One year after fending off the field to achieve the biggest victory of his career, William Byron doubled down with grit, determination and a pair of good fortune and natural instincts to navigate his way through a series of late carnages, including one on the final lap that enabled him to win the 67th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 16.
The reigning Daytona 500 champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, led five times for 10 of 201 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified in fifth place and assumed the lead early, beginning on the eighth lap just before the event was placed in a three-hour rain delay. Opting to pit just before the event was placed in a second rain delay period before proceeding in primetime Sunday night, Byron would spend the remainder of the event dueling amongst his fellow competitors who were stacked in multiple lanes through every corner and straightaway.
During an overtime shootout, where he restarted in 10th place after he had dodged two earlier multi-car wrecks, Byron was racing on the outside lane and within the top-10 mark before the leaders started to get tangled up through the backstretch. Using his instincts, Byron remained on the outside lane and accelerated his entry to avoid a spinning Denny Hamlin to storm to the lead. With the lead in his possession, the Charlotte native fended off Tyler Reddick to cruise to his second consecutive victory in the Great American Race and to win the first event of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The starting lineup for this year’s Great American Race was determined through a single-car qualifying session comprising two rounds that occurred on Wednesday, February 12, followed by a pair of Duels on Thursday, February 13.
At the conclusion of Wednesday’s qualifying session, Chase Briscoe notched his first Daytona 500 pole position with a pole-winning lap at 182.745 mph in 49.249 seconds. Austin Cindric rounded out the front row after he posted his best qualifying lap at 182.463 mph in 49.325 seconds.
During Thursday’s Duel events, Cindric doubled down by edging Erik Jones at the moment of caution to win the second Duel event while Bubba Wallace won the first Duel event. In the aftermath of both events, Wallace claimed the third-place starting spot for the Daytona 500 while Jones was awarded the fourth-place starting spot due to Cindric having already claimed a front-row starting spot.
Meanwhile, nine competitors (Anthony Alfredo, Justin Allgaier, Helio Castroneves, Jimmie Johnson, Corey LaJoie, BJ McLeod, Chandler Smith, Martin Truex Jr. and JJ Yeley) contested against one another for Daytona 500 spots in non-chartered entries. At the conclusion of both the single-car qualifying session and the Duels, the following names that included Allgaier, Castroneves, Johnson, LaJoie and Truex transferred while the remaining names including Alfredo, McLeod, Smith and Yeley failed to qualify.
Prior to the commencement of this year’s Daytona 500, the following names included Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Justin Haley, rookie Riley Herbst, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after all wrecked their primary cars during their respective Duel events. Helio Castroneves also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the latter of whom was due to his car failing the pre-race inspection process twice and resulting in his engineer being ejected for the event.
When the green flag waved and the 2025 Cup Series season commenced, Chase Briscoe gained an early advantage from the inside lane with drafting help from Bubba Wallace. Briscoe proceeded to lead ahead of the field through the first two turns before Austin Cindric drew even with Briscoe from the outside lane through the backstretch. Briscoe, however, regained his momentum through Turns 3 and 4, which allowed him to motor his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead and lead the first lap.
Over the next three laps, Briscoe retained the lead in front of Wallace, Cindric and two-stacked lanes through every turn and straightaway. Then prior to the fifth lap, William Byron, the reigning Daytona 500 champion, made his move beneath Briscoe through the first two turns and the backstretch, which moved the No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet entry into the lead. Shortly after, however, Byron moved up the track to block Briscoe, which allowed Ty Dillon to make his move beneath Byron as both dueled for the lead. In the midst of the battles at the front, Carson Hocevar lost the draft and was dropping pace due to a fuel pressure issue.
By the sixth lap, the field fanned out to three-stacked lanes as Cindric charged to the front in a third-drafting lane while being drafted by teammate Joey Logano through the frontstretch. With Cindric getting stalled in ninth place despite leading a drafted lane towards the outside wall, Ty Dillon retained a narrow lead over Byron as Briscoe, Ross Chastain, Wallace and Tyler Reddick followed suit within the top-six mark.
Then on the eighth lap, the event’s first caution flew due to precipitation being reported around the superspeedway venue. At the moment of caution, Byron had fended off Cindric, Ty Dillon and the rest of the field that was stacked up to three lanes to emerge as the leader. By the 11th lap, the field would be directed to park their respective pit stalls and the event was placed in a red flag period.
