 181.200
16 43 Michael Annett Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 49.708 181.057
17 18 Denny Hamlin (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 49.733 180.966
18 36 Ryan Truex Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 49.743 180.930
19 11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 49.755 180.886
20 14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Toyota 49.796 180.737
21 70 Johanna Long (R) ML Motorsports Chevrolet 49.831 180.610
22 20 Joey Logano (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 49.840 180.578
23 27 David Ragan (i)* GC Motorsports International Ford 49.908 180.332
24 54 Kyle Busch (i) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 50.023 179.917
25 19 Tayler Malsam TriStar Motorsports Toyota 50.096 179.655
26 09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota 50.113 179.594
27 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 50.209 179.251
28 01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 50.259 179.072
29 15 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 50.331 178.816
30 97 Johnny Sauter (i)* NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 50.374 178.664
31 41 Blake Koch Rick Ware Racing Ford 50.420 178.501
32 08 Casey Roderick Randy Hill Racing Ford 50.532 178.105
33 24 Benny Gordon (R) SR² Motorsports Toyota 50.539 178.080
34 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Chevrolet 50.559 178.010
35 39 Joey Gase (R) Go Green Racing Ford 50.664 177.641
36 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 50.780 177.235
37 40 Josh Wise (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 50.793 177.190
38 28 J. J. Yeley (i)* Robinson-Blakeney Racing Chevrolet 50.819 177.099
39 50 T. J. Bell MAKE Motorsports Chevrolet 50.867 176.932
40 81 Jason Bowels (R)** MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 50.891 176.849
41 4 Danny Efland** JD Motorsports Chevrolet 51.016 176.415
42 52 Reed Sorenson** Hamilton Means Racing Chevrolet 51.286 175.486
43 10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota 50.853 176.981
Failed to Qualify, withdrew, or driver changes
44 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 50.616 177.809
45 73 Derrike Cope CFK Motorsports Chevrolet 50.818 177.103
46 42 Erik Darnell The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 50.857 176.967
47 47 Scott Speed (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 51.076 176.208
48 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 51.166 175.898
49 46 Chase Miller The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 51.428 175.002
50 76 Donnie Neuenberger Ray Hackett Racing Ford 51.801 173.742
Official Qualifying results

* – David Ragan, J. J. Yeley, and Johnny Sauter all had to start at the rear of the field. Ragan and Yeley missed the drivers meeting while Sauter had adjustments outside impound.

** – Jason Bowels, Danny Efland, and Reed Sorenson qualified in 44th, 45th, and 48th but all 3 still made the field via owners points.

Race

[edit]

Pole sitter Danica Patrick led the first lap of the race with a push by her boss at JR Motorsports in Dale Earnhardt Jr. Patrick lost the lead on lap 3 to Trevor Bayne as Bayne got a push by Elliott Sadler. Bayne gave up the lead on the next lap to Sadler as the two swapped spots to prevent Sadler's car from overheating. Tony Stewart, who has won 6 of the last 7 DRIVE4COPD 300 races at Daytona, took the lead from Sadler and Bayne. Kasey Kahne took the lead from Stewart on lap 9. On lap 13, Denny Hamlin took the lead from Kahne. Bayne and Sadler took the lead back on lap 14 of the race. Sam Hornish Jr. took the lead from Bayne on lap 16 with a push from his teammate in Brad Keselowski. On lap 21, Mike Bliss took the lead from the Penske cars. On lap 26, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead with a push by Kurt Busch but Bliss took it back on the next lap when Jr. and Busch swapped. On the next lap, Kurt Busch took the lead with Jr. helping him. On lap 30, the first caution of the race flew when rookie Jason Bowels' engine blew laying fluid on the racetrack. Kurt Busch won the race off of pit road and he was the race leader. The race restarted on lap 36. On lap 37, Tony Stewart battled for the lead with Busch and Stewart led lap 37 before he took full control on lap 38. On lap 44, Kurt Busch took the lead when Stewart and his draft partner Joey Logano swapped spots. On lap 45, a close call occurred when J. J. Yeley's engine let go in the middle of the pack. Yeley was able to get his car to the apron unscathed and no caution was flown. On lap 49, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead. On the same lap, the second caution flew when Danica Patrick got turned by Cole Whitt in turn 3 and hit the outside wall. Patrick complained on her radio about Whitt being too aggressive on the push even dropping f-bombs.[3] During the pitstops, Kyle Busch came out of his pit box while Cole Whitt was coming to his and the 2 made contact turning Whitt around. No one was hurt and Whitt made his pitstop facing the right way. Denny Hamlin won the race off of pit road making him the race leader. The race restarted on lap 54 and Kurt Busch took the lead from Hamlin. On lap 60, the third caution flew when Mike Bliss got turned by Joe Nemechek in the backstretch. Some drivers pitted while others stayed out and Elliott Sadler was the race leader. The race restarted with 56 laps to go and Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Sadler. But Sadler took it back on the same lap. With 54 to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. beat Sadler to the line and led the lap before Sadler took it back with 53 to go. With 48 to go and after being in the back all day, Kyle Busch took the lead. On the next lap, Kyle's brother Kurt took the lead from his brother. On the same lap, the 4th caution flew when Brian Scott got turned by Michael Annett and Scott turned into James Buescher and hit the outside wall. Joe Nemechek won the race off of pit road which made him the race leader. The race restarted with 41 laps to go and Sam Hornish Jr. took the lead. With 39 to go, Kurt Busch took the lead from Sam Hornish Jr. with his brother Kyle helping him. With 38 laps to go, Tony Stewart took the lead from the Busch brothers. Kyle took the lead from Stewart with 32 to go. Denny Hamlin took the lead from his Cup Series teammate with 31 laps to go. Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Hamlin on the next lap.

