Media Predictions, the Story, and the Complete Story
By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net
Daytona Beach, Fla. — Predicting the Daytona 500 is a crapshoot. Superstars of the sport have won the race and some win and drive down the road and never make it back to the show. A driver that leads only one lap in the race and admittingly had a less than stellar 2025 takes home the checkered flag in the NASCAR showcase event.
What it means to race at the Great American Race let alone win it is not lost on any driver. Joey Logano said, “It’s the Daytona 500. I don’t think you have to put words behind what it means. Everybody knows — if you know, you know. If you’re a NASCAR fan, you grew up watching it, you know that Daytona 500. Even if you’re not a fan, you know that Daytona 500. It’s a race that everybody wants to win so bad that, yeah, it’s an emotional victory. Because it’s The Great American Race. There’s no other race like it. And I don’t think we have to explain that to anyone. I think it’s just known at this point.” There is nothing more to be said.
Our question to Kurt Russell and Miranda Lambert
Let’s drop the green flag
Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe lead the field.
Stage 1 Top 8 after S1
Busch leads the first six laps of the race, and BJ McLeod brings out the yellow flag going into the wall and collecting Casey Mears ,and two-time defending race champion William Byron. The race resumes on lap 11 with most of the field topping off with Sunoco Fuel. Busch is in the lead and Logano second. Logano takes the lead on lap 12 but JH Nemechek leads Logano by a car length. Nemechek continues to run out front with Logano and Keselowski 2nd-3rd. Logano takes the lead on lap 32. The leaders are turning on the throttle and are running 47-second laps (188+ mph). Lead change on lap 37 as the leaders shuffle with Briscoe taking the lead and Ty Gibbs is second, bringing the tenth lead change halfway through S1.
Running the top line, Briscoe is leading the three-wide race with a line of storms just north of the speedway heading due south. A pair of minor accidents with Byron rubbing the wall and Jimmie Johnson sliding going into the grass are not enough to bring out the yellow flag. With drivers cycling into the pits, Zane Smith takes the lead with Austin Cindric second. The Stage had one caution for six laps and had 13 lead changes. Briscoe led the most laps with 23.
Stage 2
With cars cycling in the pits, Ryan Blaney, Austin CIndric and Chris Buescher are making a 1-2-3 Ford sweep to start the stage. Lurking is the #11 Denny Hamlin. Hamlin is your leader on lap 75. Bubba Wallace leads Hamlin by a fist on lap 77 with Cindric third. On lap 80, Cody Ware takes the lead with Bubba staying in second. Ware took the free pass earlier in the race.
Lap 83 brings out the big one. A nine-car accident collected some of the best machines in the field. Briscoe and Zilisch are collected and go multiple laps down.
Ross Chastain brings the field back to green following the accident and most of the field has topped off their fuel cells. Chastain, Hamlin, and Kyle Larson are 1-2-3 with the field driving three-wide after the leaders, who are driving single file. Cindric goes around Chastain and Buescher is still third. Thirty-five drivers are on the lead lap. There have been three cautions for 17 laps with 27 lead changes at the halfway point of the race.
SVG goes out front on lap 100 with Larson and Chastain right behind the 97. Larson takes his first lead on lap 104 and Busch has made his move back to the front. Leaders are trading the lead at a furious pace as drafting is shuffling the deck multiple times each lap. With 15 to go in S2, Busch, Larson, and SVG are 1-2-3. Lap 123 brings a multiple-car accident and several drivers go into the turn one asphalt jungle. In all, 17 cars are collected. Heavy damage for Larson. SVG is a leader also caught up in the mess. NASCAR has scored Wallace as the S2 winner.
This race has featured remarkable competition with 39 lead changes among 19 different drivers. We’ve seen four cautions for 18 laps so far.
Final Stage
Most drivers pit on lap 131 for tires and fuel and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. takes the lead with Smith and Ty Gibbs 2-3. The green flag is dropped on lap 132. By lap 140, it’s Bubba, Bell, and Corey Heim. The field is three-wide. The leaders are clogging up the field and are fuel saving on lap 154.
Final Laps
Michael McDowell leads from the outside with Tyler Reddick on the inside as the race restarts. Reddick takes the lead in Turn 1, and he and William Byron clear the field in Turn 2. When Reddick attempts to block both lanes, McDowell moves to the outside. The three drivers – Byron, Reddick, and McDowell – battle three-wide for the lead coming off Turn 4. Reddick outlasts everyone and wins a race with 66 lead changes and five cautions. Three for cause.
2026 Daytona 500 Champion- Tyler Reddick
Reddick, leads one lap in the race and leads the right lap for his first Daytona 500 win. Reddick on his 2025 season. Last year was really hard for all of us, hard for me. When you’re a Cup driver and you get to this level and drive for Michael Jordan, it’s expected you win every single year.
For us to go on that drought we did made us look hard in the mirror, and really proud of everyone on our Chumba Casino Toyota Camry. Worked really hard in the off-season, and there was many points in this race where we weren’t making decisions we wanted to, but we just reset, and every opportunity we got to reset we went back at it.
Just speechless. I didn’t know if I’d ever win this race. It’s surreal, honestly. Honestly, the best part is my son asked before this race, Are you finally going to win this race? Something about today just felt right.”
They Said It…
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 18th
“Just one of those races where you are just trying to be smart and be patient. Just trying to be smart the first two-thirds of the race and not getting in anything. Did a good job of that. We had to wait a little longer and I was basically at the tail end of the pack and we made a call there to try to do tires and it’s just hard to go anywhere on those restarts. I felt like every lane I would get in, I would get checked up and go to the back again. Technically, we missed the wreck, didn’t save it and did a 360 and that cost us some spots. But, yeah, just happy to come out unscathed and all in one piece and go do this again in Atlanta.”
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 12th
“We had a lot of damage on our car from the Stage One incident. Our right-front suspension was bent, so the car was driving really weird and it was just super, super loose, as well as tight as the same time. I couldn’t believe we had a shot there at the end. I thought that was amazing. It was a great strategy with the fuel sequence, and I thought, man, we have a shot with lining up on the front two rows. That’s all you can ask for. I thought Tyler (Reddick) was out to a pretty decent lead on the restart, and I thought the bottom was the place to be. There was one time I got clear and I probably could have taken the middle, but I didn’t know if the balance of my car could handle being there. I just had to keep my car straight, so I thought if I tried to make a block, I would wreck. It was just incredible that we had a shot at it there at the end.”
Tale of the Tape
How they Finished
Factoid that may Interest Only Me
The sixty-six NASCAR leaders is the most in Daytona history.
Fantasy Results
A combination of top-notch CUP drivers is in my fantasy lineup along with RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. runs very well at Daytona and won the race several years ago. Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney got strong consideration, but these drivers will earn heavy fantasy use later in the regular season.
After Race Analysis 162 race points with 10 more in the matchups. A so-so day. Best pick, Buescher. I picked him to win the race. He finished 7th. Worst pick. No one. Chase Briscoe finished with one point and we moved him to the bench. We will pick it up in Echo Park next week.
