2012 Subway Jalapeño 250

The 2012 Subway Jalapeño 250 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on July 6, 2012. The race was the 11th iteration of the event and the 16th race of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series. Austin Dillon originally won the pole but was disallowed after failing inspection which gave the pole Ricky Stenhouse Jr. but it was Kurt Busch who would dominate in the race that saw 42 lead changes over 101 laps as he would lead the most laps and would win the race on a last lap pass.

Background
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races for ARCA, AMA Superbike, IMSA, SCCA, and Motocross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary 2.500 mi high-speed tri-oval, a 3.560 mi sports car course, a 2.950 mi motorcycle course, and a 1320 ft karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180 acre infield includes the 29 acre Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is operated by NASCAR pursuant to a lease with the City of Daytona Beach on the property that runs until 2054. Dale Earnhardt is Daytona International Speedway's all-time winningest driver, with a total of 34 career victories (12- Daytona 500 Qualifying Races) (7- NASCAR Xfinity Series Races) (6- Busch Clash Races) (6- IROC Races) (2- Pepsi 400 July Races) (1- The 1998 Daytona 500).

Entry List

 * (R) denotes rookie driver
 * (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points

Qualifying
Austin Dillon originally won the pole but his time was disallowed for failing post-qualifying inspection which started Dillon in 42nd place and gave the pole position to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. whose time was 50.775 and a speed of 177.253.

* – Made the field via owners points.

** – Sam Hornish Jr. had to start at the rear of the field due to an engine change.

Race
As soon as the race started, drivers started to form into tandems. Outside pole sitter Cole Whitt took the lead from pole sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with Kevin Harvick pushing Whitt and Whitt led the first lap. On lap 4, Clint Bowyer took the lead with Elliott Sadler pushing him. Bowyer and Sadler switched positions on lap 5 and gave the lead to Brad Keselowski with Joey Logano behind him. Keselowski and Logano did the same thing on lap 6 and gave the lead to Sadler. On lap 7, Kurt Busch took the lead with his brother Kyle pushing him. On lap 8, Joey Logano took the lead. On that same lap, the first caution flew when Brian Scott's car stalled on the backstretch. Brad Keselowski won the race off of pit road but his teammate Sam Hornish Jr. did not pit and Hornish led the field to the restart on lap 12. On lap 15, Joey Logano took the lead with Elliott Sadler pushing him. On lap 16, Mike Wallace attempted to take the lead with Clint Bowyer pushing him but both Logano and Wallace left the middle open and the Busch brothers took advantage and Kurt Busch took the lead with Kyle behind him. On lap 18, Danica Patrick took the lead with Brad Keselowski behind her after the Busch brothers decided to switch positions. On lap 23, Kurt Busch took the lead with Kyle behind him. On lap 31, Mike Wallace took the lead with Kevin Harvick pushing him. On lap 32, Joe Nemechek took the lead with Ricky Stenhouse after Wallace and Harvick switched spots. On lap 34, Kyle Busch took the lead with brother Kurt behind him. On lap 37, the Busch brothers switched positions and did so successfully without losing the lead. On lap 41, the second caution would fly when Mike Wallace spun in turn 2 after Wallace was trying to pass Bryan Silas and also to avoid Sam Hornish Jr. who just came off of pit road while Silas tried to do the same but Silas clipped Wallace in the left rear and turned him. Danica Patrick won the race off of pit road and she led the field to the restart on lap 46. On the restart, Kurt Busch took the lead with Austin Dillon behind him but both were passed by Joe Nemechek with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Nemechek took the lead. On lap 48, Danica Patrick took the lead with Kevin Harvick but both got separated and gave the lead back to Nemechek. On lap 49, Joey Logano took the lead with Elliott Sadler.

