Tyler Reddick passed leader Chase Elliott off the final turn Sunday to win the thrilling 68th annual Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Off Turn 2 on the final lap, the 23XI Racing driver ran third to Elliott, who was getting a push from Zane Smith, but Reddick made up ground down the backstretch in his No. 45 Toyota.
The 30-year-old Corning, Calif., native then went high and swooped low off Turn 4 to beat Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 0.308 seconds as the lead group wildly wrecked before reaching the flagstand.
Joey Logano finished third, followed by Elliott and Brad Keselowski.
After John Hunter Nemechek took the lead from polesitter Kyle Busch, BJ McLeod spun at the east end of the World Center of Racing on Lap 5, and the nose of his No. 78 Chevy banged against the No. 24 of William Byron, who was piloting a backup car.
Smith led Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney to Smith’s first stage win in the No. 38 on Lap 65, as the Ford drivers worked together to keep from making a second pit stop.
The Toyotas of Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin led the field early in Stage 2, but Cody Ware, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain took off on a three-car Chevy breakaway on Lap 80 as skies darkened on the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
Trouble at the front occurred at the end of Lap 85, as rookie Connor Zilisch and Ty Gibbs made contact and spun down to the grass. Chase Briscoe slid all the way onto pit road and was T-boned by Austin Dillon — both, ironically, sponsored by Bass Pro Shops.
Busch returned to the point on Lap 106, but the Big One unfolded under the flagstand as Hamlin tried to get by Justin Allgaier as Stage 2 neared its end.
Hamlin’s No. 11 was unable to make the pass, turned Allgaier’s No. 40 Chevrolet owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and 20 cars were soon involved in the mess on the frontstretch.
Wallace claimed the segment win under caution, with Blaney and Nemechek right behind.
Wallace, Corey Heim and Christopher Bell led a Toyota sprint at the front with 40 laps left as every team tried to save fuel by racing cleanly to prepare for the final pit stop.
With nine laps remaining, Heim got Hamlin loose, and the three-time Daytona 500 winner hit Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Bell for the fifth caution with Michael McDowell the only driver who had not pitted.
