JR Motorsports (JRM) will attempt to etch a new chapter to its illustrious racing legacy by fielding a NASCAR Cup Series entry for the first time on this year’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
Justin Allgaier, the reigning Xfinity Series champion from Riverton, Illinois, who pilots the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro entry for JRM in the Xfinity division, has been named the driver of JRM’s No. 40 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry throughout the upcoming Daytona Speedweeks as he attempts to secure the organization’s first participation in both a NASCAR’s premier series event and in the Great American Race.
With Allgaier named the driver of JRM’s first Cup entry, Greg Ives, the 2014 Xfinity championship-winning crew chief, will work atop the pit box of the No. 40 entry that will be sponsored by Traveller Whiskey, the latter of which was created by 10-time Grammy Award-winning artist and country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton.
The news comes as JRM is coming off its 19th consecutive campaign in the Xfinity circuit, where the organization achieved its fourth championship with Allgaier, the latter of whom notched his first championship within NASCAR’s top three national touring series in his 14th campaign in the Xfinity Series. Throughout the 2024 season, Allgaier also notched two race victories and utilized consistency throughout the Xfinity Playoffs en route to his first title. He has amassed 25 career victories through 471 current starts in the Xfinity circuit.
To date, Allgaier has made 82 career starts in the Cup Series division. He made his first four career starts in NASCAR’s premier series in 2013 before he spent the following two seasons as a full-time Cup competitor, all of which occurred with Turner Scott Motorsports. After scaling back down to the Xfinity circuit to join JRM, beginning 2016, the Illinois native would only make a total of seven additional Cup starts in five over the next nine seasons (2016, 2020-22, 2024). His most recent Cup start was the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he piloted the No. 5 Chevrolet entry for Hendrick Motorsports as an interim competitor for Kyle Larson, the latter of whom was competing in the Indianapolis 500 and was unable to participate in the Coke 600 overall due to inclement weather.
Should Allgaier qualify for this year’s Daytona 500, it would mark his third overall start in the Great American Race and his first since the 2015 Cup season. Currently, Allgaier’s best result in the Daytona 500 is 27th, which occurred in 2014. His best result in a Cup event is eighth, which occurred at Bristol Motor Speedway in April 2015.
“This is an incredible honor to be driving JR Motorsports’ inaugural entry into the Cup Series, and to do it with not only Dale and Kelley, but Chris Stapleton and Traveller Whiskey makes this even more special,” Allgaier said. “Entering into the DAYTONA 500 has been a goal of this company for a long time and I know that we are going to have everything we need to go out and contend for the win. This is going to be special for sure.”
The news of JRM’s attempted Cup debut for the 2025 Daytona 500 also brought excitement for both Chris Stapleton and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the latter of whom is the team owner of JRM and a two-time champion of the Great American Race. Since debuting in the Xfinity division in 2005, JRM has amassed 88 career victories, including seven in 2024 and once with Earnhardt Jr. as the driver at Richmond Raceway in April 2016. The organization is set to field four full-time entries in 2025, with Allgaier and Sammy Smith along with rookies Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch scheduled to compete as full-time competitors. Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen, both of whom compete in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing, will also pilot a fifth JRM entry in select Xfinity events for the upcoming racing season.
Ironically, JRM’s announcement of its attempted Cup debut comes 10 years and three days to the date, January 12, where the organization first announced its expansion from the Xfinity circuit by fielding a part-time entry in the Craftsman Truck Series division, an expansion that would result with the organization competing in the series on a full-time basis for only the 2016 season and nab a total of two victories during the 2015 season.
“We’ve been waiting for the right moment for JR Motorsports,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “With Justin winning the Xfinity Series championship and Chris Stapleton’s undeniable star power, the planets aligned for this perfect opportunity to enter this year’s DAYTONA 500.”
“Traveller Whiskey joining JR Motorsports for their inaugural entry into the Cup Series at the DAYTONA 500 feels like a very natural partnership,” Stapleton added. “I’m honored to be apart of this historic moment with Dale and Kelley [Earnhardt Miller], and excited to see Justin race the No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet in Daytona.”
JRM is an unchartered entry for this year’s Daytona 500 festivities. This means that Allgaier will have to earn a starting spot for the Great American Race. He will have to either rely on his speed during the Busch Light Pole Qualifying session on February 12 at 8:15 p.m. ET or through his result in the Daytona Duels scheduled for February 13 at 7 p.m. ET to outduel additional non-chartered entries. Both sessions will air on FS1.
The 2025 Daytona 500 is scheduled for February 16 with a coverage time slated to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Mike Wallace has not received approval from NASCAR to contend for a starting spot for the 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway scheduled for February 16, 2025.
The decision was announced on January 13, only 11 days after MBM Motorsports announced that the 65-year-old Wallace would attempt to qualify for a starting spot in this year’s Great American Race in the team’s No. 66 Ford. After evaluating Wallace’s recent on-track activities, NASCAR flipped the script and deemed him ineligible to compete in the 2025 Daytona 500, which is scheduled to occur nearly a month from now.
The decision was based on the fact that Wallace has not competed across NASCAR’s top three national touring series since August 2020, when he competed at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course venue while driving for J.D. Motorsports. He has also not competed in any large venues within NASCAR’s premier series, the Cup division, since he made his recent Daytona 500 start in 2015, where he finished 36th while driving for Premium Motorsports.
To date, Wallace has made 11 career starts in the Great American Race. During his 11 starts, he recorded three top-10 results and notched a career-best result of fourth place during the 2007 event while driving for Phoenix Raceway.
In total, Wallace has made 115 career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series division, 497 in the Xfinity circuit and 197 in the Cup competition. While his best result in the Cup division is a runner-up result at Phoenix Raceway in October 2001 while driving for Team Penske, he has amassed four career victories in the Xfinity division and five in the Truck Series division. His latest Xfinity victory occurred at Daytona in July 2004 while driving for Biagi Brothers Racing. His latest Truck victory occurred at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2011 while driving for Kevin Harvick Inc.
