Ryan Blaney‘s dramatic victory in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway secured a NASCAR Cup Series playoff spot for Alex Bowman, who avoided elimination after an early crash.
Blaney, driving the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, charged from 12th place with three laps remaining to cross the finish line 0.031 seconds ahead of Daniel Suarez. Justin Haley was 0.036 seconds behind in a three-wide photo finish for second, while Cole Custer, who led the next-to-last lap, finished fourth.
A victory by Suarez, Haley or Custer would have knocked Bowman out of the playoffs. Instead, Bowman, in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, claimed the 16th and final playoff spot based on points.
The win was Blaney’s second of the season, his second at Daytona and the 15th of his career. It was also the first for a Ford driver since Blaney’s win at Nashville Superspeedway on June 1. The victory moved Blaney into second in the regular-season standings, earning him a 10-point playoff bonus.
“What a wild last couple laps, honestly,” Blaney said. “I was with Cole (Custer), I kind of asked him on the restart, if you go to the top, I’m going with you. We kind of just waited and waited and then the opportunity came, and he made a good move to get to the top, and we were able to really get good shoves.”
The race featured 44 lead changes among 19 drivers. Blaney and his teammate Joey Logano each led 27 laps. Logano, who spent much of the final stage in front, spun out with 11 laps remaining.
Early in the race, Bowman had a brief opportunity to clinch his playoff spot. On Lap 18, a wreck involving Todd Gilliland and Tyler Reddick gave Bowman hope of closing his 29-point deficit. However, that hope was short-lived.
On Lap 27, a 12-car pileup on the front stretch, triggered by contact between Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch, collected Bowman. The wreck ended Bowman’s race and his chance of making the playoffs on points.
“Everything was happening pretty quick there,” said Wallace, who was also involved in the crash. “The hit from the 5 (Larson) shoved me down there, and it was like I got shoved up by the 22 (Logano) and the 12 (Blaney) moved up. He was trying to just move up and take the lane.”
The crash also eliminated Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. from playoff contention.
“It was all very out of our control,” said Bowman, who was forced to watch the rest of the race from the sidelines. “I hate that we tanked so bad the first run. The bottom lane just fell apart behind us. We had to overcome that, but we had gotten back to the back side of the top 10. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out.”
Blaney’s win, however, ensured Bowman’s championship hopes remain alive. Bowman joins his Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in the playoffs.
The 10-race playoffs begin Aug. 31 at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out Southern 500.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Results
Coke Zero Sugar 400
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
- (1) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 160 laps.
2.(12) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 160.
3. (37) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 160.
4. (29) Cole Custer, Ford, 160.
5. (26) Erik Jones, Toyota, 160.
6. (3) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 160.
7. (24) Chris Buescher, Ford, 160.
8. (18) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 160.
9. (11) Josh Berry, Ford, 160.
10. (30) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 160.
11. (28) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 160.
12. (20) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 160.
13. (15) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 160.
14. (31) Ryan Preece, Ford, 160.
15. (19) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 160.
16. (17) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 160.
17. (34) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 160.
18. (10) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 160.
19. (8) William Byron, Chevrolet, 160.
20. (35) Cody Ware, Ford, 160.
21. (27) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 160.
22. (23) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 160.
23. (9) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 160.
24. (7) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 160.
25. (6) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 160.
26. (21) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 159.
27. (4) Joey Logano, Ford, 159.
28. (40) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 157.
29. (39) Casey Mears, Ford, 156.
30. (36) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 155.
31. (13) Zane Smith, Ford, 154.
32. (38) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, Accident, 137.
33. (14) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, Accident, 95.
34. (16) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, Engine, 81.
35. (25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 28.
36. (2) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 27.
37. (22) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 27.
38. (32) Noah Gragson, Ford, Accident, 27.
39. (5) Austin Cindric, Ford, Accident, 27.
40. (33) Riley Herbst, Toyota, Accident, 27.
Race Statistics
Average Speed: 130.909 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 3 minutes, 20 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.031 seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 39 laps.
Lead Changes: 44 among 19 drivers.
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