More than three hours later, the field returned to the track that was dried under caution. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Byron pitted, primarily for fuel, while the rest led by Michael McDowell and including Cole Custer, Ryan Blaney, Cody Ware, Zane Smith and rookie Riley Herbst remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Joey Logano exited pit road first as he was followed by Byron, Cindric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Briscoe, Ross Chastain, Ty Dillon, Wallace, Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek, respectively.
As the field continued to pace around the superspeedway venue under caution, select names that included McDowell and Alex Bowman would pit to top off their respective entries with fuel prior to a restart. With McDowell pitting, Ryan Blaney cycled into the lead. The field, however, would return to pit road and be placed in a second red flag period due to sprinkles falling on the venue.
Twenty minutes later, the field returned to the track at a cautious pace. During the caution period, some led by Blaney and including Zane Smith, Herbst, Jimmie Johnson and Nemechek pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.
When the Daytona 500 resumed under green flag conditions under the lights on Lap 23, Logano and Byron dueled in front of the field through the first two turns until Logano muscled ahead from the outside lane. Through the backstretch, Cindric and Briscoe attempted to draft ahead of the pack behind Logano until Byron muscled back alongside Cindric from the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4. Logano would proceed to lead the following lap as the stacked field fanned out to three lanes. With Shane van Gisbergen leading a third drafting lane towards the outside lane, Logano led the Lap 25 mark in front of two stacked lanes that were led by Byron and Cindric.
Through the first 30 scheduled laps, Logano was leading ahead of Byron and three-stacked lanes through the frontstretch. Shortly after, Logano moved up the racetrack to block Kyle Busch. This allowed Byron to draw even with Logano from the inside lane through the first two turns. Then through the backstretch, Logano blocked Busch, which placed both in the middle of a three-wide packed action towards the front as Chase Elliott led a third lane with drafting help from Cindric. Back at the front, Byron led the Lap 31 mark as he was followed by Ty Dillon and Corey LaJoie. LaJoie would then receive a draft from Logano through the backstretch to overtake Byron as he led the following lap.
At the Lap 40 mark, all 41 starters were separated by under three seconds while the top-28 competitors were separated by within a second of one another. By then, Logano, who reassumed the lead on Lap 35, was edged by Chase Elliott as Kyle Busch, Cindric, LaJoie, Wallace, Byron, Briscoe, Stenhouse and Ty Dillon were jostling in the top 10 amid the draft. Meanwhile, Reddick, Chastain, Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones and Kyle Larson were all racing in the top 20, respectively, while Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Herbst, Todd Gilliland, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman followed suit in the top 30, respectively. In addition, notable names that included Helio Castroneves, Jimmie Johnson and Daniel Suarez were mired in 33rd, 38th and 40th, respectively.
Two laps later, Busch, who dueled with Elliott for the lead during the previous lap, made a bold three-wide move beneath Logano and Elliott through the first two turns. Busch’s move briefly drew him even with Logano before the latter received a draft from Elliott to muscle back ahead from the outside lane. As Logano moved in front of Busch entering the frontstretch, Busch veered his No. 8 zone Chevrolet entry right and tried to draw even with Logano, but he had no drafting help as Logano retained the lead with drafting help from Byron, LaJoie and Reddick. Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger had fallen off the pace due to a mechanical issue to his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet entry.
By Lap 50, the top four competitors were racing in a single-line formation towards the inside lane and ahead of the rest of the field that was still fanned out to multiple lanes. By then, Logano, who has been leading since Lap 42, was leading ahead of Byron, Hamlin, and Busch, respectively. Not long after, Keselowski, LaJoie, and Blaney overtook fifth-place Wallace during the following lap. Then after briefly settling in the single-line formation on the inside lane, Keselowski transitioned his No. 6 Kroger Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry back to the outside lane and boosted himself up alongside Byron with drafting help from Blaney. Logano would be placed on defensive mode as he blocked Keselowski through the frontstretch and maintained the lead by Lap 53.