Following the news of NASCAR’s decision, Wallace took to Facebook to express both his disappointment on not being eligible to compete and his endorsement to MBM Motorsports.
“Daytona 500 NON update! To my utter shock and devastation at 4:00 today NASCAR [competition] director Elton Sawyer called me to inform me that NASCAR has decided not only to not approve me for Daytona 500 but at this time not approved to race in the Cup, Xfinity and Truck series in 2025 but could go through [their] process to possibly get approved for 2026. This comes as a total shock as the President of NASCAR last week in a real phone call told me all was good and he will see me in Daytona. I owe this posting to all my fans and [non-fans] who were so supportive through the great messages and postings of support as they say I inspired them! Please -Please show your Love and support to Carl Long and the complete MBM Motorsports team as this has now put them in a terrible position as I was not just the driver but also committed to sponsorship for their Daytona 500 effort, I had sponsorship commitments for the effort around me and. Help them find an approved driver and plenty of money!”
MBM Motorsports also took to social media to express the team’s disappointment in not having Wallace as the driver throughout the 2025 Daytona Speedweeks. Nonetheless, the organization remains committed to recruiting another competitor with funding for the team’s No. 66 entry to make a bid for a starting spot in the upcoming Daytona 500.
NEWS: MBM Motorsports can confirm that NASCAR has deemed Mike Wallace is not eligible to compete in the 2025 Daytona 500, despite eleven previous 500 starts and several superspeedway wins, due to lack of recent races in major professional motorsports. We are devastated for Mike… pic.twitter.com/AsV9fscgq0
Hélio Castroneves will etch a new chapter to his iconic racing career by attempting to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut for this year’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
The four-time Indianapolis 500 champion from São Paulo, Brazil, will join forces with Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 program and pilot the organization’s No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry sponsored by Wendy’s throughout Daytona Speedweeks that leads to the 2025 Great American Race, which is scheduled to occur on February 16. In addition, Darian Grubb, the 2011 Cup Series championship-winning crew chief, will work atop the No. 91 pit box.
The news comes as Castroneves is coming off a part-time campaign in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Meyer Shank Racing (MSR), an organization that he is an ownership partner to and delivered the team’s first victory during the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2021. Throughout the 2024 season, he competed in three events, including the 108th Indy 500. He will compete with MSR for a starting spot in this year’s 109th Indy 500 in May, which would mark his 25th consecutive start in the Great Spectacle in Racing.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would enter a NASCAR race and certainly not the Daytona 500 with a team like Trackhouse Racing,” Castroneves said. “This is an opportunity that nobody in their right mind could ever turn down. I am so thankful to Wendy’s for allowing me to wear their uniform and drive their car, [Trackhouse owner] Justin Marks and everyone that made this happen. I wish the race were tomorrow!”
Castroneves, who grew up competing in go-karts before his career blossomed within open-wheel and sports car competition, is a four-time champion of the Indianapolis 500, where he claimed his first two victories in back-to-back seasons in 2001 and 2002. After winning his third in 2009, the Brazilian endured a 12-year winless journey, where he finished second twice within the span before he claimed his fourth in 2021, which placed him in a tie with AJ Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears for the most Indy 500 victories of all time.
In addition to his four Indy 500 victories, Castroneves has accumulated a total of 25 INDYCAR victories and has finished in the runner-up spot in the final championship standings four times. He also claimed three consecutive 24 Hours of Daytona victories (2021-23) and is the 2020 IMSA SportsCar champion, the latter of which he accomplished while driving for Team Penske.
Should he both qualify and win this year’s Daytona 500, Castroneves would join Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt as the only competitors to win both the Great American Race and the Indianapolis 500.
“I know how much of a challenge this is going to be, but I also know the type of people and team Trackhouse Racing will bring to the effort,” Castroneves added. “I can’t wait to get to the Trackhouse race shop in North Carolina to meet everyone and prepare for Daytona. There is so much I must learn and I’m ready to get started.”
The addition of Castroneves to Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 program brings enthusiasm and excitement for owner, Justin Marks. The team debuted PROJECT91 in 2022, featuring iconic motorsports competitors around the globe to compete in NASCAR’s premier series.
Thus far, PROJECT91 has made a total of four appearances in the Cup Series between the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Kimi Räikkönen, the 2007 Formula 1 champion, debuted the program at Watkins Glen International in 2022 before he returned to compete at Circuit of the Americas in 2023. Then in July 2023, Shane van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion, took the occasion by storm when he won at the Chicago Street Course during his NASCAR debut. After making an additional start with Project 91 a month later at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, van Gisbergen landed a full-time Xfinity Series ride at Kaulig Racing this past season. In 2025, he will compete on a full-time Cup basis with Trackhouse Racing.
The 2025 Daytona 500 will mark the first time Trackhouse Racing has fielded four entries in a single event if Castroneves successfully qualifies. It will also be the first Cup event featuring PROJECT91 since Indianapolis in 2023. Trackhouse is fielding three full-time entries in a Cup season for the first time in 2025. Van Gisbergen, Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez will all return as full-time competitors for the organization.
“Hélio is one of the greatest drivers of all time and exactly the type of driver we want to bring to NASCAR,” Marks said. “I think race fans around the world will be excited to see Hélio in NASCAR’s most prestigious race. It also exposes our sport to a global audience and allows them to see just how great of a series we have in NASCAR.”
To make this year’s Daytona 500 as a non-chartered entry, Helio Castroneves’ 2025 Daytona Speedweeks schedule commences with the Busch Light Pole Qualifying session on February 12 at 8:15 p.m. ET on FS1. He will have to out-qualify any non-chartered entries to be guaranteed a spot. His alternative form of qualifying for the main event would next be the Daytona Duel qualifying races that will occur the following day, February 13, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on FS1, where he would have to outduel any non-chartered entries on the track to claim a starting spot.