Final laps

[edit]

With 29 laps to go, Tony Stewart took the lead from Hamlin. With 27 laps to go, the 5th caution flew when Joey Gase's engine blew and he laid fluid on the race track. Denny Hamlin won the race off of pit road but Timmy Hill, Kenny Wallace, Justin Allgaier, Robert Richardson Jr., Blake Koch, and David Ragan did not pit and Hill was the race leader. The race restarted with 22 laps to go. Kenny Wallace took the lead from Hill and led. But both Wallace and Robert Richardson Jr. quickly got split by Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart with 21 to go and fell back. Hamlin took the lead with 21 to go. With 19 to go, Brian Scott got loose and hit the outside wall in turns 1 and 2 but no caution was thrown. On the same lap, Tony Stewart took the lead. With 17 laps to go, the first big one struck out of turn 4 taking out 19 cars. James Buescher made contact with Trevor Bayne sending Bayne up into Kasey Kahne. Cars checked up and Justin Allgaier got turned by Kenny Wallace and the 2 hit the outside wall taking more cars. The cars involved were Justin Allgaier, Kenny Wallace, Mike Wallace, Michael Annett, Jeremy Clements, Casey Roderick, Tayler Malsam, T. J. Bell, Robert Richardson Jr., Johanna Long, Danny Efland, Denny Hamlin, Josh Wise, James Buescher, Benny Gordon, Reed Sorenson, Ryan Truex, Joe Nemechek, and Austin Dillon. The race was red flagged for only a few minutes to clean up the mess. Kurt Busch led the field with 8 laps to go. But on the next lap, the second big one occurred out of turn 4 taking out 14 cars. Sam Hornish Jr. got turned by David Ragan and collected Ragan, Timmy Hill, Joe Nemechek, Danny Efland, Blake Koch, Johanna Long, Michael Annett, Mike Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Eric McClure, and Cole Whitt. The wreck set up a 2 lap shootout. On the restart, Kurt Busch took the lead with brother Kyle pushing him. A total of 15 cars were set up in a pack and it also set up for a fantastic final lap. On the final lap, a tandem of Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne began to close in on the Busch brother tandem and the 4 cars broke away from the pack. Out of turn 2, Logano and Bayne attempted to pass the Busch brothers low but the Busch brothers blocked them and the Logano–Bayne tandem moved back to the outside. From this point on, chaos ensued. The Logano–Bayne tandem had a run to the outside and the Busch brother tandem got broke. Despite with no help from his brother Kyle at this point, Kurt attempted to keep climbing up into Logano in an attempt to break Logano's momentum. But little did they know in turns 3 and 4, a tandem of Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler had a huge run on the cars and the Stewart–Sadler tandem peaked to the outside of the Logano–Bayne tandem. From here, a 12 car crash occurred. Kurt squeezed Logano, Bayne, and Stewart into the outside wall and Bayne turned Kurt into Logano. Logano spun while Kurt, Bayne, Stewart, and Sadler were squeezed into the outside wall. Five other cars behind the wrecking race cars in Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Whitt, Kasey Kahne, and Brad Keselowski went low to avoid and looked like it was gonna be a battle between those 5. Unfourtunatley, Stenhouse hooked Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch came down and collected Stenhouse, Whitt, Kahne, and Keselowski. The wreck also collected Brian Scott and Blake Koch. Meanwhile, NASCAR has yet to throw a caution while they were waiting for a car to come out of the wreck. One car came out of the wreck in the lead and NASCAR threw the 8th and final caution of the race. That car that came out of the wreck in first place was James Buescher, who was in 11th when the wreck occurred, and Buescher took the checkered flag. Brad Keselowski, however, made it out of the wreck first and was in the lead but his car ended up getting loose and was going all over the place trying to avoid the wreck and save it which made him lose momentum when Buescher passed him before the caution came out and ended up finishing in 2nd. Only Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. failed to finish the race. This would be Buescher's first and only win of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career.[4][5] Elliott Sadler, Cole Whitt, and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 5 while Tayler Malsam, Timmy Hill, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10.