Just past the Lap 55 mark, Logano remained in front of Keselowski with the lead amid the draft. Logano kept Keselowski drafting him through every straightaway and corner over the next five laps as Blaney, Stenhouse, Bell, Bowman, Suarez, Jones, Reddick and Todd Gilliland all followed suit in the top 10. By then, a majority of the field migrated towards the outside lane in a draft while Gilliland was leading a small drafting group from the inside lane.
Then on Lap 62, the event’s first caution not related to weather flew when Denny Hamlin, who was racing in the middle of the pack, got hit in the rear end by Zane Smith amid a brief stack-up that occurred in front of the former in Turn 2. As a result, Hamlin briefly got sideways as he steered his No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota Camry XSE entry below the apron and kept his car racing straight. In the process, however, Smith, who was trying to avoid Hamlin, went up the track and briefly clipped Cindric, which got Smith spinning towards the apron before he went back up the track and was hit by an oncoming Josh Berry towards the backstretch’s outside wall. The incident left Berry with a damaged left-front fender to his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry and Smith with a broken toe link to his No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry. Meanwhile, Hamlin did not sustain any significant damage and proceeded on the lead lap.
The incident involving Berry, Hamlin and Smith was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 65 to officially conclude under caution as Logano, the reigning three-time Cup Series champion, captured the first stage victory of the 2025 season. Keselowski settled in second while Blaney, Stenhouse, Bell, Suarez, Bowman, Reddick, Jones and Byron were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, a majority of the lead lap field led by Logano pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Logano exited pit road first ahead of teammate Blaney, Suarez, Bowman, Stenhouse, Wallace, Reddick, Elliott, Byron and Keselowski, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier and Busch were penalized due to having crew members jumping over the pit wall too soon prior to pit services.
The second stage period which started on Lap 70 and was led by both Logano and Bowman did not last long. Just as Bowman was drafted to the lead by Wallace from the inside lane, the caution quickly returned when Logano caused a major stack-up to the competitors racing behind him on the outside lane through the first two turns. As a result, Nemechek, who was racing in the middle of the pack, made contact with Chastain and sent the latter up the track and into Helio Castroneves in Turn 1. Castroneves then spun back into the path of Nemechek as both wrecked against one another, including Cody Ware as Chastain was hit by Truex while sideways. More names including Herbst, Briscoe and Kyle Busch also wrecked amid the stack-up while the rest of the competitors racing in the mid-pack region scattered. The wreck would take Castroneves, Chastain and Truex out of contention for the remainder of the event.
During the caution period, Logano pitted and the hood of his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry was lifted as his pit crew addressed a potential mechanical issue. With the pit crew changing out the ECU, Logano would lose a lap to the leaders. Soon after, some led by Bowman pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 76, teammates Blaney and Cindric dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. They would remain dead even in front of Buescher, Preece and the rest of the field as Cindric led the following lap. By then, Buescher moved up the track to block Elliott as he led a third drafting lane. Preece would also move up in front of Buescher and he led the outside lane while Blaney was pinned in the middle. Amid the drafts, Cindric retained the lead from the inside lane for the following lap as he was in front of Noah Gragson.
Just past the Lap 80 mark, a three-wide action for the lead ensued as Preece led the outside lane and Cindric led the middle lane while Gragson led the inside lane. All three competitors would duel against one another in front of three-stacked lanes as Cindric, who briefly got loose while being drafted by Michael McDowell from the middle lane, was pinned in between Gragson and Preece. As the three-wide intensity at the front continued to ensue, the caution would then return on Lap 82 due to debris reported on the track in Turn 1. The caution would serve as a big break for Logano, who received the free pass to return to the lead lap category due to being the first competitor a lap down.
During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Cindric returned to pit road for service, primarily for fuel, while the rest led by Wallace remained on the track. Not long after, Wallace would lead the next wave of competitors to pit road for service, which allowed Cindric to reassume the lead.
The start of the next restart on Lap 86 featured Cindric and Elliott dueling for the lead in front of two-stacked lanes through the first two turns and backstretch while McDowell tried to mount a charge from the third drafting lane towards the outside lane. With McDowell drawing close to the front with drafting help from Gilliland, Cindric and Elliott were dead even at the start/finish line during the next lap before McDowell drew even with both entering the first two turns.