The 2025 Daytona 500 will occur on February 16 with its coverage slated to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Before CBS broadcast the 1979 Daytona 500 in full from flag to flag, NASCAR races were not broadcast all the way through and instead were tape-delayed. NASCAR tape-delay races would instead be shown in parts with broadcasters, but on rotation in a show like ABC’s Wide World of Sports or NBC Sports World.
This was very popular with the networks on the weekends and sometimes weekdays in the late 50s to the 1980s to show sports that would have a niche interest in the eyes of the networks. Fan interest was also put into play in terms of what niche sports were shown. NASCAR races were also broadcast live through these programs as well.
It wasn’t until 1978 when legendary NASCAR Broadcaster Ken Squier and NASCAR Chairman at the time Bill France Jr. convinced CBS to air the 1979 Daytona 500 from start flag to checkered flag. At first, CBS was very hesitant to air the full event due to concerns about the four-hour length of the race and the viewability of it. Before that, they would show parts of NASCAR races on their version of Wide World of Sports called CBS Sports Spectacular.
Flag-to-flag coverage of a race had never been tried before by any network. Then later that year Mr. Squier convinced Neal Pinson, who worked at CBS and CBS Sports at the time, to air the entire Daytona 500 on CBS TV from green flag to checkered flag across the US. After that, the rest was history. What also helped was on the day of the 1979 Daytona 500 there was a massive snowstorm across most parts of the US but the race track didn’t have that issue.
This led to many people staying in their homes and watching TV. This was a godsend to NASCAR and CBS. Thousands of people flocked to their TV sets and watched that year’s Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 is one of those Super Bowl-like events millions watch today when it’s on FOX, which acquired the rights to broadcast it in 2001 after NASCAR and CBS stopped working together. If it weren’t for Mr. Squier and CBS, as well as NASCAR’s family, the France family, we wouldn’t have full races and NASCAR coverage on TV and on video like we do today.
Kyle Busch took his seat in the deadline room, Saturday, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Never one to mince words, gave his thoughts on the stretch of fuel-saving during the first stage of the Daytona 500.
“I believe it’s a problem,” he said.
After a multi-car wreck in the opening laps, while some drivers followed the typical green flag pit cycle pattern of restrictor plate racing, most of the field dropped their speed to save roughly 20+ laps of fuel. At one point, AJ Allmendinger (a lap down) ran faster laps by himself than the field ran, together.
“I felt disgraceful, myself, being a race car driver – wanting to go fast, lead laps and win the Daytona 500, and that was our strategy that we had to employ at the start of the race because everybody was doing it,” he said.
Now I say this with the utmost respect to Busch and the many fans who called into SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, this week, to share that sentiment.
Y’all overblew it.
Who would make it to the end of the stage on fuel? Could they make it to the end? That fuel-saving added a layer of strategy and intrigue to plate racing and demonstrated how skilled these drivers are. Rather than a wreck-fest embarrassment, like the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series displayed at Daytona, Phoenix and…well, really, most weekends now.
As a sports league, NASCAR sacrificed so much strategy and sport for entertainment value since in the last 10 years (after a decade of maintaining some semblance of both). It made the already controversial playoffs into a total game of chance and instituted arbitrary cautions that slow the pace of races and incentivize overly-chaotic restarts. What’s more, NASCAR all but made fuel-mileage races extinct.
NASCAR gave us a reprieve, last season, with no stage cautions for road courses. At Circuit of the Americas, William Byron and Tyler Reddick gave us some actual “quintessential NASCAR,” thanks to teams running varying pit strategies. In fact, the pit strategy was the only interesting thing to watch for most of the road course races.
Don’t point the finger at the artificial cautions that are nakedly meant to spice up the race (FOX and NBC don’t even hide it). Blame the terrible aero package NASCAR ran on road courses.
But enough of you complained, that NASCAR reversed course on it.
Say what you will about Formula 1 (and it gets bad), there’s still strategy at hand. With when you pit and what Pirelli tires you run. Yeah, most weeks, the same driver nails it better than the rest (welcome to Formula 1), but when it hits, IT HITS!
1. William Byron: Byron took the lead on lap 199 and held on for the win as Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric crashed as they approached the start/finish line.
“It was an awesome day for Hendrick Motorsports,” Byron said. “I won in the No. 24 car that Jeff Gordon made famous. And Jimmie Johnson actually qualified for the Daytona 500. Just a few laps into the race, he was two laps down. So I guess you can say Jimmie’s doing much better than he was driving an Indy car.”
2. Alex Bowman: Bowman took second in the Daytona, giving Hendrick Motorsports a 1-2 finish.
“As Hannibal Smith of the ‘A-Team’ often said after foiling the plans of the enemies,” Bowman said, “‘I love it when a plan comes together.’ That’s also what Hendrick Motorsports said after me and William Byron worked together to cause a wreck and foil the plans of all the other contenders.”
3. Christopher Bell: Bell started second and finished third in the Daytona 500.
“Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson served as Grand Marshal for Monday’s race,” Bell said. “I think what he should have said was ‘If you hear what The Rock is saying, then drivers, start your engines.’
4. Joey Logano: Logano started on the pole and led a race-high 45 laps before his day ended as a casualty of the Lap 191 “Big One.” He finished 32nd.
“With Kevin Harvick now in the broadcasters’ booth,” Logano said, “my car now sports the Hunt Brothers Pizza in-car camera. And I always want to see what’s going on behind me, unless I recently ate some Hunt Brothers Pizza.”
5. Corey LaJoie: LaJoie grabbed an unlikely fourth in the Daytona 500.
“This was a great day for Spire Motorsports and Chili’s,” LaJoie said. “We didn’t win the race, so I guess dousing myself in champagne is out of the question. So with Chili’s in mind, my celebration will consist of taking a dump…..of Chili’s molten chocolate cake on my head.”
6. Bubba Wallace: Wallace finished sixth at Daytona.
“I think if the final lap would have been under green,” Wallace said, “I think we had a good chance to win. That would have been a career-defining moment. I dream of driving a car into victory lane; my co-car owner Michael Jordan actually drove an NBA team into the ground in real life.”
7. Ross Chastain: Chastain had the lead when green flag racing resumed after a massive Lap 191 melee necessitated a red flag.