Race results

[edit]
Pos Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Laps Led Status Points
1 30 James Buescher (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 120 1 running 0
2 22 Brad Keselowski (i) Penske Racing Dodge 120 0 running 0
3 2 Elliott Sadler Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 120 8 running 42
4 88 Cole Whitt (R) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 120 0 running 40
5 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 120 0 running 39
6 19 Tayler Malsam TriStar Motorsports Toyota 120 0 running 38
7 15 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 120 4 running 0
8 33 Tony Stewart (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 120 22 running 0
9 38 Kasey Kahne (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 120 4 running 0
10 1 Kurt Busch (i) Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 120 42 running 0
11 60 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 120 3 running 34
12 24 Benny Gordon (R) SR² Motorsports Toyota 120 0 running 32
13 4 Danny Efland JD Motorsports Chevrolet 120 0 running 31
14 40 Josh Wise (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 120 0 running 0
15 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 120 8 running 0
16 20 Joey Logano (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 120 0 running 0
17 41 Blake Koch Rick Ware Racing Ford 120 0 running 27
18 54 Kyle Busch (i) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 119 2 crash 0
19 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 119 0 crash 25
20 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 119 7 running 25
21 70 Johanna Long (R) ML Motorsports Chevrolet 119 0 running 23
22 14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Toyota 118 0 running 22
23 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 116 2 crash 22
24 50 T. J. Bell MAKE Motorsports Chevrolet 115 0 crash 20
25 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 115 0 running 19
26 27 David Ragan (i) GC Motorsports International Ford 113 0 crash 0
27 43 Michael Annett Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 113 0 crash 17
28 01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 112 0 running 16
29 39 Joey Gase (R) Go Green Racing Ford 108 0 running 15
30 09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota 104 1 crash 15
31 36 Ryan Truex Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 104 0 crash 13
32 18 Denny Hamlin (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 103 7 crash 0
33 31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 103 0 crash 11
34 52 Reed Sorenson Hamilton Means Racing Chevrolet 103 0 crash 10
35 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Chevrolet 103 1 crash 10
36 08 Casey Roderick Randy Hill Racing Ford 103 0 crash 8
37 11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 96 0 running 7
38 7 Danica Patrick JR Motorsports Chevrolet 72 2 running 7
39 44 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Toyota 59 6 crash 6
40 28 J. J. Yeley (i) Robinson-Blakeney Racing Chevrolet 43 0 engine 0
41 81 Jason Bowels (R) MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 28 0 engine 3
42 97 Johnny Sauter (i) NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 14 0 electrical 0
43 10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota 3 0 vibration 1
Official Race results

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2012 DRIVE4COPD 300". Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  2. ^ "James Buescher wins Nationwide race at Daytona". Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  3. ^ "VIDEO: Danica Patrick Crashes (Again), Drops F-Bombs". Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  4. ^ Hembree, Mike (February 25, 2012). "Buescher Wins Wild Series Opener". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  5. ^ "James Buescher gets first N'wide win". Retrieved February 25, 2012.
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2012 season
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