Ryan Blaney was out front when it counted.
With the field crashing behind him with half a lap to go in overtime, Blaney drove to his third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
Blaney had moved to the lead on the final restart with a shove from Corey LaJoie. As the field jockeyed for position behind him, Blaney made a big move to block a run from Kevin Harvick as the field raced through turns one and two with the white flag in the air.
As the pack battled down the backstretch, contact between Harvick and Daniel Suarez set off a massive multi-car crash, gathering up the cars of Austin Dillon, Ross Chastain, LaJoie, Erik Jones and Kyle Larson, among others.
That brought out the caution, ending the race and giving the win to Blaney.
“I’m really thankful to (Corey) LaJoie, who gave me a really good push and we were able to get clear on the restart, so I appreciate the push from him,” Blaney said. “I was having to hold off the 4 (Harvick) and the 17 (Chris Buescher) and the 7 (LaJoie) and I didn’t really know which lane to go with down the back, so I kind of picked the middle and I kind of committed to the bottom and I guess some people got turned, but what a couple of cool weeks that’s for sure.
“It was a very eventful race. It’s so cool to be here in victory lane in Daytona. Maybe we’re on a roll right now and we’ve got everything going our way. Hopefully, we keep it up.”
It’s the seventh win of Blaney’s NASCAR Cup Series career, his third on a superspeedway but his first at Daytona. It’s also his second straight victory after winning last weekend at Michigan.
“It’s huge. Momentum is what everything is all about,” said Blaney. “Confidence is key and we came into this weekend very confident after last week with our heads held high. They’ll be a little bit higher this week, so I look forward to getting to Darlington. It’s a great way to end the regular season, but we’ve still got work to do. We’ve got 10 weeks of work to do and I’ll look forward to them.”
Despite being gathered up in the final crash of the night, Larson came away as the regular season champion, giving him 15 bonus points and the top seed going into the Playoffs.
“Just things didn’t work out for me in the green-white-checkered,” said Larson after recording a 20th place finish. “Ended up getting shuffled back, then getting right in the middle of that wreck. Yeah, bummer that we didn’t get to finish well, but we accomplished the goal going into tonight, which was coming away with the regular season title.
“Got those 15 bonus points. Now we can look forward to the next 10 weeks and hopefully get some more wins.”
While Blaney was celebrating in victory lane and Larson celebrated as the regular season champion, Austin Dillon was left to wonder what might have been.
Dillon came into the final regular season race needing a win or a stronger run than his teammate, Tyler Reddick, to make the cut to be in the Playoffs. It looked like Dillon was in a good position after Reddick was gathered up in a multi-car crash on lap 147. Reddick’s team kept his car in the race, while Dillon’s team took advantage of another late caution to make a battery change in his car after suffering voltage issues all night.
Dillon was running in the top five going into final restart, but was gathered up in the final crash with half a lap to go. Reddick made it through the melee to finish fifth and make the cut to the Playoffs.
“We caught a caution and fortunately got through that last crash,” said Reddick. “Even more fortunate than that was that Ryan Blaney was able to win and if you look at the guys from third to myself, if any of those guys win but Blaney, we are having a different conversation.”
Meanwhile Dillon’s car never made it back to the finish line. He was credited with a 17th place finish.
“We fought hard. The Bass Pro Shop Chevy was very fast,” said Dillon. “Two weeks in a row we’ve had great cars out of the 3 team. Just haven’t gotten the finishes we’d like to have, but very thankful that the good Lord took care of us tonight and we get to race at Darlington next week. Unfortunate that we’re not in the Playoffs, but we gave it all we could and fought until the very end.”
With blocking being the theme of the night, the move to block cost pre-race favorite Chase Elliott. The Dawsonville, Georgia native was battling for the lead with Matt DiBenedetto with three laps to go. Elliott had taken the lead, but DiBenedetto made a move on the outside in turn three with a shove from behind from Denny Hamlin.
Elliott moved up to throw the block, leading to contact between his No. 9 Chevy and the No. 21 Ford of DiBenedetto. That triggered a massive crash coming off turn four, gathering up Christopher Bell, Cole Custer, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch and Hamlin.
Elliott was able to recover to finish in eighth.
“It’s so tough when you get in those situations where you have the lead and trying to hold it. You have big runs coming and it’s just like, where do you draw the line,” Elliott said. “I feel like you’ve got to be pretty aggressive or you’re going to get taken advantage of. That’s just the style of racing.”
“Just frustrating to come to these places and always wonder if you’re going to walk out of here,” said Kyle Busch, who was eliminated in the crash.
That fracas was setup by another multi-car crash on lap 147, triggered when contact between Martin Truex, Jr. and Stenhouse, Jr. on the backstretch sent Truex’s Toyota up the track and into the Chevy of William Byron. Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Landon Cassill and Suarez were also involved.
That crash led to a red flag condition to allow for track clean up before the race resumed.
Chris Buescher was crossed under the checkered flag in second place, but saw that result go away when the track bar mounting assembly on his No. 17 Ford did not pass post-race inspection. That led to him being disqualified from the runner-up position.
Bubba Wallace had a banner night, running near the front throughout the race before crossing the finish line in third. He would be moved to second with Buescher’s disqualification.