“I was totally ready to smash a watermelon,” Chastain said. “The drivers collected in that accident were ready to smash a steel chair, over the head of Alex Bowman.”
8. A.J. Allmendinger: Allmendinger overcame early-lap trouble at Daytona and methodically picked his way to a sixth-place finish in the 500.
“I think Netflix’s ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’ series gives fans a great look inside the lives of drivers,” Allmendinger said. “So they get to see that we say the ‘F’ word way more than we pretend not to.”
9. Chase Elliott: Elliott took Stage 1 and survived Lap 191’s “Big One” on his way to a 14th-place finish in the Daytona 500.
“I think all my fans can agree,” Elliott said, “that my right foot is best on the floorboard as opposed to a snowboard.”
10. Ryan Blaney: Blaney was a factor at Daytona until a huge Lap 191 accident KO’d his chances for a 500 win. He finished 30th.
“I’m the defending Cup champion,” Blaney said. “That makes me the hunted, and not the hunter. It makes sense because my car was ‘shot’ after the race.”
With the laps winding down in the Daytona 500, the pushing, shoving and tight-quarter action that defines restrictor plate racing led to the inevitable big one.
“Speedway racing again,” Joey Logano said. “It’s a lot of fun until this happens.”
As the field zoomed down the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway, Brad Keselowski moved from the outside line to the bottom to overtake race leader Ross Chastain. Meanwhile, Alex Bowman and William Byron, who spent the previous laps on the bottom line, got shuffled up to the middle line and worked their way up to the front. The last bump wasn’t squared up and Byron’s car wiggled, hooked Keselowski and triggered a 23-car pileup at the entrance of Turn 3.
It capped off a miserable Speedweeks for the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion who wrecked his primary car, Thursday, in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels.
“You’re kind of always watching when you’re in there and especially if you’re on top you can kind of watch and see how well their pushes are and it just looked like the 48 kind of got the 24 out of shape and just happened to get the 6 in the right-rear and unfortunately we were in the top lane,” Blaney said.
After the initial hit, he grabbed his wrist.
“I had my initial wreck and then my wheel grabbed something,” he said. “I usually let go of the wheel, but I didn’t think I needed to and it just tweaked it a little bit. It’s all good.”
He and Logano led a combined 57 of 200 laps and were in position to deliver Team Penske its second Daytona 500 victory. On the back of a ninth-month stretch of marquee victories for Roger Penske.
“It’s part of it,” Logano said. “You’re pushing and shoving there at the end. We had the cars that could take it and were doing really well. I had Blaney behind me. I thought, ‘Man, if I could pick one, that’s the one I want. I’m in a great position here’ and just had to find the right opportunity to slip the 1 again because the 6 wasn’t working with us, so I felt if I could keep the 12 with me I’m gonna be in a decent spot, but it just didn’t work out.
For Keselowski, the winningest active plate racer in the Cup Series (seven), he remains winless in his 15th attempt to win NASCAR’s crown jewel.
“It’s just one of those deals,” he said. “We were mixed up in the middle of the soup most of the race. We executed really well in the final stage and put ourselves in position, but that’s just the way Daytona goes.”
“Yeah, I feel really bad about that because I feel like that was — things were getting really intense with the pushes, and I felt like it was getting to the point where I couldn’t handle all the pushes, and you just try to get through those moments,” he said.
In a star-studded and electrifying season-opening event where the Ford and Toyota competitors were deemed as the heavyweight favorites, Chevrolet competitor William Byron and Hendrick Motorsports delivered the final ultimatum that sent them to Victory Lane in the rain-postponed, 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Monday, February 19.
The 26-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led the final four of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started 18th and was consistent amongst a bevy of competitors running in tight two and three-stacked lanes from start to finish. After dodging a multi-car wreck with eight laps remaining that eliminated a bevy of former Cup Series champions and stars, Byron cycled to the front and made his presence at the front known for the first time during the final restart. With four laps remaining, he fended off late challenges from Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric.
Then as both Chastain and Cindric wrecked before the start of the final lap, Byron managed to start the final lap and emerge in front of teammate Alex Bowman at the moment of caution to emerge as the winner of the Great American Race for the first time in his career and in his seventh full-time campaign piloting the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports.
The starting lineup for the main event was determined through a single-car qualifying session comprising two rounds that occurred on Wednesday, February 14, followed by a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday, February 15. At the conclusion of both sessions, Joey Logano started in the pole position after posting a lap at 171.947 mph in 49.465 seconds and was joined on the front row by Michael McDowell, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds. Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell occupied the second row after both won their respective Duel events.
Before the event, the following drivers including Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after each wrecked their primary cars during the Duel events. Kaz Grala also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change made to his Front Row Motorsports entry.
When the green flag waved and the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season commenced, Logano gained an early advantage to lead the field entering the first two turns from the outside lane followed by Christopher Bell until McDowell fought back on the inside lane as both fought for the top spot through the backstretch and in front of two packed lanes. With the field still stacked up amid two tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch, Logano led the first lap by a hair over McDowell as both continued to battle side-by-side for the lead during the proceeding laps.
Then on the fifth lap and as the field started to fan out to three lanes as both Logano and McDowell continued to fight for the lead, the event’s first caution flew. Brad Keselowski, who was running within the top 10, got John Hunter Nemechek loose and sent him veering left into Harrison Burton. Burton, who collected rookie Carson Hocevar, was sent spinning across the frontstretch grass before his No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang Dark Horse came back across the track and was T-boned by Kaz Grala, who sent Ryan Preece spinning across the frontstretch. Preece, however, avoided making heavy contact with the inside wall, before Burton was hit by Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Jimmie Johnson collided with Hocevar.