Final laps
With 48 laps to go, Brad Keselowski took the lead. With 47 to go, Joey Logano took the lead back. With 45 to go, Danica Patrick took the lead from Logano. With 44 to go, Mike Wallace took the lead with Kevin Harvick pushing him. With 42 to go, Danica Patrick took the lead back with Cole Whitt behind her. With 38 to go, James Buescher, who won the Daytona race back in February, took the lead with Brad Keselowski pushing him. With 37 to go, Kevin Harvick took the lead with Mike Wallace behind him. With 35 to go, Justin Allgaier took the lead with Danica Patrick in turn 2 after Harvick and Wallace went to switch spots but did it in a very unsuccessful way. Harvick got caught up in the middle with no draft so Wallace tried to come down in front of James Buescher. But Wallace did it too late and Wallace made contact with Buescher cutting his right front tire and causing him to go up the track and turn Brad Keselowski the first big wreck of the race that took out 17 cars in a chain reaction wreck. The wreck collected Mike Wallace, Kurt Busch, Elliott Sadler, Danny Efland, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Casey Roderick, James Buescher, Kevin Harvick, Bobby Santos III, Michael Annett, Kyle Busch, Johanna Long, Jason Bowles, Joe Nemechek, Cole Whitt, and John Wes Townley. Justin Allgaier won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart with 28 laps to go. On the restart, Danica Patrick and Joey Logano both passed Allgaier on the outside with Patrick getting pushed by Austin Dillon and Logano by Sam Hornish Jr. Logano took the lead on the restart. With 25 to go, Austin Dillon took the lead with Justin Allgaier pushing him. With 24 to go, Dillon decided to drop out and give Allgaier the lead but Allgaier was slingshotted by Kurt Busch and Busch took the lead. Going through turn 4, rookie Brad Sweet attempted to take the lead from Busch on the same lap with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pushing him but Stenhouse got Sweet at the wrong angle and turned Sweet off of turn 4 where Sweet hit the inside wall drivers side door first bringing out the 4th caution of the race. The race would restart with 19 laps to go. On the restart, Bobby Santos III all of a sudden went through the grass on the backstretch. No caution was flown. At the same time, Elliott Sadler took the lead with Joey Logano pushing him. With 18 to go, the 5th caution flew for a 6 car accident on the backstretch. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was pushing Jeffrey Earnhardt when he hit Earnhardt at the wrong angle sending Earnhardt spinning across the track. Danica Patrick went low to avoid Earnhardt but came across the nose of Eric McClure sending Patrick around and hitting the inside wall while Blake Koch made contact with Jeremy Clements when Koch tried to avoid the wreck and ended up spinning himself. The race would restart with 12 laps to go. With 11 to go, Sam Hornish Jr. took the lead with Justin Allgaier but couldn't get fully in front of Sadler and Sadler retook it back before Austin Dillon tried to take it with 10 to go with Kurt Busch and led that lap but couldn't make the pass on Sadler. With 8 to go, Austin Dillon took the lead from Sadler. Dillon was looking to get his 2nd Nationwide Series win in a row after he won his first ever in his career in the previous weeks' race at Kentucky. With 5 to go, Justin Allgaier attempted to take the lead with Sam Hornish Jr. and led that lap but couldn't pass Dillon. But with just 4 laps to go, the 6th and final caution flew for debris on the frontstretch that came off of John Wes Townley's car. This would extend the race to three attempts of a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart, Dillon shot out to the lead but Kurt Busch slingshotted him to the outside and tried to have Logano as his pusher but Logano went high to make it 3 wide and Logano took the lead with Elliott Sadler behind him. On the final lap, Kurt Busch went to take the lead with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. behind him and got Logano and Sadler separated and Busch took the lead. Behind them, Austin Dillon got a big run with Michael Annett pushing him but Dillon wrecked coming through the tri-oval before he had a chance and Dillon caused a second big wreck coming to the checkered flag where 8 cars wrecked with Dillon where Dillon took a couple hard shots. First getting t-boned by Kyle Busch in the drivers side door and then going back up where he got t-boned on the other side by Robert Richardson Jr. The wreck also collected Johanna Long, Jason Bowles, Tayler Malsam, and Josh Richards. Kurt Busch held off everyone and won the race as soon as Dillon spun. The win would be Busch's first ever win at Daytona in all of NASCAR and his 2nd and final win of the 2012 season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael Annett, Austin Dillon, and Joey Logano rounded out the top 5 while Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier, Mike Bliss, Timmy Hill, and Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top 10.