For the first time since 2020, there has been a repeat winner in the Daytona 500. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, piloting the historic #24, scored his second Daytona 500 crown after a last lap pile-up cleared the way for the Charlotte native to take the checkered flag. In a finish that went green to the end, Byron barely beat out Tyler Reddick’s #45 for the top spot.
Chase Briscoe, piloting his new #19 for Joe Gibbs Racing, sat on the pole with Duel 2 winner and 2022 winner Austin Cindric lining up beside him. Duel 1 winner Bubba Wallace and race 2 runner-up Erik Jones adorned the second row.
At the drop of the green flag, Briscoe’s #19 held the lead for a moment, before starting to swap the lead with the #10 of Ty Dillon, who is making a full-time Cup series return for Kaulig Racing.
The field wouldn’t be green for long, however, as the usual Daytona showers came down on the track on lap nine and halted the race for the time being.
After a four hour rain delay, the field was ready to get going again. Defending champion Joey Logano’s #22 got out front during caution flag pitstops and led the field back to green to resume the 67th running of the Great American Race.
Logano led the field around for a few laps before being stranded in the middle, opening the door for Byron’s #24 to get its first peak at the front. The #24 wouldn’t be out there for long as Corey LaJoie, piloting the #01 for Rick Ware Racing on a part-time basis, took the lead for the next few laps, before forfeiting it back to Logano’s #22.
Approaching the end of the stage, the field went from mostly single file to two rows with everyone trying to get as many points as possible. On lap 63, a stack-up in the outside lane resulted in the #11 of Denny Hamlin being sent onto the apron, with Zane Smith’s #38 spinning into the wall and collecting Josh Berry in the #21. The ensuing caution led to the end of the stage.
Stage One Results:
- #22 Joey Logano
- #6 Brad Keselowski
- #12 Ryan Blaney
- #47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- #20 Christopher Bell
- #48 Alex Bowman
- #99 Daniel Suárez
- #45 Tyler Reddick
- #43 Erik Jones
- #24 William Byron
The green flag at the start of the second stage didn’t last for very long. The #22 had an issue getting up to speed, causing a stack-up on the outside lane. The #42 of John Hunter Nemechek collided with Ross Chastain’s #1, sending him up into teammate Hélio Castroneves’ #91. Multiple others, including the #11, #19 and #35 were all sent spinning. Martin Truex Jr, making a part time return with the Tricon Garage #56, was also involved in the accident and unable to continue. His quest for a Daytona 500 crown will roll-over into next year.
The stage resumed on lap 77, with the Penske tandem of Ryan Blaney’s #12 and Cindric’s #2. The duo traded the lead around with Fords slowly dominating. The lead was split between the #2, the #4 of Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece’s #60 car for the next few laps before another caution, this time for debris.
Lap 87 saw the green flag again, with the Fords once again dominating the top spot with Cindric’s #2. While the lead would rotate between a few drivers, the Penske Fords were shown to be the strongest. Joey Logano, after suffering from a piece of debris on the grille, climbed his way back up through the field.
With one to go in the stage, Cindric was pushed out in front by teammate Blaney, who got a run coming to the flag and overtook his teammate for the victory in the second stage.
Stage Two Results:
- #12 Ryan Blaney
- #2 Austin Cindric
- #9 Chase Elliott
- #48 Alex Bowman
- #34 Todd Gilliland
- #17 Chris Buescher
- #43 Erik Jones
- #22 Joey Logano
- #23 Bubba Wallace
- #8 Kyle Busch
At the start of the final stage, Blaney led Busch to the green flag. The #12 began exchanging the lead with Bubba Wallace’s #23 until the caution flew on lap 162, once again for debris. The #23 and the #2 lined up again at the restart, with Cindric once again taking the lead of the race. The #2 held the lead for a few laps until the #01 of LaJoie, being pushed by the #47 of Stenhouse, made another move to the front.
As the #01 made a move to the lead, the #47 tried putting a block on the #22, who kept trying to make a move happen. Eventually, the two ran out of room, sending the both of them around and into the wall, collecting the field behind them. All told, eight cars were involved, including the #12 of Blaney, #6 of Keselowski and the #4 of Gragson.
With eight laps to go, the #01 and #2 lined up side by side on the front row. Going down the backstretch on the green flag lap, the #2 cut up LaJoie on the backstretch and regained the lead, before losing it once again to a hard charging Denny Hamlin.
With five to go, the big one happened. The #20 of Bell received a bad bump on the backstretch, sending him into the outside wall. As the #20 came back across the track, the car struck the right front of Ryan Preece, launching his #60 into the air. The wind caught the underside of the car, sending Preece up and over at Daytona for the second time in his career. The car slid up into the outside wall before rolling back over on the apron in turn 3. Preece was out and okay. Also involved were the #5, #6, #23 and #43. A red flag was waved for clean-up.
The race went to overtime with Hamlin and Cindric in the top two spots. Cindric led at the white flag with Herbst sliding through the grass in the infield, making the save as the field stayed green. With Hamlin in the lead and Cole Custer on the outside, the top four crowded each other by the line, causing a wreck. The #11 and #41 went up into the wall with the #51 and #54, while LaJoie’s #01 went spinning across the apron.
Byron’s #24 made it through the carnage first and held off Tyler Reddick down to the line to win his second consecutive Daytona 500. Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson recorded a third place finish in the #84, his first cup series top-five since 2020. Polesitter Chase Briscoe finished fourth after avoiding the last lap accident, and John Hunter Nemechek recorded his first ever Cup Series top-five with a fifth place finish.
2023 champion Ryan Blaney holds the points lead, ahead of the #48 of Alex Bowman and Byron’s #24.
The Cup Series will roll back into Atlanta next week.
Featured Image Credits: Patrick Vallely and NASCAR on Twitter/X
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