William Byron won his second consecutive Daytona 500 on Sunday, navigating through a chaotic overtime finish to claim victory in the “Great American Race” at Daytona International Speedway.
The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports driver led five times for 10 laps, becoming the fifth driver to win back-to-back Daytona 500s and the first since Denny Hamlin in 2019-20. The race saw a lengthy afternoon rain delay that pushed the finish under the lights after a late wreck set up the overtime shootout.
“It’s obviously really special,” Byron said. “It’s an amazing race, and obviously a lot of crazy racing out there tonight and just a lot of pushing and shoving.”
The 27-year-old Byron held on to win after two weather delays totaling more than 3½ hours, and with President Donald Trump set to watch the rest of the race in Florida, after he earlier led drivers on two laps around the track in his heavily armored presidential limousine known in Washington as “The Beast.”
Hendrick Motorsports won its 10th Daytona 500 to break a tie with Petty Enterprises for the record. “Just obviously fortunate it worked out in our favor,” Byron said. “Crazy? Yeah. I can’t honestly believe that but we’re here.”
Tyler Reddick finished second, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Chase Briscoe, and John Hunter Nemechek rounding out the top five. Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier, and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.
The race wouldn’t be the Daytona 500 without the ferocious late wrecks down the stretch that inevitably sent the race into overtime. With four laps left, Ryan Preece’s No. 60 Ford essentially did a wheelie before flipping onto its roof and turning back over again onto its tires before hitting the outside wall. Preece dropped his safety net afterward to signal to crews he was OK.
Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, and Brad Keselowski all had their shots at victory lane spoiled, and the race was red-flagged just 11 laps after another big crash shuffled the field and knocked four former Cup Series champions out of contention.
Reigning NASCAR champion Joey Logano and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started the multicar melee when Logano moved to the middle and Stenhouse moved to block him. It stacked up Logano, and the accordion effect sent several cars — including ones belonging to former Cup champs Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott — sliding in every direction.
Busch’s car ended up on a wrecker, extending his Daytona 500 record to 0-for-20.
Johnson and Nemechek gave Legacy Motor Club two top-five finishes. A Hall of Fame driver and seven-time NASCAR champion, Johnson is now the majority owner under an offseason restructuring. “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,” Johnson said after his highest finish in the race since winning in 2013.
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and 2017 NASCAR champion Martin Truex Jr. were among the drivers whose race ended after they were collected in a wreck before the halfway point. Castroneves made the Daytona 500 under a new rule that allows for a “world-class driver” to receive a provisional spot, while Truex, who retired from full-time racing at the end of last season, failed to win the Daytona 500 in 21 tries.
“Disappointed, of course, because I was learning so much,” Castroneves said. “It’s incredible when you have more laps into it, you understand the airflow, the guys, saving fuel.”
Truex added, “It’s always disappointing when you don’t finish, no matter the situation. It’s probably our only shot this year. It was fun while it lasted, but it was unfortunately wrong place, wrong time there.”
With the win, Byron secures his spot in the playoffs and can enter weekends looser than the rest of the field, going for wins without the pressure of trying to make the 16-car field as the season progresses. Next up is Atlanta, where the No. 24 driver is one of the best since the reconfiguration at the 1.5-mile oval, owning two wins and a ninth-place finish last summer.