The field would remain fanned out in three-stacked lanes by the Lap 90 mark as Cindric retained a narrow lead over both McDowell and Elliott. Over the next five laps, McDowell, Cindric and Gragson would duel dead even against one another in three-wide formation and in front of three-stacked lanes through every straightaway and corner. By then, Gragson was being drafted by Preece from the inside lane and Cindric was being drafted by Elliott and Blaney from the middle lane while McDowell was being drafted by Gilliland and Ty Dillon up on the outside lane.
At the halfway mark on Lap 100, the top 34 competitors that were scored on the lead lap were separated by less than two seconds of one another while the top 30 competitors were separated by under a second. By then, Preece, who led the inside lane, transitioned up to the outside lane as he was leading ahead of Gragson, Bowman, Cindric and McDowell, respectively, while Buescher, Elliott, Gilliland, Bell and Blaney followed suit in the top 10.
Ten laps later, Cindric, who led the previous four laps, was leading ahead of Elliott, Blaney, Bowman and Suarez as Buescher, Reddick, Austin Dillon, Bell, LaJoie, Byron and Larson were all jostling inside the top 12. Meanwhile, Logano, who had recovered from his early engine issues, was dueling with Hamlin for 13th place. By then, a majority of the front-runners scaled back down to two-wide formation amid a stacked-up competition while Cindric maintained a narrow lead from the outside lane.
Another five laps later, Cindric and Bowman dueled for the lead as the field began to fan out to three-stacked lanes. By then, Gilliland was leading a third drafting lane towards the outside lane as he started to charge to the front before Elliott and Blaney moved up in front of Gilliland to ignite their charges. This placed Cindric in defensive mode as Bowman, who reported a potential mechanical issue to his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet entry, led Lap 116 from the inside lane.
By Lap 120, Cindric led a five-car breakaway from the field that was still stacked up to three lanes as the leader was led by teammate Blaney, Elliott, Gilliland and Herbst, respectively. Behind, Erik Jones muscled up to sixth place while Busch, Bowman, Allgaier, Buescher, Wallace, Hamlin, Logano, Stenhouse, Gibbs, Bell, Redick, Suarez, LaJoie and Keselowski were all jostling inside the top 20. Over the next eight laps, Cindric and Bowman would fiercely duel between one another for the lead in front of two-stacked lanes. By then, Cindric kept teammate Blaney drafting him from the outside lane while Bowman had Buescher and Logano drafting him from the inside lane.
During the final lap of the second stage period, Bowman mounted a charge from the inside lane through the final two turns, but the outside lane remained as the preferred line in the straightaways as Cindric muscled his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry back ahead while being drafted by Blaney. Then entering the frontstretch, Cindric broke away from the field with no drafting help. This allowed Blaney to migrate his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry to the outside lane, where he then received a late draft from Elliott to overtake Cindric and claim the second-stage victory on Lap 130. With Blaney winning the stage, Cindric settled in second ahead of Elliott, Bowman and Gilliland while Buescher, Jones, Logano, Wallace and Busch were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, Logano pitted when pit road was closed to have his air box changed, which dropped him to the rear of the field. Soon after, a majority of the lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for service that included fresh tires and a full tank of fuel while the rest led by Carson Hocevar remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Blaney exited pit road first as he was followed by Wallace, Cindric, Busch, and Elliott, respectively. The remaining competitors that did not pit, including Hocevar, would pit not long after, which allowed Blaney to cycle back into the lead.
With 63 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Blaney and Busch occupied the front row in front of Wallace, Larson, Cindric and Buescher. At the start, Blaney and Busch dueled in front of the field through the first two turns before Wallace gave Blaney a draft that allowed the latter to muscle ahead of the former through the backstretch.
As the field fanned out exiting Turn 4, Blaney motored ahead to lead the next lap. Blaney would then get pinned and shoved out amid a three-wide action as Wallace made his move to the lead over Busch. After receiving a bump from Elliott through the backstretch, Wallace gained a slight advantage through Turns 3 and 4 before Blaney surged back to the front to duel with Wallace. Wallace, Blaney and Busch would all proceed to battle for the lead against one another and in front of three-stacked lanes with 60 laps remaining.
