James Buescher emerged as the winner of the DRIVE4COPD 300 season opener to the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series, but it took a few minutes before anyone was entirely sure.

That's because Buescher was running just outside the top ten going through the final corner of the Daytona International Speedway, and it looked as through the win was going to be decided between one of several tandem drafting pairs including Kyle Busch with Kurt Busch and Trevor Bayne with Joey Logano. Logano and Bayne tried to sneak around the outside, but were squeezed up into the wall after which the whole of the top ten got involved. Kyle Busch getting a particularly hard hit as his #54 car snapped into the wall.

Buescher managed to run through the mayhem and was in front when the caution came out, with Elliott Sadler in second and Brad Keselowski in third. Danica Patrick had earlier exited the race on lap 49 after getting bumped into a spin by her team mate Cole Whitt who was attempting to hook up for a draft run.

Race results

1. #30 James Buescher Chevrolet 120 laps 2:24:36s (0pts)
2. #2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 120 laps + 1.081s (43/1 pts)
3. #22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 120 laps + 1.139s (0pts)
4. #3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 120 laps + 3.267s (0pts)
5. #19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 120 laps + 3.427s (0pts)
6. #15 Timmy Hill Ford 120 laps + 3.915s (39/1 pts)
7. #88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 120 laps + 5.422s (0pts)
8. #33 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 120 laps + 5.630s (0pts)
9. #38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 120 laps + 6.572s (0pts)
10. #1 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 120 laps + 7.012s (0pts)
11. #60 Trevor Bayne Ford 120 laps + 9.942s (34/1 pts)
12. #124 Benny Gordon Toyota 120 laps + 12.232s (32/0 pts)
13. #4 Danny Efland Chevrolet 120 laps + 12.980s (31/0 pts)
14. #40 Josh Wise Chevrolet 120 laps + 13.549s (30/0 pts)
15. #5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 120 laps + 18.989s (0pts)
16. #20 Joey Logano Toyota 120 laps + 19.423s (0pts)
17. #41 Blake Koch Ford 120 laps + 29.006s (27/0 pts)
18. #54 Kyle Busch Toyota 120 laps + 1 lap (0pts)
19. #6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 120 laps + 1 lap (25/0 pts)
20. #12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 120 laps + 1 lap (25/1 pts)
21. #70 Johanna Long* Chevrolet 120 laps + 1 lap (0pts)
22. #14 Eric McClure Toyota 118 laps + 2 laps (22/0 pts)
23. #87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 116 laps In Pit (22/1 pts)
24. #50 T.J. Bell Ford 115 laps In Pit (0pts)
25. #51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 115 laps + 5 laps (19/0 pts)
26. #27 David Ragan Ford 113 laps In Pit (0pts)
27. #43 Michael Annett Ford 113 laps In Pit (17/0 pts)
28. #01 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 112 laps + 8 laps (16/0 pts)
29. #39 Joey Gase * Ford 108 laps + 12 laps (0pts)
30. #09 Kenny Wallace Toyota 104 laps In Pit (15/1 pts)
31. #136 Ryan Truex Chevrolet 104 laps In Pit (13/0 pts)
32. #18 Denny Hamlin Toyota 103 laps + 17 laps (0pts)
33. #31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 103 laps + 17 laps (11/0 pts)
34. #52 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 103 laps + 17 laps (10/0 pts)
35. #23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 103 laps + 17 laps (10/1 pts)
36. #108 Casey Roderick * Ford 103 laps In Pit (8/0 pts)
37. #11 Brian Scott Toyota 96 laps + 24 laps (7/0 pts)
38. #7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 72 laps + 48 laps (7/1 pts)
39. #44 Mike Bliss Toyota 59 laps + 61 laps (6/1 pts)
40. #28 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 43 laps Out of Race (0pts)
41. #81 Jason Bowles * Dodge 28 laps Out of Race (3/0 pts)
42. #97 Johnny Sauter Toyota 14 laps Out of Race (0pts)
43. #10 Jeff Green Toyota 3 laps In Pit (1/0 pts)

* Denotes Rookie

Nationwide Series championship standings

1. Elliott Sadler 42 pts
2. Cole Whitt* 40 pts (- 2 pts)
3. Austin Dillon* 39 pts (- 3 pts)
4. Tayler Malsam 38 pts (- 4 pts)
5. Trevor Bayne 34 pts (- 8 pts)
6. Benny Gordon 32 pts (- 10 pts)
7. Danny Efland 31 pts (- 11 pts)
8. Blake Koch 27 pts (- 15 pts)
9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 25 pts (- 17 pts)
10. Sam Hornish Jr. 25 pts (- 17 pts)
11. Johanna Long* 23 pts (- 19 pts)
12. Eric McClure 22 pts (- 20 pts)
13. Joe Nemechek 22 pts (- 20 pts)
14. T.J. Bell 20 pts (- 22 pts)
15. Jeremy Clements 19 pts (- 23 pts)
16. Michael Annett 17 pts (- 25 pts)
17. Mike Wallace 16 pts (- 26 pts)
18. Joey Gase* 15 pts (- 27 pts)
19. Kenny Wallace 15 pts (- 27 pts)
20. Ryan Truex 13 pts (- 29 pts)
21. Justin Allgaier 11 pts (- 31 pts)
22. Reed Sorenson 10 pts (- 32 pts)
23. Robert Richardson Jr. 10 pts (- 32 pts)
24. Casey Roderick* 8 pts (- 34 pts)
25. Brian Scott 7 pts (- 35 pts)
26. Danica Patrick 7 pts (- 35 pts)
27. Mike Bliss 6 pts (- 36 pts)
28. Jason Bowles* 3 pts (- 39 pts)
29. Jeff Green 1 pts (- 41 pts)

* denotes rookie
Only drivers registered for points in this series are shown

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