By David Morgan, Associate Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ryan Blaney ended the night at Daytona International Speedway exactly where he started it – in first place.
But it would take a herculean effort to do so, charging from 13th to first in the final two laps to spoil the party among those drivers that needed a win to punch their ticket into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
As the laps wound down in Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, it was shaping up to be a battle among those drivers in must-win territory, with Justin Haley and Ryan Preece leading the charge.
Things began to change when the field stormed down the frontstretch to get the two to go call, as Preece suddenly found himself stuck in the middle and going backwards with Haley and Kyle Larson swinging around him on either side.
The field then began to shuffle, leaving Cole Custer and Blaney leading the charge in the third lane with nothing but wide-open race track in front of them.
The two Fords locked in and pushed ahead, with Custer inheriting the lead at the white flag.
With Custer aiming to score the walk-off win and Haley trying to defend, the two drivers began battling with each other down the backstretch on the final lap, paving the way for Blaney to take advantage in the final stretch to the finish.
A push from Daniel Suarez was enough to get him the boost he needed to get clear of the field in front where he could play defense down through the tri-oval and to the finish, and he did just that, beating Suarez, Haley, and Custer in a photo finish to claim his second win of the season and second career win at Daytona.
Erik Jones would finish the night in fifth-place, followed by Larson, Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, and Chase Elliott.
Lap 158: 13th
Lap 160: FirstThat's where @Blaney came from. https://t.co/WPnRGPJbge pic.twitter.com/V4y99XPj1g
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 24, 2025
“What a wild last couple laps, honestly,” said Blaney. “I was with Cole, 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 shows.
“A couple good guys behind us and then it kind of cleared the way for us when the 7 and 41 got racing and I was able to clear on the top and just barely hold out for the win.”
Meanwhile for Suarez and Haley, it was a night of ‘What Ifs,’ having come so close to a season defining win, but coming up agonizingly short of that goal.
Especially for Suarez, who will be leaving the seat of his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet at season’s end, with his future still up in the air.
“A good effort for the team. The team did a great job today. Very proud of that,” said Suarez. “With that being said, we are aiming for a little bit better, but proud of the effort. We just have to continue to work and hopefully we can win a race for the next couple months.
“Maybe a little bit better front grip in the front,” he added of what may have made the difference in the end.
“That would have helped to continue our momentum. The 43 did an amazing job pushing me. I don’t know how much help he was getting from behind. Maybe if he was getting a little bit more help, he was going to be better, but this is very easy to say now. Overall, just proud of the effort.”
Likewise for Preece, who was extremely confident coming into the night that either he or one of his RFK Racing teammates would be victorious and Playoff bound when the checkered flag flew, but could only watch the win be snatched away in the closing laps as he finished in 14th.
“Man, I felt like we were gonna win that race,” said Preece. “You want to talk about having the best scenario play out for how we wanted it to, I was just leaving the 7 there. The 17 was doing a great job just letting him stay there and there’s nothing you can do.
“The problem is you know the 9 and the 5 were worried about their teammate that would have been bumped out, so it was a tough situation. I thought we were gonna win that one because we did everything right today and it just didn’t work out.”
With Blaney’s win, the final two spots in the Playoffs went to Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman, who entered the night as the final two drivers in the postseason field on points.
Both drivers had a tumultuous race, getting caught up in crashes in the opening stage, but eventually everything worked out for both of them to be able to survive and advance.
The Cup Series now heads to Darlington Raceway next Sunday for the Southern 500, kicking off the final 10 races of the season with a championship on the line for the 16 drivers that are eligible.
In addition to Reddick and Bowman, those drivers include Kyle Larson, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Shane van Gisbergen, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Josh Berry, and Austin Dillon.
Be the first to comment