It would be the grandest of overstatements to say there were plenty of surprises in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Delayed by more than three hours—thanks to an unwelcome visit from Mother Nature—this was a race that had all the ingredients of an instant classic. A spectacle worthy of the title The Great American Race. A tale of speed, drama, and chaos. And yet, when all was said and done, it left many staring at their screens wondering, “What on earth just happened?” as William Byron celebrated his second consecutive win in a finish that defied all logic.
Of course, it started with all the pomp and circumstance one expects from a Daytona 500. A parade fit for American royalty, complete with a few gentle laps led by the Presidential Beast—because why not? But despite NASCAR’s best efforts to get ahead of impending precipitation, Mother Nature had other ideas. The green flag finally waved, and the field roared to life… for a whole nine laps before rain once again took center stage. Byron was leading when the skies opened up, and soon enough, the cars were parked in their designated pit stalls, left to ponder their existence.
Over three hours later, round two began. The rain returned, the cars stopped again, and yet, through sheer stubbornness, the track dried, and what was meant to be an afternoon show transformed into a prime-time showdown.
For much of the night, it looked like Team Penske had this one wrapped up. Joey Logano, a man who seems to have Daytona in his DNA, led 43 of the first 60 laps, easily winning Stage 1. That stage, by the way, ended under caution thanks to Denny Hamlin being rudely escorted to the apron in Turn 2. The resulting chaos swept up Zane Smith, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry, and enough carbon fiber shrapnel to make an insurance adjuster faint.
Stage 2 wasn’t much kinder. Logano restarted up front but got bogged down, causing a massive accordion effect that turned Ross Chastain’s night into a pile of crumpled sheet metal. Jimmie Johnson, Chase Briscoe, Riley Herbst, Martin Truex Jr., Justin Allgaier, and Kyle Busch all got caught in the carnage. Busch had already been sent to the back for a pit penalty—because why make life easy?—and was now paying an even steeper price. Chastain and Truex were done for the night. Logano? Oh, he limped back to the pits with a bizarre lack of power. The culprit? A plastic bag lodged in the engine intake. Yes, that’s right. The two-time champion, the man who had dominated the early going, was nearly undone by a rogue piece of litter.
Yet, in a resurrection worthy of biblical storytelling, Logano’s crew sorted it out, and thanks to a well-timed caution and a free pass, he clawed his way back onto the lead lap. By the end of Stage 2, he was miraculously sitting in eighth. From the scrapyard to a contender in a matter of laps.
The final stage? Absolute madness. Three-wide racing from back to front, an edgy, heart-pounding ballet of speed that had everyone expecting disaster at any moment. Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Busch took turns swapping the lead like it was a game of hot potato. And then, with 16 laps to go, all hell predictably broke loose. Logano—because of course—was charging forward when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. threw a block that resulted in a massive pile-up. Logano, Blaney, Noah Gragson, Gilliland, and Custer all saw their chances go up in smoke. Logano’s Ford came to rest by the frontstretch wall. Busch’s car, meanwhile, left the track on a tow hook.
When the dust settled, Cindric grabbed the lead back with six to go. Hamlin—somehow still in this fight—saw an opportunity for his fourth Daytona 500 win. Christopher Bell made his move with four to go but got sent nose-first into the wall, triggering a terrifying wreck that saw Ryan Preece go airborne. Again. The crash brought back nightmarish memories of his similar wreck last August at Daytona, but thankfully, Preece walked away shaken but largely unscathed, again.
This set up the grand finale: an overtime restart. Hamlin led to the green, but Cindric wasn’t giving up. Behind them, Riley Herbst went sideways but miraculously kept it together—saving NASCAR from making a very unpopular call to throw the caution. Then, on the final lap, Cindric and Hamlin got together, setting off one last pileup. Emerging from the smoke? William Byron, sailing through the chaos, tailing Tyler Reddick all the way to the line, where he snatched victory in the most improbable fashion.
Byron, aware that he had just pulled off an absolute heist, summed it up perfectly:
“Yeah, obviously some good fortune, but just trusted my instincts on the last lap there,” he said. “I felt like they were getting squirrelly on the bottom and I was honestly going to go third lane regardless because I was probably sixth coming down the back.
“Just obviously fortunate that it worked out in our favor. But just really proud of this team. Worked super hard all week and had an amazing car. Just had a really hard time with the fuel saving and kind of staying towards the front…Crazy. I can’t honestly believe that. But we’re here. So proud of it.”
If Byron’s win was surprising, what came next was outright shocking. Jimmie Johnson—yes, the seven-time champion who has struggled in his comeback—finished third. Chase Briscoe, who had been largely invisible all race, somehow took fourth. And John Hunter Nemechek, Johnson’s own employee at Legacy Motor Club, rounded out the top five. A 49-year-old Johnson, now more owner than driver, could hardly contain his joy.
“This feels incredible,” he beamed. “I have emotions that I didn’t expect to have. I’ve never been in this position as an owner, and it’s really opened up a different set of emotions. And the pride that I have in this result and the pride that I have in this company, now that we’re trying to achieve and the journey we’re on, I am so satisfied, so happy right now.”
With the victory, Byron joins an elite club of back-to-back Daytona 500 winners, sitting alongside legends like Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin, and Denny Hamlin. Oh, and the race set a Next Gen era record with 56 lead changes. That’s what you call “racing chaos.”
Byron, however, has his eyes set on something bigger.
“We plan on trying to win a lot of races this year, so we’re not going to stop here. We’re going to continue to push forward and try to get to Phoenix.”
Phoenix, of course, is where the championship will be decided. But that’s 35 races away. Up next? Atlanta Motor Speedway, where last year Daniel Suarez took the win in the closest finish in modern NASCAR history. If Daytona was any indication, buckle up—we are in for a wild ride.
RACE RESULTS
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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