During the first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Logano and McDowell pitted while the rest of the field, including Christopher Bell, David Ragan, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., remained on the track. During the pit stops, where a majority of the field opted for only fuel for their respective entries, William Byron received a vehicle interference penalty when he pulled up into the wrong box and nearly collided with teammate Alex Bowman. In addition, Nemechek would be penalized for an equipment violation.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 11, Bell and Blaney dueled for the lead amid two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns as Bell had Logano drafting him on the outside lane while Blaney had Daniel Hemric drafting him on the inside lane. Both Bell and Blaney would continue to compete for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes during the proceeding laps. By then, AJ Allmendinger served a drive-through penalty through pit road for not lining up properly during the restart.
Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Bell and Blaney continued to battle for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes while Hemric, Logano, McDowell, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick were scored in the top 10 followed by Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Erik Jones, Riley Herbst, rookie Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, rookie Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez and Justin Haley. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was back in 21st along with Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland and Martin Truex Jr. while Bubba Wallace, Nemechek, Corey LaJoie, William Byron and Noah Gragson were running within the top 30 ahead of Ragan, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece, Anthony Alfredo and Allmendinger, with Jimmie Johnson scored two laps down in 36th place.
Five laps later, Bell and Blaney remained dead even for the lead in front of the pack as Hemric and Logano followed suit in the second row while McDowell and Elliott were running in the third row ahead of Keselowski, Cindric, Hamlin and Reddick. The field led by both Bell and Blaney would continue to run stacked amid two tight-packed lanes by the Lap 30 mark.
Just past the Lap 35 mark and with a majority of the field migrating to the inside lane while trying to conserve fuel, Blaney had sole possession of the lead followed by Bell, Hemric, Logano and Elliott while Keselowski and Cindric fought for sixth place with Cindric leading a handful of competitors on the outside lane. A lap later, Logano mounted a charge on the outside lane through the frontstretch but was blocked by teammate Blaney entering the first turn. By then, Blaney had his Team Penske teammates Logano and Cindric along with a majority of the competitors following suit on the outside lane while Bell served as the lead competitor on the inside lane, followed by Hemric, Elliott and Keselowski.
On Lap 40, Logano mounted another charge on the outside lane followed by teammate Cindric and overtook him for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2 while teammate Blaney moved to the inside lane in front of Bell. Another lap later, however, the Team Penske competitors along with Bell, Hemric and Keselowski pitted under green, mainly for fuel, while McDowell assumed the lead. Chris Buescher would then pit his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse by Lap 42 as McDowell was trying to fend off Berry, Hamlin, Elliott and Kyle Busch for the lead. Though he initially prevailed, McDowell was left battling Elliott side-by-side for the lead.
After Berry led a lap on Lap 45, Elliott assumed the lead in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the following lap. He would be followed by Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Martin Truex Jr. and Noah Gragson while Byron, Larson, Hamlin, Bowman and Zane Smith were scored in the top 10 as the field dispersed, with the Team Penske competitors separated as Blaney was losing the draft from teammates Logano and Cindric due to taking extra time in his pit stall for fuel.
Just past the Lap 50 mark, top names that included Bell, Hemric, Blaney and McDowell, all of whom previously pitted, were lapped by the front-runners as Elliott retained the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Wallace, Truex and Gragson while Byron, Larson, Hamlin, Bowman and Zane Smith remained in the top 10 amid a long single-file line towards the outside lane.
Four laps later, Zane Smith and Stenhouse pitted under green. Another lap later, a bevy of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors, led by Elliott pitted as Wallace cycled into the lead, though Wallace would lead another wave of competitors, mainly Toyota competitors, into pit road for service during the following lap as Gragson cycled into the lead followed by a bevy of Ford competitors. The leader, Gragson, along with teammate Berry, Justin Haley and Todd Gilliland then pitted prior to the Lap 60 mark as Ragan assumed the lead followed by Preece while Kyle Busch, who was leading a bevy of competitors who pitted, was in third and trying to gain ground amid the draft.
With three laps remaining in the first stage period, Ragan and Preece, both of whom were trying to stretch their fuel tanks to the distance of the stage’s conclusion, were overtaken by a wave of competitors led by Kyle Busch, who assumed the lead followed by Byron, Elliott, Suarez and Larson while Bowman, Chastain, Wallace, Truex and Hamlin were mired in the front pack.
At the start of the first stage period’s final lap, Elliott moved to the outside lane as he assumed the lead from Busch followed by teammates Larson, Bowman and Chastain. Then entering the frontstretch, Larson tried to make his move to Elliott’s outside approaching the start/finish line, but Chastain gave Elliott a bump, which propelled Elliott forward as he claimed the first stage victory on Lap 65. Teammate Larson settled in second followed by Chastain while Byron, Bowman, Busch, Hamlin, Wallace, Truex and Suarez were scored in the top 10. By then, Blaney, Bell and Hemric had managed to cycle their way back onto the lead lap while Allmendinger fended off McDowell to emerge as the first competitor scored a lap down, which enabled him to cycle back onto the lead lap during the caution period.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Elliott pitted while select names that included Keselowski, Riley Herbst and Hemric remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, both Nemechek and Reddick stalled their respective entries. In addition, Kyle Busch was penalized for a safety violation. Herbst and Hemric would pit during the proceeding lap while Keselowski remained on the track, though he pitted to top off of fuel prior to the lead as Larson and Berry cycled into the lead.
The second stage period started on Lap 70 as Larson and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, Larson and Berry dueled for the lead through the first two turns as Berry muscled his No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead before Larson fought back on the outside lane. With both remaining dead even for the lead, Larson led the next scheduled lap as Hamlin and Gilliland followed suit in the second lane.
With the field fanning out to three lanes through the backstretch by Lap 71, both Larson and Berry remained dead even for the lead until Logano mounted a charge from the third outside lane as he rocketed his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead followed by Chase Briscoe and Haley before Briscoe, who migrated to the inside lane, challenged Logano for the lead as Logano transitioned from the inside and outside lane. With Larson stuck in the middle lane, Logano had drafting help from Haley on the outside lane while Briscoe was trying to regain momentum from the inside lane. As teammates Briscoe and Berry lost momentum and were slowly drifting to the rear of the field, Logano retained the lead followed by Haley, Buescher, Kyle Busch, Preece and Blaney while Larson, who moved in front of Briscoe, was trying to mount forward on the inside lane by the Lap 75 mark.