Down to the final 50 laps of the event, the top 26 competitors were separated by less than a second of one another as a three-wide action for the lead between Wallace, Byron and Blaney ensued. By then, Wallace led the outside lane and Blaney was mired in the middle lane while Byron moved in front of Busch to lead the inside lane. In addition to the three-wide action for the lead, a majority of the front-runners were racing deep in three-packed lanes.
Ten laps later, the trio of Wallace, Blaney and Byron continued to duel dead even against one another through three lanes and in front of three-stacked lanes. A lap later, however, the caution flew due to debris being reported on the track. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Wallace pitted, with some pitting for only fuel while others pitted for tires. Following the pit stops, Cindric exited pit road first as he was followed by Wallace, Blaney, Byron, Elliott, Busch, Austin Dillon, Nemechek, Buescher and Briscoe, respectively. During the pit stops, Jimmie Johnson, who was racing toward the front prior to the caution period, lost a bevy of spots due to getting blocked on pit road.
As the event restarted under green with 35 laps remaining, Cindric and Wallace battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns before Wallace received a draft from Byron that muscled Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE entry out in front. With the field starting to fan out to three lanes, Wallace fended off both Cindric and Byron to lead the next lap before Cindric drew even with Wallace. By then, Cindric had teammate Blaney drafting him from the inside lane while Byron blocked teammate Elliott as the latter tried to start a third drafting line towards the outside lane. As the outside lane led by Wallace was trying to gather back into formation, Cindric broke ahead along with Blaney and Busch while Nemechek tried to mount a charge from the middle lane.
Under the final 30 laps, the top-five competitors were racing in single-line formation as Cindric was leading ahead of Blaney, Busch, Austin Dillon and Bell. Behind, Herbst and Nemechek dueled for sixth place in front of Hamlin, Gragson and Reddick while Wallace was trying to draft his way back to the front from a third drafting lane towards the outside wall. With a majority of the field remaining stacked amid three drafting lanes, the top eight competitors were racing in single-line formation on the inside lane with 25 laps remaining. By then, Cindric continued to lead in front of Blaney, Busch, Austin Dillon, Bell, Herbst, Gragson and Bowman, respectively, while Hamlin was trying to blend in a lane to charge to the front.
With 20 laps remaining, Cindric maintained the lead in front of a 10-car breakaway from the stacked field through every corner and straightaway. By then, both LaJoie and Stenhouse were trying to mount charges with their respective lanes.
Then five laps later, the caution flew when Logano, who was mired in sixth place and mounting a charge to the front amid the draft, turned Stenhouse while trying to squeeze beneath his No. 47 SunnyD Chevrolet entry through the backstretch. The contact resulted in Stenhouse getting turned and clipping Blaney. In the process, Stenhouse rammed into Kyle Busch and sent the latter for a spin towards the backstretch’s infield while Logano got turned by Gragson as they collided into Gilliland towards the outside wall. Elliott and Custer would also crash while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage. The incident spoiled Busch’s opportunity to win his first elusive Daytona 500 event in his 20th attempt while Logano, who led 43 laps, was also taken out of contention. Meanwhile, LaJoie had taken the lead from Cindric.
The start of the next restart with eight laps remaining featured LaJoie and Cindric dueling as the former launched ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from Nemechek. LaJoie then moved up the track in front of Cindric through the first two turns as Hamlin came mounting up to draft both. Through the backstretch, Cindric overtook LaJoie with drafting help from Hamlin. Despite leading the next lap, Cindric would be placed in defensive mode as Hamlin kept drafting Cindric through the frontstretch.
Then through the backstretch with seven laps remaining, Hamlin moved to the outside of Cindric and he was drafted into the lead by teammate Bell. Hamlin proceeded to lead the next lap while keeping Cindric behind him, which allowed Bell to mount a charge while leading the outside lane through the first two turns. Bell would duel with Hamlin as the former was being drafted by Custer from the backstretch to the frontstretch in front of two-stacked lanes.
Entering the backstretch, the caution returned due to a wild accident that started when Bell got turned into the outside wall head-on by Custer. As most of the field zipped by Bell’s wrecked car, the latter then came back across the track and was collided into by Preece, which got the front end of Preece’s No. 60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry airborne. With Preece being pinned next to Erik Jones’ entry, Preece’s entry then rolled over and flipped on its roof before it shot back up the Turn 3 degree banking and hit the outside wall while flipping back over on all four wheels. More names including Keselowski, Larson, Suarez and Wallace would also be involved in the incident as the event was placed in a red flag period for more than six minutes to have the carnage cleared.
