Daytona 500 Recap: Byron Goes Back-to-Back
It seems like a rain delay would have calmed down some of those “first race of the year” jitters, but for some drivers, it seemed to have the opposite effect.
Back in 1979, a freak blizzard snowed in much of the East coast, creating a captive audience for that year’s Daytona 500 – the first Daytona 500 broadcast live, flag-to-flag. Richard Petty’s win was nearly overshadowed by a backstretch brawl between Cale Yarborough and the Allison brothers. The drama surrounding that win helped propel NASCAR from a regional sport to a nationwide sensation. Last Sunday, a snowstorm once again raged through the American Northeast. Was it another perfect storm for NASCAR?
In a word, yes. Despite a lengthy rain delay, the 2025 Daytona 500 earned 6.7 million views – up 13% over last year’s race, which was postponed until Monday. The consensus from new viewers and casual race fans has been quite positive, but longtime fans aren’t so sure that this sort of racing is what’s best for the sport. It definitely seemed like the level of on-track aggression was higher than normal – perhaps a release of pent-up excitement from the multi-hour rain delay. No-one was safe, not even four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, who would get caught up in a wreck less than halfway through the race.
With 15 to go, Kyle Busch, who had been previously involved in an accident earlier in the race, was charging towards the front. 2024 Cup champion Joey Logano and 2023 Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. were beating and banging, vying for position in the front of the field. Logano attempted to wedge himself into a too-narrow opening, which caused a massive wreck that took out Busch’s car, among many others. Busch will have to wait one more year to make his Daytona 500 dream a reality.
Big Wreck, Big Air
With most of the dominant cars taken out of the race, the final dozen or so laps of the Daytona 500 saw another downright violent fight for the lead. With 5 to go, a push from Cole Custer would turn Christopher Bell, resulting in a horrifying wreck that saw Ryan Preece’s car become airborne for the second time in as many years. The field would re-rack yet again, this time for an attempt at a green-white-checker finish.
As the final lap began, it seemed as though Denny Hamlin would bring home his fourth Harley J. Earl Trophy, but once again Custer would find himself turning the lead cars of Hamlin and previous winner Austin Cindric sideways. Last year’s winner, William Byron, who started the final lap in 9th position, emerged from the chaos unscathed, and became only the fifth driver in history to win back-to-back Daytona 500s. After a long day that saw nearly every car involved in some sort of on-track incident, the victory celebration from Byron and his Hendrick Motorsports crew seemed rather subdued.
In the days since, there’s been plenty of confusion, from NASCAR’s disqualification of Parker Kligerman’s Truck Series win to a massive fine levied against Chase Briscoe, who heads into Atlanta with a massive fine and a negative number of points. Both failed post-race inspection in their respective races. Even Kyle Busch is confused by NASCAR’s implementation of the newly-revised Damaged Vehicle Policy, which saw him forced to retire after his tangle with rivals Logano and Stenhouse. While Kligerman’s appeal was denied, Briscoe still has a shot at redemption.
Regardless, NASCAR captured the attention of plenty of new viewers with this style of high-stakes pack racing. Perhaps the decision to host the second race of the year at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a mini-superspeedway if there ever was one, is a stroke of brilliance. Hopefully the fans who came for the crashes and drama stick around – and, hopefully, NASCAR can smooth over some of the rough edges in their officiating.
Photos: Associated Press