Kurt Busch escapes the 'Big One' to win the Jalapeno 250 Nationwide Series race at Daytona

Kurt Busch celebrates at DaytonaPhoto credit Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images / Kurt Busch celebrates in Victory Lane on Friday after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

DAYTONA BEACH -- They call it the "Big One" and Friday's Subway Jalapeno 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway lived up to the billing with a crash on lap 66 that collected 15 cars. Kurt Busch escaped with some damage to later take the checkered flag in his battered No. 1 Chevrolet.

Busch got a push from defendending Nationwide series champ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the green-white-checkred flag finish, one lap beyond the 100-lap race because of a late caution.

Busch picked up his second win of the season and his fifth in 23 Nationwide starts. Stenhouse saw an opportunity on the restart with two laps left and planted the nose of his car on Busch's rear bumper.

"That last restart, we didn't have many people to work with, and I saw him (Busch) hung out there in the center, and I got a good restart and jumped to the middle and caught up with the 1," Stenhouse said. "He was fast all night, and I just pushed him to the win."

The big One at the Jalapeno 250 at DaytonaPhoto credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR / Mike Wallace, driver of the No. 01, and Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 22, spin out in front of Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 1, and James Buescher, driver of the No. 30, in a 15-car pile-up on lap 66 of the Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

Without a doubt, it was the lap 66 multi-car crash crash that was the highlight of the race. As Kevin Harvick and Mike Wallace tried to swap positions at the front of the field, Patrick pushed Justin Allgaier to the front as a 15-car wreck erupted behind her.

Wallace moved down the track into the Chevrolet of James Buescher, then bounced up into Brad Keselowski's Dodge in the outside lane.

The chain-reaction wreck also collected Harvick, series leader Sadler, Kurt and Kyle Busch, Cole Whitt (Patrick's JR Motorsports teammate), Clint Bowyer and Annett, among others. Sadler's damage was minimal, and he soon regained the lead. Annett's crew repaired cosmetic damage on his car as well.

In fact, Sadler held the point on Lap 83, when an off-center push from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. turned Jeffrey Earnhardt sideways in front of the main pack of cars. As drivers checked up in reaction to the wreck, Patrick was launched toward the inside "safer" barrier and took a vicious hit when her No. 7 Chevrolet slammed into the wall.

Busch made six pit stops under caution as his crew repaired the damage to his car -- enough to get it to Victory Lane.

"We just won at Daytona,'' an elated Busch said. "This is unbelievable. Passion and heart is all I can give. That's all I can do right now. Running this series gives me a lot of heart.''

FAST FACTS

The race set a Nationwide Series track record for lead changes (42 between 16 drivers).

RACE RESULTS

1. (5) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 101, $85,900.

2. (1) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 101, $71,693.

3. (17) Michael Annett, Ford, 101, $47,118.

4. (42) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 101, $37,743.

5. (8) Joey Logano, Toyota, 101, $25,150.

6. (13) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 101, $29,218.

7. (21) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 101, $28,103.

8. (15) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 101, $27,063.

9. (37) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 101, $25,968.

10. (16) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 101, $26,168.

11. (33) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 101, $25,043. 12. (11) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 101, $24,168. 13. (28) Danny Efland, Chevrolet, 101, $23,643. 14. (29) Jason Bowles, Toyota, 101, $23,118. 15. (22) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 101, $23,868. 16. (27) Josh Richards, Ford, 101, $16,175. 17. (34) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 101, $22,518. 18. (26) Eric McClure, Toyota, 101, $22,393. 19. (31) Blake Koch, Dodge, 101, $18,400. 20. (32) Bryan Silas, Ford, 100, $16,350. 21. (41) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, 99, $22,018. 22. (25) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 97, $21,893. 23. (20) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 94, $15,475. 24. (19) Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 93, $21,618. 25. (18) John Wes Townley, Toyota, 89, $21,768. 26. (12) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 86, $15,100. 27. (24) Casey Roderick, Toyota, 84, $21,218. 28. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, Accident, 84, $14,575. 29. (2) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 83, $21,418. 30. (30) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, Accident, 82, $14,625. 31. (3) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, Accident, 82, $20,663. 32. (9) Brian Scott, Toyota, 82, $20,528. 33. (10) Bobby Santos III, Chevrolet, Accident, 80, $13,950. 34. (14) James Buescher, Chevrolet, Accident, 71, $20,308. 35. (6) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, Accident, 66, $13,735. 36. (7) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, Accident, 65, $20,168. 37. (40) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Overheating, 50, $13,665. 38. (36) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, Overheating, 31, $13,611. 39. (35) TJ Bell, Chevrolet, Engine, 22, $13,495. 40. (43) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, Vibration, 5, $13,430. 41. (39) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Transmission, 4, $13,370. 42. (38) Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, Overheating, 3, $13,320. 43. (23) Jeff Green, Toyota, Overheating, 3, $13,253.

RACE STATISTICS

Average Speed of Race Winner: 132.045 mph.

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 54 Mins, 44 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 0.054 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 24 laps.

Lead Changes: 42 among 16 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Whitt 1-3; C. Bowyer 4; B. Keselowski 5; E. Sadler 6; Kurt Busch 7; J. Logano 8; J. Clements 9; S. Hornish Jr. 10-14; J. Logano 15; Kurt Busch 16-17; D. Patrick 18-22; Kurt Busch 23-30; M. Wallace 31; J. Nemechek 32-33; Kyle Busch 34-36; Kurt Busch 37-42; D. Patrick 43-44; J. Clements 45; J. Nemechek 46-48; J. Logano 49-52; B. Keselowski 53; J. Logano 54-55; D. Patrick 56; M. Wallace 57-58; D. Patrick 59-62; J. Buescher 63; K. Harvick 64-65; J. Allgaier 66-67; D. Patrick 68; J. Allgaier 69-72; J. Logano 73-75; A. Dillon 76; Kurt Busch 77-81; E. Sadler 82-89; S. Hornish Jr. 90; A. Dillon 91; E. Sadler 92; A. Dillon 93-95; J. Allgaier 96; A. Dillon 97-99; J. Logano 100; Kurt Busch 101.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kurt Busch 6 times for 23 laps; D. Patrick 5 times for 13 laps; J. Logano 6 times for 12 laps; E. Sadler 3 times for 10 laps; A. Dillon 4 times for 8 laps; J. Allgaier 3 times for 7 laps; S. Hornish Jr. 2 times for 6 laps; J. Nemechek 2 times for 5 laps; C. Whitt 1 time for 3 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 3 laps; M. Wallace 2 times for 3 laps; B. Keselowski 2 times for 2 laps; K. Harvick 1 time for 2 laps; J. Clements 2 times for 2 laps; J. Buescher 1 time for 1 lap; C. Bowyer 1 time for 1 lap. Top 10 in Points: E. Sadler - 591; A. Dillon - 589; R. Stenhouse Jr. - 573; S. Hornish Jr. - 556; J. Allgaier - 519; M. Annett - 496; C. Whitt - 488; M. Bliss - 427; D. Patrick - 383; T. Malsam - 369.

Information from NASCAR media was used in this story.