Preece’s incident marked the second time in three years that he was involved in a rollover accident at Daytona in the closing laps. Despite enduring the wild ride, Preece emerged uninjured. After being released from the infield care center, however, Preece issued a concerning message to prevent race cars from going airborne and placing drivers at risk.
“I don’t know if it’s the diffuser or what that makes these cars like a sheet of plywood when you walk out on a windy day,” Preece said in the infield care center. “When the car took off like that, it got really quiet. All I thought about was my daughter, so I’m lucky to walk away, but we’re getting really close to somebody not being able to. It’s frustrating when you end your day like this.”
With the event restarting in overtime, Hamlin received a draft from his 23XI Racing teammate Riley Herbst to launch ahead of Cindric, where the former then quickly moved up the track to block Cindric. As Hamlin transitioned back to the inside lane, Cindric received a draft from Custer to storm back into the lead entering the backstretch. With Custer and Bowman following suit to Cindric, Hamlin came storming back from the inside lane as he was pushed by Herbst and LaJoie entering Turns 3 and 4.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Cindric darted left and right to block runs by both Custer and Hamlin as Herbst got bumped and sent for a mini slide through the tri-oval. Herbst managed to keep his car racing straight without hitting the wall as the race remained under green flag conditions. By then, Cindric was still blocking Hamlin as both were being closely pursued by three-stacked rows of competitors.
Then in the backstretch, contact between Custer and Briscoe triggered a multi-car wreck that resulted in LaJoie spinning towards the infield while the leader Hamlin was sent spinning in the middle of the straightaway while being latched onto Custer’s entry. Hamlin and Custer would then slide up into the backstretch’s wall and into the path of Alex Bowman before Ty Gibbs clipped Cody Ware and sent Ware into the left side of Hamlin while Gibbs was hit by Justin Haley.
Amid the carnage and with the race remaining under green-flag conditions, Byron, who remained towards the outside wall, escaped with the lead as he was followed by Reddick. Through Turns 3 and 4, Reddick was unable to gain any draft nor momentum to draw even with Byron. As a result, Byron was able to steer his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet entry back to the tri-oval and claim the checkered flag to win the Daytona 500 for a second consecutive year.
With the victory, Byron, who won his first Daytona 500 event in 2024 after leading only the final four laps, became the first competitor to win the Daytona 500 in back-to-back seasons since Denny Hamlin made the previous accomplishment between 2019 and 2020. The Charlotte native also became the 13th competitor overall to win the Great American Race multiple times as he racked up his 14th career win in the Cup Series division and his third at Daytona International Speedway.
As added bonuses, Byron rewarded the 27th Daytona 500 victory for the Chevrolet nameplate, the fifth for the No. 24 entry and the 10th for Hendrick Motorsports (HMS), which made the organization the winningest Daytona 500 team.
“Obviously, [I had] some good fortune, but [I] just trusted my instinct on the last lap there,” Byron said on the frontstretch on FOX. “I felt like [the leaders] were getting squirreling on the bottom [lane]. I was honestly gonna go third lane, regardless, because I was, probably, sixth coming down the [backstretch]. [I was] Just, obviously, fortunate that it worked out in our favor. Just really proud of this team. [They] Worked super hard all week and [I] had an amazing car. [I] Just had a really hard time with the fuel savings and staying towards the front. I can’t, honestly, believe that, but we’re here, so proud of it.”
“[Winning the Daytona 500]’s, obviously, really special,” Byron added. “It’s an amazing race. [There was] Obviously, a lot of crazy racing out there tonight and just a lot of pushing and shoving, but just really proud of our team. I can’t stress that enough. I’m just super thankful for this group and everything that they do in the off-season to get prepared. 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 [in November].”
Amid the final-lap incident that resulted in Byron winning, Tyler Reddick, who barely got hit by his owner Hamlin and managed to keep his No. 45 Nasty Beast Toyota Camry XSE entry racing straight, followed Byron across the finish line to finish in second place. The runner-up result marked Reddick’s career-best result in the Great American Race after his previous best result was 27th, which occurred in 2019 and 2021.
