Ryan Blaney put Ford back into Victory Lane for the first time in nearly three months Saturday night and gained momentum heading into next weekend’s playoff opener.
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion was first to the checkered flag in a frantic, four-wide finish in Saturday night’s regular-season finale, taking the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Running 13th with two laps left, the Team Penske driver stormed past Cole Custer on the final lap and nipped Daniel Suarez by 0.031 seconds for his second win this season and first for Ford since Blaney won at Nashville on June 1.
Justin Haley, Custer and Erik Jones completed the top five.
“What a wild last couple of laps,” said Blaney, who led 27 laps and won for the second time at Daytona (August 2021). “Cole and I waited and waited. He made a good move to get to the top, and we were able to get good shoves. … I was able to get clear on the top and just hold out for the win.”
A Ford won for the third time in the past five Daytona races.
Points contenders Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman, 15th and 16th, respectively, got caught up in wrecks not of their making within the first 30 laps. The second one, a giant pile-up that damaged Bowman’s ride, solidified Reddick in the 16-car championship field made up of 14 winners, Reddick and Bowman, who made it in despite a destroyed Chevrolet.
A win by any of the four drivers behind Blaney would have eliminated Bowman.
Chris Buescher was 17th in points and in a must-win situation, but he lost ground when leader Joey Logano spun in front of him with 12 to go.
“When he got tagged or turned or whatever, we checked up and lost our momentum and all kind of spots,” said Buescher, one of three RFK Racing drivers to miss the postseason.
The playoffs begin next Sunday night with the Round of 16 at Darlington in the Labor Day classic Southern 500.
The 160-lap race’s first major incident occurred when Todd Gilliland’s car moved left off Turn 4 while running beside Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota, which hit the inside wall beside the apron and had its nose buckle significantly.
But “The Big One” happened on Lap 27 when contact to third-place Bubba Wallace turned the No. 23 Toyota down the track, pinched Logano’s Ford and sparked a hefty mess on the 2.5-mile track’s frontstretch.
In the 12-car carnage, Bowman’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crashed against the outside wall under the flagstand, crumpling the front area of the car, sending it to the garage and creating a brief red-flag condition on Lap 29.
Mired in a slump since mid-May, Kyle Larson captured Stage 1 and earned the maximum 10 points. Florida native Ross Chastain finished second followed by Blaney, who started from the pole.
As Stage 2 neared its close, Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet expired, setting up an eight-lap shootout headed by leader William Byron, who was assessed a penalty to start the race for unapproved adjustments after inspection. Chastain won the sprint over Christopher Bell and Logano.
Logano spun on his own off Turn 4 in tight racing to fly the eighth caution and set up the wild finish.
–Field Level Media
