NASCAR: Busch takes victory amid late crash

NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch took victory in the second Daytona 500 Duel qualifying race as a last-lap crash left many frontrunners with wrecked primary cars.

Until the wild finish, Duel two had been a relatively mundane contest. Joe Gibbs Racing dominated the first half, polesitter Matt Kenseth leading Busch and Carl Edwards initially before Busch hit the front on lap 23 of 60.

Busch led to the finish thereafter, but JGR's formation was interrupted by the mid-race pitstops mixing the rest of the lead order up.

Kenseth was among those caught up when Jimmie Johnson spun in front of the pack as he fought Jamie McMurray for second. McMurray still held the runner-up position, with Kurt Busch coming through to third despite taking a whack from Johnson's car as it spun down the track.

Kenseth had been set to start second in the 500 by virtue of his qualifying performance last weekend, but he now expects to fall to the back of the field as his back-up car will be required to replace the Toyota damaged in the crash.

AJ Allmendinger and Martin Truex Jr also sustained significant damage to their cars, and Danica Patrick went for a wild spin over the infield grass, although she still emerged with seventh place amid the chaos.

Edwards came home fourth, followed by Ty Dillon and Kyle Larson. BK Racing secured the two 500 qualification spots up for grabs in the race. Matt DiBenedetto earned his place with a ninth-place finish, while his team-mate Robert Richardson Jr made the cut via his qualifying time from last Sunday. That left Front Row Motorsports driver David Gilliland and Hillman Racing's Reed Sorensen out of the field for the main event.

Casey Mears was running second to Busch before his Germain Chevrolet ran out of fuel with a lap to go. Ryan Newman was also in trouble, dropping out with an engine problem.

Originally on Autosport.com