“Stay in it, that’s all you can do,” said Wallace after the race. “I needed to win. I was comfortable taking a hit if we were caught up in it. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and I came out third. I was happy with that, but we needed to win to get in (to the Playoffs). Up and down regular season for us. Thankful for opportunity.”
Ryan Newman came home in third, with Preece in fourth and Reddick in fifth.
Justin Haley, Alex Bowman, Elliott, B.J. McLeod, and Josh Bilicki rounded out the top 10.
With Reddick snagging the final transfer spot, the Playoffs are now set to open with the Round of 16 next weekend with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Larson leads the Playoff field into the opener, followed by Blaney, Martin Truex, Jr., Kyle Busch, Elliott, Bowman, Hamlin, William Byron, Joey Logano, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Bell, Michael McDowell, Aric Almirola, Reddick and Harvick.
NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Coke Zero Sugar 400 – August 28, 2021
1. (6) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 165.
2. (20) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 165.
3. (23) Ryan Newman, Ford, 165.
4. (24) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 165.
5. (17) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 165.
6. (28) Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, 165.
7. (15) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 165.
8. (5) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 165.
9. (30) B.J. McLeod(i), Ford, 165.
10. (36) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 165.
11. (21) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 165.
12. (8) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 165.
13. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 165.
14. (19) Aric Almirola, Ford, 165.
15. (11) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 165.
16. (33) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, Accident, 164.
17. (27) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 164.
18. (29) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 164.
19. (26) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 164.
20. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 164.
21. (16) Chase Briscoe #, Ford, Accident, 164.
22. (12) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 164.
23. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 164.
24. (25) Cole Custer, Ford, 164.
25. (9) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 164.
26. (32) Anthony Alfredo #, Ford, 163.
27. (40) David Starr(i), Ford, 163.
28. (31) Cody Ware(i), Chevrolet, 163.
29. (7) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 163.
30. (34) Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 163.
31. (37) Joey Gase(i), Ford, 162.
32. (14) Christopher Bell, Toyota, Accident, 157.
33. (10) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 156.
34. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 156.
35. (38) Kaz Grala(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 156.
36. (39) Landon Cassill(i), Toyota, Accident, 146.
37. (2) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 146.
38. (35) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 136.
39. (18) Michael McDowell, Ford, Engine, 23.
DQ: (13) Chris Buescher, Ford, 165.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 142.201 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 54 Mins, 3 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution.
Caution Flags: 8 for 31 laps.
Lead Changes: 45 among 15 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Larson 0;W. Byron 1-6;K. Harvick 7-8;W. Byron 9;D. Hamlin 10-13;W. Byron 14-15;D. Hamlin 16;W. Byron 17;A. Dillon 18-19;C. Elliott 20-41;J. Logano 42-43;C. Elliott 44-52;R. Newman 53;C. Elliott 54-55;M. Truex Jr. 56;C. LaJoie 57;M. Truex Jr. 58-69;C. Bell 70-76;J. Logano 77-94;R. Blaney 95-96;J. Logano 97-101;A. Dillon 102;R. Newman 103;W. Byron 104-105;D. Hamlin 106-107;K. Harvick 108;C. Elliott 109;K. Harvick 110;J. Logano 111;R. Chastain 112-113;R. Blaney 114-116;R. Chastain 117-123;B. Wallace 124;R. Chastain 125-126;B. Wallace 127-128;R. Chastain 129;B. Wallace 130;R. Chastain 131-132;B. Wallace 133-136;K. Busch 137-141;C. Bell 142;J. Logano 143-153;C. Buescher 154;C. Elliott 155-156;C. Buescher 157-163;R. Blaney 164-165.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Joey Logano 5 times for 37 laps; Chase Elliott 5 times for 36 laps; Ross Chastain 5 times for 14 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 2 times for 13 laps; William Byron 5 times for 12 laps; Christopher Bell 2 times for 8 laps; Bubba Wallace 4 times for 8 laps; Chris Buescher 2 times for 8 laps; Denny Hamlin 3 times for 7 laps; Ryan Blaney 3 times for 7 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 5 laps; Kevin Harvick 3 times for 4 laps; Austin Dillon 2 times for 3 laps; Ryan Newman 2 times for 2 laps; Corey LaJoie 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 9,11,18,42,19,3,7,22,37,20
Stage #2 Top Ten: 22,3,24,8,5,12,47,18,23,20
Playoff Standings: 1. Kyle Larson – 2052 (5 Wins); 2. Ryan Blaney – 2024 (3 Wins); 3. Martin Truex, Jr. – 2024 (3 Wins); 4. Kyle Busch – 2022 (2 Wins); 5. Chase Elliott – 2021 (2 Wins); 6. Alex Bowman – 2015 (3 Wins); 7. Denny Hamlin – 2015; 8. William Byron – 2014 (1 Win); 9. Joey Logano – 2013 (1 Win); 10. Brad Keselowski – 2008 (1 Win); 11. Kurt Busch – 2008 (1 Win); 12. Christopher Bell – 2005 (1 Win); 13. Michael McDowell – 2005 (1 Win); 14. Aric Almirola – 2005 (1 Win); 15. Tyler Reddick – 2003; 16. Kevin Harvick – 2002.
