Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.[15] The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0km) long.[16] The track's turns are banked at 31degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18degrees.[16]
Due to shortage issues surrounding the new Next Gen car, it was planned that the team that won the race would retain their car for the rest of the season, with NASCAR instead scanning the winner's car and place an identical paint scheme wrap (complete with Victory Lane confetti) on a prototype that would be shown at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, with the tradition of the exact winner's car being displayed at the Hall of Fame (formerly the Daytona 500 Experience) for a year being scheduled to continue in 2023.[17] However, it was later announced on March 8 that Austin Cindric's exact winning car would be displayed at the Hall of Fame.[18]
This was the first Daytona 500 without 2008 winner Ryan Newman since 2001. This was the first Daytona 500 for The Money Team Racing and Team Hezeberg. This was also the first Daytona 500 since 2016 to feature Greg Biffle, and the first Daytona 500 ever to feature Jacques Villeneuve. (Villeneuve previously failed to qualify for the event in 2008.)
The Bluegreen Vacations Duels are a pair of NASCAR Cup Series races held in conjunction with the Daytona 500 annually in February at Daytona International Speedway. They consist of two races 60 laps and 150 miles (240km) in length, which serve as heat races that set the lineup for the Daytona 500. The first race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in odd-numbered positions on pole qualifying day, while the second race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in even-numbered positions. The Duels set the lineup for positions 3–38, while positions 39 and 40 are filled by the two "Open" (teams without a charter) cars that set the fastest times in qualifying, but did not lock in a spot in the Duels.
Starting in 3rd place, Brad Keselowski took the lead from Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman and led the first lap of the race. On lap 7, Keselowski began to battle for the lead with Kyle Busch with Busch leading that lap but Keselowski got out in front of Busch on lap 8. On lap 27, Busch took the lead from Keselowski but Keselowski battled with him on lap 32 which Keselowski would lead that lap before Busch took it back the next lap. During green flag pitstops on lap 39, Jacques Villeneuve, making his first Daytona 500 start, spun coming to pit road and was able to keep the car going and no caution was thrown. The first caution flew on lap 41 when Kaz Grala's right rear wheel came off and Chase Briscoe got turned by Austin Cindric. The race restarted on lap 46 with Kyle Busch remaining as the leader. On lap 52, the second caution flew when Justin Haley's right front wheel came off. The race restarted on lap 57 with Kyle Busch remaining as the leader. On lap 58, William Byron took the lead from Busch. Harrison Burton took the lead from Byron on lap 59 but Burton lost the lead to Martin Truex Jr. on lap 61. With 3 laps to go in stage 1 on lap 63, an 8 car wreck occurred on the backstretch. It started when Brad Keselowski was pushing Harrison Burton when Keselowski pushed Burton at the wrong angle turning Burton into William Byron, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, and Alex Bowman. Burton's car caught air, flipped over, and landed back on all 4 of his wheels. Everyone walked away from the wreck without any major injuries.[24] Stage 1 ended under caution with Martin Truex Jr. winning the stage. Ryan Blaney led the field to the restart on lap 72. After green flag pit stops, Brad Keselowski took the lead on lap 110. On lap 125, Kyle Larson took the lead from Keselowski but Keselowski took it back from Larson on the next lap. With 2 laps to go in stage 2, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead and also won the stage edging out Joey Logano. The race restarted on lap 138 with Brad Keselowski leading the race. With 50 laps to go, the 5th caution flew for a 5 car crash on the front stretch. It started when Tyler Reddick got turned by Jacques Villeneuve collecting Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, and Kurt Busch. The race restarted with 41 laps to go with Austin Cindric leading the field. Cindric soon began to battle for the lead with Bubba Wallace.
Final laps
With 23 laps to go, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the lead from Wallace. Wallace led with 22 to go but Stenhouse took full advantage the next lap. With 10 laps to go, a 6 car crash occurred in the tri-oval. Kevin Harvick got turned by Kyle Larson in which Harvick turned left and hooked Noah Gragson sending Gragson into the outside wall. The wreck also collected Chase Elliott, Todd Gilliland, and Erik Jones. The race was red flagged for a short period of time for over 5 minutes. On the restart with 6 laps to go, Austin Cindric took the lead with help from his teammate Ryan Blaney. Out of turn 4 on the same lap, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got turned by Brad Keselowski and collected Chris Buescher bringing out the 7th and final caution of the race. The race would set up overtime. On the restart, Cindric held onto his lead with help from Ryan Blaney. In just his 8th Cup Series start and his 2nd Daytona 500 attempt, Austin Cindric held off the pack and beat Bubba Wallace by half a car length to win his first Cup Series race of his career. Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, and Aric Almirola rounded out the top 5 while Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski, and Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10.[25]
The race was broadcast on radio by the Motor Racing Network who has covered the Daytona 500 since 1970—and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. The booth crew consists of Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and 1989 Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace. Longtime turn announcer Dave Moody was the lead turn announcer, calling the race from atop the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 2 when the field races through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley works the backstretch for the race from a spotter's stand on the inside of the track & Kyle Rickey called the race when the field races through turns 3 and 4 from the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 4. On pit road, MRN was manned by Steve Post, Kim Coon, and Dillon Welch.
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