By Lap 80, Logano was leading followed by Haley, Buscher, Busch and Preece while Blaney, Gilliland, Hemric, Wallace and Zane Smith were in the top 10 followed by Truex, Larson, Alfredo, Reddick, Bell, Elliott, Cindric, LaJoie, Keselowski and Stenhouse. Meanwhile, Byron was mired back in 25th while teammates Berry and Briscoe fell back to 23rd and 27th, respectively, as Chastain was in 29th in between Gragson and Ty Gibbs. In addition, Hamlin was back in 34th place.
Ten laps later, Logano continued to lead followed by Haley, Wallace and Buescher while Todd Gilliland, who was challenging Logano for the lead a few laps earlier, was trying to mount back towards the front on the inside lane as Gilliland, who received drafting help from Wallace earlier, was being drafted by Truex while Reddick tried to join the fray.
A few laps later and as the field lapped McDowell, who was battling gear issues, through the frontstretch, Gilliland steered his No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse to the inside lane and battled dead even with Logano through the first two turns before managing to move in front of Logano’s Ford through the backstretch. This allowed Truex to mount a charge on the inside lane as Gilliland retained the lead both on the outside lane and in the overall event ahead of Logano while Truex, Reddick, Haley and Cindric were battling with close quarters for the top spot.
At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Gilliland continued to lead followed by Logano, Truex, Haley and Reddick while Wallace, Cindric, Buescher, Keselowski and Busch were scored in the top 10 amid two tight-packed lanes. By then, 34 of 40 competitors were scored on the lead lap and separated by two seconds. Gilliland would continue to lead the next eight laps until he was overtaken by Bubba Wallace through the frontstretch. Wallace, however, would be overtaken by Kyle Busch exiting the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4 while Preece mounted a charge to the outside lane as he challenged Busch for the lead while Wallace followed suit.
Then on Lap 111, a second cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Preece led Logano, Gilliland, Wallace and a bevy of competitors to pit road. Amid the pit stops, Berry was turned by Nemechek as he was trying to enter his pit stall while Preece, who locked up his front tires while trying to enter pit road, was penalized for speeding on pit road. Meanwhile, Busch assumed the lead followed by Larson, Alfredo and the rest of the pack.
Busch would then lead another wave of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors, to pit road for service on Lap 114 under green while Larson, who assumed a brief lead, led Blaney, Elliott, Corey LaJoie, Cindric, Byron, Bowman and Chastain to pit road. At the completion of the green flag pit stops, Larson managed to merge back onto the track as the leader followed by teammate Elliott, Blaney and LaJoie while Busch was trying to carve his way back to the front followed by a bevy of competitors. Larson would maintain the lead until Cindric made his way to the front and the lead, followed by teammate Blaney nearing the Lap 120 mark while Busch was in fourth ahead of Elliott, Byron and LaJoie.
Just past the Lap 120 mark, a tight battle for the lead ignited between Cindric and Busch, with Busch receiving drafting help from Byron on the outside lane while Cindric had teammate Blaney drafting him in front of two tight-packed lanes as the top-23 competitors were separated by more than a second.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 130, Blaney, who had been drafting teammate Cindric over the course of the previous 10 laps amid his battle with Busch, made a bold move beneath teammate Cindric to assume the lead through Turns 3 and 4, which enabled him to muscle his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of the pack and claim the stage victory. Teammate Cindric followed suit in second along with Suarez while Busch, Reddick, Byron, Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., AJ Allmendinger and Buescher were scored into the top 10. Amid the battle towards the front, Ty Gibbs managed to fend off Preece and Berry to emerge as the first competitor a lap down as he cycled back onto the lead lap.
During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Blaney pitted while Keselowski remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Suarez was penalized for equipment interference while Busch had issues for a loose wheel to his entry, but he managed to cycle back to his pit stall to have the wheel issue addressed as he remained on the lead lap. In addition, Keselowkski, Nemechek and Ragan would pit, which cycled Cindric back to the lead.
With 64 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Cindric and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric and Wallace dueled for the lead as Cindric had teammate Blaney drafting him on the outside lane while Wallace had teammate Reddick drafting him on the inside lane. Both Cindric and Wallace would continue to battle dead even for the lead during the proceeding laps. Then as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, Allmendinger, who rallied from being mired a lap down earlier, muscled his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead over Wallace followed by Buescher and Truex while Wallace and Cindric slipped out of the top five. A tight battle for the lead then ignited between Allmendinger and Reddick with 60 laps remaining while the field continued to battle amid three tight-packed lanes.
Five laps later, Allmendinger retained the lead from the inside lane followed by teammate Hemric while LaJoie was trying to mount a charge from the outside lane followed by Bell and Truex as Hamlin was leading the middle lane ahead of Kyle Busch. Not long after, Allmendinger would get shuffled out of the lead as LaJoie and Kyle Busch battled dead even for the lead while Hamlin, Bowman, Larson and Bell followed suit with 50 laps remaining. Two laps later, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE into the lead over LaJoie as Busch tried to fight back on the inside lane.
With 40 laps remaining, Hamlin was leading ahead of LaJoie, Busch, Bell, Logano and the rest of the field. As the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes while the intensity of the event started to ignite, Logano, who assumed the lead not long after, was leading followed by Ragan, Hamlin, Busch, and Keselowski while Bell, Briscoe, Reddick, Gragson and Chastain were scored in the top 10 amid two tight-packed lanes with 30 laps remaining. Logano would continue to lead ahead of Ragan, Hamlin, Keselowski, Busch and the rest of the field with 25 laps remaining.