“When [the leaders] started to spin on the dogleg, I jumped out of line thinking that was going to be it,” Reddick said. “We just kept going. I knew that me and [Byron] had a good run and they were throwing big blocks. When they started spinning on the inside, I had a run on [Byron]. I thought, ‘Man, if I could just snake through and [Hamlin] not scrub my speed [while he was spinning], I would have, at least, had an opportunity to do something. All in all, I never really finished the race here unless it was 40 laps down, so I’ll take second. We wanted to get a good start to the year and we scored a lot of points today. I’m really happy with everyone’s effort on this No. 45 Nasty Beast Toyota Camry.”
Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson, who was racing in the middle of the pack, managed to weave his way through the carnage to steer his No. 84 Carvana Toyota Camry XSE entry in third place. The result marked both his first top-three result and his best overall result as a driver/owner of Legacy Motor Club (LMC). Johnson’s prior top-three result occurred at Dover Motor Speedway in August 2020. The result was also one that left Johnson beaming in his 699th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.
“This feels incredible,” Johnson said. “I have emotions that I didn’t expect to have. I’ve never been in this position as an owner. It’s really opened up a different set of emotions. The pride that I have in this result and the pride that I have in this company and all that we’re trying to achieve and the journey we’re on. I am so satisfied, so happy right now. It’s just been [an] interesting couple of years and to have the cars come out and be this strong, this Toyota was rocket ship fast. I’m just smiling inside now.”
Chase Briscoe, the pole-sitter, barely weaved his way through the final-lap incident to finish in fourth place while John Hunter Nemechek, Johnson’s teammate and driver at LMC, came home in fifth place, which marked the first time two LMC entries finished in the top five in a single event.
Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney settled in sixth and seventh, respectively, while Austin Cindric, who led a race-high 59 laps, fell back to eighth place after he was involved in the final-lap wreck. Justin Allgaier muscled his way to a ninth-place finish in JR Motorsports’ first Cup event while Chris Buescher completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Denny Hamlin, who led six laps and was leading on the final lap prior to his involvement in the multi-car wreck on the backstretch, ended up in 24th place.
“I thought we were in a great spot many, many times in the last 10 laps,” Hamlin said. “[Custer] had the run and I chose not to block him. In these races, you got to live to make it off of Turn 4 and we just didn’t. I thought [Custer] steered left and was trying to crowd it. I understand everyone’s trying to go for it and he’s going for it. All of us are, but in those situations, I told him, it was like, we got to get off of [Turn] 4, then we can [go for it], but we just never made it and somebody else won.”
There were 56 lead changes for 15 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 47 laps. In addition, 24 of 41 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the first event of the 2025 Cup Series season, Ryan Blaney leads the regular-season standings by a single point over William Byron, three over Austin Cindric, seven over Tyler Reddick, nine over Alex Bowman and 11 over both Chris Buescher and Erik Jones.
Results:
1. William Byron, 10 laps led
2. Tyler Reddick
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Chase Briscoe, four laps led
5. John Hunter Nemechek
6. Alex Bowman, 11 laps led
7. Ryan Blaney, 23 laps led Stage 2 winner
8. Austin Cindric, 59 laps led
9. Justin Allgaier
10. Chris Buescher
11. Michael McDowell, four laps led
12. Erik Jones
13. Daniel Suarez
14. Ty Dillon, three laps led
15. Chase Elliott, two laps led
16. Ty Gibbs
17. Riley Herbst
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19. Justin Haley
20. Kyle Larson
21. Cole Custer
22. Corey LaJoie, 10 laps led
23. Austin Dillon
24. Denny Hamlin, six laps led
25. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident
26. Brad Keselowski, one lap down
27. Todd Gilliland, two laps down
28. Noah Gragson, three laps down, two laps led
29. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident, 18 laps led
30. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Fuel Pressure, one lap led
31. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident
32. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident, six laps led
33. Shane van Gisbergen, eight laps down
34. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident
35. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 43 laps led, Stage 1 winner
36. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident
37. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident
38. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident
39. Helio Castroneves – OUT, Accident
40. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident
41. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Engine
With the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season officially underway, the next event on the schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Ambetter Health 400. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, February 23, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
