The pageantry, the drama, the 2025 Daytona 500 had it all. Sure, they only got 11 laps in before rain delayed the Great American Race for over three and a half hours. But the wait was well worth it. Three-wide racing was the show in this year’s race, as drivers tried to conserve fuel throughout the evening.
The battle of manufacturers certainly played out across the field, despite a strong and dominant night for the Fords of Team Penske and the possibility of Denny Hamlin becoming a four-time Daytona 500 Champion. William Byron slipped past late carnage to win his second-straight 500. The 2025 Daytona 500 will be remembered for a while, given all of the ‘Oh, my god, did that just happen’ moments.
William Byron Nabs Second Straight Daytona 500, Highlighted by Rain and Carnage
Once the weather cleared out, everything ran pretty smoothly once the 41-car field was able to get up to the full song. The first stage flew by as Joey Logano flexed the strength of his No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Mustang. Then again, a three-car incident with three laps in that stage pretty much handed Joey the stage victory on a silver platter. The early incident saw Hamlin’s No. 11 get out of the groove and hit the apron before Zane Smith and Josh Berry made contact.
Stage 1 ends under caution. Here's what happened. #NASCAR #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/Txgc9sZO3h
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 16, 2025
Penske Dominance Doesn’t Account for a Win
Sure, Logano and teammates Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric had plenty of speed and looked like the favorites for much of the night. They all found some troubles along the way. Joey’s first trouble of the night befell him during stage two, as he had some engine issues on a restart that ended up ending the night for plenty of hopefuls. His issue backed up the whole outside on the restart, and it led to cars crashing farther back in the field. The incident knocked out the likes of Martin Truex Jr, Ross Chastain, and four-time Indy 500 Champion Helio Castroneves.
Things get stacked up. Lots of trouble. #NASCAR #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/zuLmY5Mh20
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 17, 2025
The rest of stage two was a long period of fixes for Logano as he ultimately got back into the fray. While he did so, teammate Blaney was able to win the second stage with some help from Chase Elliott. The end of that stage certainly was the calm before the storm.
Stage Three Turns into Wreck Fest
As I said, Logano was able to get back into the hunt, but his night came to a screeching halt. As he and Ricky Stenhouse Jr fought for the same piece of real estate on track, Logano hooked Stenhouse’s No. 47, sending teammate Ryan Blaney into the outside wall. The wreck started the Daytona 500 down a path of ugliness in a hurry. While drivers are gonna throw blame at others, it certainly looks like Logano was once again being an idiot and took out a lot of good cars.
Welp, we knew this was coming. #NASCAR #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/QA03BiHCjB
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 17, 2025
Ryan Preece Takes Flight Again
Planes are made to fly, race cars, not so much. However, RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece once again found himself flipping through the air. In the closing laps of the Daytona 500, it appeared Denny Hamlin had taken control of the race en route to a fourth win in the great race. His teammate Christopher Bell got a bad push from Cole Custer, and calamity befell the pack.
Christopher Bell goes into the wall. Ryan Preece flips. Wow. pic.twitter.com/T89oxCUJQz
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 17, 2025
Preece ended up flipping upside down for the second time at Daytona in three years. Everyone remembers the horrifying flip through the backstretch grass that isn’t there anymore, but Preece once again caught air. It further proves that NASCAR has some work to do with the defuser on the car. Preece certainly implied in his interview following his release from the care center he’s getting tired of flipping, and they are getting closer and closer to someone not walking away for such a wreck.
READ MORE: NASCAR Flip Over Crashes Continue To Evolve
William Byron Somehow Does It Again
Sure, the battle for the win in overtime certainly appeared to be between Hamlin and Cindric, but some pushes gone wrong after the white flag led to one of the most shocking finishes in recent Daytona 500 memory. William Byron, the 2024 winner of this great race, pulled off the feat once again. Right place at the right time, no doubt.
In doing so, Byron became just the fifth driver to win the Daytona 500 in back-to-back seasons, joining Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin, and Hamlin. It was one heck of a moment to see the car number I grew up watching and loving win back-to-back Daytona 500s. And for it to be the 10th Daytona 500 win for Hendrick Motorsports is special. Even if he wasn’t the dominant car. Luck is better than good sometimes, and that was the case once again for Byron.
BACK TO BACK DAYTONA 500 CHAMPIONS!!! pic.twitter.com/yF4feqvYmD
— William Byron (@WilliamByron) February 17, 2025
That might not have been the craziest story of the night, as seven-time Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson ended up with a third-place finish. And I have to shout out Justin Allgaier and JR Motorsports on bagging a Top 10 finish in their First Cup race. Outstanding job by that group.
The 2025 Daytona 500 is going to be in the memory bank for a while.
Featured Image Credit: Jared C. Tilton. Getty Images. 2/16/2025
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