Then with 23 laps remaining, another wave of green flag pit stops commenced as Riley Herbst led Hemric, LaJoie and a handful of competitors to pit road. Another wave of competitors, mainly Toyota competitors, led by Bell pitted during the next lap while Hamlin and Busch pitted together with 20 laps remaining. A wave of Ford competitors led by the race leader Logano would pit with 19 laps remaining while a wave of Chevrolet competitors led by Chastain pitted during the following lap. After the pit stops, Ross Chastain would cycle into the lead followed by Stenhouse and teammate Suarez while Logano was trying to weave his way back to the front amid the drafting momentum from his Ford teammates.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Chastain was leading ahead of Logano, Stenhouse and a bevy of competitors running tight amid two tight-packed lanes. Shortly after, Suarez would muscle his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead while Stenhouse was getting shuffled out of the lead draft. Meanwhile, Chastain remained in contention up on the outside lane followed by Logano while Byron tried to mount a charge on the inside lane.
A few laps later, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as Chastain made his move to the outside lane followed by Logano, leaving Suarez pinned on the middle lane and Byron on the inside lane, as he reassumed the lead. Not long after, Byron mounted a charge on the inside lane along with Suarez as all three continued to battle dead even in front of the stacked field with 10 laps remaining.
Then with nine laps remaining, the caution flew after Bowman bumped and got teammate Byron loose, which resulted with Byron veering left and clipping Keselowski’s No. 6 Castrol Ford Mustang Dark Horse into Logano and into the path of both Blaney and Truex exiting the backstretch, which triggered a multi-car wreck that collected Suarez, Stenhouse, Reddick, Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Preece, Gragson, Hemric, Alfredo, Larson, Briscoe, Buescher and Erik Jones. Amid the wreckage, Chastain barely escaped with the lead followed by Bowman, Byron, Cindric and Elliott as the event was placed in a red flag period for more than 15 minutes.
Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, some led by Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.
Down to the final four laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Chastain and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain and Byron dueled for the lead through the first two turns as Chastain had Bowman drafting him on the outside lane while Byron had Cindric drafting him on the inside lane. Through the backstretch, Chastain and Byron continued to battle dead even for the lead as the field returned to the frontstretch with three laps remaining.
With two laps remaining, Byron received a strong push from Cindric to muscle his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead of Chastain from the inside lane through the frontstretch. Byron would then maintain the lead over Cindric, Chastain and LaJoie through the backstretch and approaching the start/finish line to start the final lap of the event.
Then as the field approached the tri-oval to start the final lap of the event, Cindric, who blocked LaJoie while battling Byron for the lead, veered back to the right and clipped Chastain’s No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which sent both spinning through the frontstretch’s grass as Cindric came back across the track and was T-boned by Ragan as Zane Smith was also involved while Chastain slid across the infield and just missed the inside wall.
With the leaders having crossed the start/finish line to start the final lap of the event prior to the caution being displayed that ended the event, Byron emerged out in front of teammate Bowman and the field when the caution flew and was declared the winner of the event.
With the victory, Byron, whose previous best Daytona 500 result was 21st, became the 43rd competitor to win the Great American Race as this season marks the fourth consecutive time where the Daytona 500 featured a first-time winner of the event. In addition, Byron, who achieved his 11th NASCAR Cup Series career victory and second at Daytona International Speedway, delivered the ninth Daytona 500 victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the team’s first since 2014, which occurred with Dale Earnhardt Jr., while also piloting the No. 24 car to a 500 victory for the first time since Jeff Gordon made the last accomplishment in 2005. The 500 victory was also the first for crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle and the 26th overall for the Chevrolet nameplate.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[Daytona 500 champion title] sounds really damn good,” Byron said on FOX. “I’ve so many emotions. Obviously, I hate what happened at the backstretch. I just got pushed and got sideways, but just so proud of this whole AXALTA team, 40th anniversary to the day on Monday [when HMS first competed]. Just extremely blessed and thankful for all the opportunities. We just wanna keep [the early momentum] going. We have a lot to prove this year. This is a good start, obviously. Daytona 500! It’s freakin’ awesome! Let’s go!”
“[We had] Just really good strategy [that got us to the front],” Byron added. “We laid back and tried to save fuel for most of the race. We would get up there at the end of the stages and make some moves. Just thankful for great power under the hood, all of our partners, everybody that allows us to do this. I’m just a kid from racing on computers and winning the Daytona 500. I can’t believe it. [Me and my dad] have been through so much. We sat up in the grandstands together and watched the races. It’s so freakin’ cool.”
In addition to Byron, the 2024 Daytona 500 victory was meaningful for Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, and owner Rick Hendrick, whose team, Hendrick Motorsports, is celebrating its 40th anniversary of competition in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“I’m telling you, you couldn’t write the script any better,” Hendrick said in Victory Lane. “When we think about coming down here the first time, we didn’t think we should be here, felt so out of place. We win this on our 40th [anniversary] to the day. It’s just… and tied a record now, so that’s awesome.”
“It’s so cool,” Gordon added. “What this is gonna do for this team, for AXALTA and all of our partners, and William Byron. He was already a superstar. He just went to another level being a superstar. I wasn’t driving the car, but I felt like I was making every lap with him out there. It’s just crazy to watch these guys do what they do and do it so well. To watch it from this side of it, it makes me so happy, so proud. We’re gonna celebrate. This is an amazing win. Huge win. Daytona 500!”
Teammate Bowman settled in second place while Bell, Corey LaJoie and Bubba Wallace finished in the top five. For Bowman, the runner-up result was his best in his eighth attempt of winning the Great American Race.
“I was pretty sure Willliam [Byron] had it, but you’re gonna let him debate it, right?” Bowman said. “I think a couple hundred more feet and obviously, we had the run. Just so proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. To get a Hendrick Motorsports 1-2 [finish], have the No. 24 car in Victory Lane. Obviously, I wish it was our Ally No. 48 [car], but it was a great day for us. Proud of everybody. We did everything we could right. [I] Wish it was one spot better, but still, proud of the whole team.”
Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Kyle Larson ended up 11th followed by Kyle Busch, rookie Zane Smith, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. while Hamlin ended up 19th. Chastain, who was in the position of achieving his first Daytona 500 victory prior to the final lap accident, ended up 21st while Cindric ended up 22nd.
There were 41 lead changes for 20 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 20 laps. Overall, 20 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the first event of the 2024 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by four points over teammate Alex Bowman, 10 over Christopher Bell, 12 over Chase Elliott, 15 over Bubba Wallace and 17 over John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch.
Results.
1. William Byron, four laps led
2. Alex Bowman
3. Christopher Bell, 22 laps led
4. Corey LaJoie, one lap led
5. Bubba Wallace, three laps led
6. AJ Allmendinger, nine laps led
7. John Hunter Nemechek
8. Erik Jones
9. Noah Gragson, five laps led
10. Chase Briscoe
11. Kyle Larson, seven laps led
12. Kyle Busch, 12 laps led
13. Zane Smith
14. Chase Elliott, 13 laps led, Stage 1 winner
15. Martin Truex Jr.
16. Daniel Hemric
17. Ty Gibbs
18. Chris Buescher
19. Denny Hamlin, 10 laps led
20. David Ragan, two laps led
21. Ross Chastain, one lap down, 14 laps led
22. Austin Cindric, one lap down, 13 laps led
23. Ryan Preece, one lap down
24. Riley Herbst, one lap down
25. Josh Berry, one lap down
26. Justin Haley, one lap down
27. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down
28. Jimmie Johnson, four laps down
29. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident
30. Ryan Blaney – OUT, 12 laps led, Stage 2 winner
31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident
32. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 45 laps led
33. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident, three laps led
34. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident, two laps led
35. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident, 16 laps led
36. Michael McDowell, 24 laps down, six laps led
37. Austin Dillon, 54 laps down
38. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident
39. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident
40. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident
With the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season officially underway, the next event on the schedule is the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, February 25, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
I always smile when one of those ESPN “More than a game” commercials dances across my television screen. The idea that sports mean so much more than the crack of a bat or kick of a ball is not exclusive to me, but you’ll find no bigger proponent of this theory and it all harkens back to a February night in 2014.
The catalyst for this extraordinary moment in my young life is, unfortunately, a sad one. Twelve days before the running of the 2014 Daytona 500, my grandmother passed away. A Proverbs 31 woman through and through, we all grieved, though being just shy of 8 years old at the time, I’m not sure I understood what grief was or exactly how to process it. Regardless of my family’s situation, though, there I was, parked in front of my television on February 23, 2014, ready to kick off the new NASCAR season along with millions of other fans. A diehard Dale Jr. fan, I knew how good he always was at the superspeedways, and I waited with my fellow fans as the race endured an excruciating rain delay.
With school out the next day in observance of Presidents’ Day, my mom graciously allowed me to stay up into the wee hours of the morning to watch Dale Earnhardt Jr. take the checkered flag in front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin.
I think I can confidently say that I am more “into” my faith now than I have ever been, but no spiritual or religious moment for me will ever compare to that special feeling as I watched Dale Jr.’s Chevy, with a piece of trash stuck to the grill, cross the line first. In a time of grief for myself and my family, my favorite driver had brought healing. I could’ve sworn my grandmother was in the passenger seat of Jr.’s car in those final few laps, somehow keeping his temperature gauges from spiking with a piece of plastic stuck to the car, willing him to victory as a seven-year-old kid in Arkansas went absolutely bonkers. If Bill France had a special relationship with The Man Upstairs, he would have allowed my grandmother into the Daytona 500 pew, helping her guide Jr. to Victory Lane. It was the first win for Jr. since I became both a fan of NASCAR and Jr. himself in 2013, making it even more special.
Whenever people ask me why I sit in front of a microphone or document and devote so much time to covering this sport, I always tell them that my goal is to give back, in whatever way possible, to a sport that has given me so much more than I could’ve ever imagined. Entertainment, sure, but it’s also helped me get jobs, meet incredible people, and given me a goal to reach for as I look to college and beyond. Without this insane, wonderful, mess of a sport, I simply wouldn’t be who I am.
On February 19, I will walk through those hallowed Daytona gates as a fan for the first time, nearly a decade after Dale Jr.’s 2014 triumph, and I don’t doubt that my grandmother will be on my shoulder as I walk to my seat, which may as well be a seat in Heaven next to Bill France. If you see me walking through the concourse on Monday, I’ll likely have some tears leaking out of my eyes, which will finally be seeing one of my favorite places in the world in the flesh.
We all have our reasons for watching common men do uncommon things for 38 weeks out of the year, but no matter what yours is, just remember; it’s always more than just a race.
The 2024 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway has been postponed until Monday, February 19, at 4 p.m. ET on FOX due to inclement weather that prevented the season-opening event from occurring on Sunday, Feb. 18.
The announcement comes as the amount of rainfall within the Daytona International Speedway circuit that has increased since the start of this weekend, particularly on Saturday, continues to precipitate with no sight of relief until Monday. The weather had already impacted this year’s Daytona Speedweeks events as the 2024 ARCA Menards Series’ opener at Daytona occurred on Friday night instead of Saturday while the Cup Series’ final practice session scheduled for Saturday was canceled, both due to rain.
With the announcement, this will mark the first time since the 2012 season that the Daytona 500 event will commence on a Monday. Previously, the 2020 and 2021 Daytona 500s started on a Sunday but finished on Monday due to rain.
In addition, the Cup Series’ Daytona 500 will be part of a historic doubleheader feature on Monday that will include the Xfinity Series’ season-opening event at Daytona for the United Rentals 300 which was also postponed to Monday, both coinciding on the same day for the first time. The Xfinity opener will occur first at 11 a.m. ET on FS1 before the Daytona 500.
When the event commences on Monday, Joey Logano, a two-time Cup Series champion and the 2015 Daytona 500 champion, will lead the field to the green flag from pole position after he posted a pole-winning lap at 171.947 mph in 49.465 seconds during Wednesday night’s single-car qualifying session. Joining him on the front row will be Michael McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 champion who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds.
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series’ season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway for the 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 is scheduled for Monday, February 19. It will air at 4 p.m. ET on FOX.
