Ryan Blaney Wins Daytona Playoff Race as the Championship Field is Set

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – RIS – Ryan Blaney survived a rough and rowdy late race melee and went on to hold of Chris Beuscher in the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway for his second straight win and momentum in the coming playoffs.  The win came in overtime. Blaney dodged every wreck and held on to the lead as the laps ran down.  It was his third win of the season, the first time he has had multiple wins.

The No. 12 Team Penske Ford driver had already taken the white flag when Daniel Suarez, running third, turned Kevin Harvick from second. That then sparked a large wreck to draw out the caution flag, which also signaled the end of the race.

Buescher, who had the lead on the final restart, finished second. Bubba Wallace ended up third, followed by Ryan Newman and Ryan Preece in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Justin Haley, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and BJ McLeod rounded out the top 10 in order.

Tyler Reddick took the 16th and final spot in the playoffs with a seventh-place finish. Reddick needed only to beat Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon and hope for a repeat winner to earn his first playoff berth.

Reddick and Dillon were both in contention to make a desperate last gasp push for the win in the two-lap overtime sprint to the finish. But Blaney, who was second on the restart, cleared traffic with a push from Corey LaJoie and was well ahead of the pack when a crash ended the race. Daniel Suarez, one of 10 drivers in the front pack trying to win the race to earn the automatic playoff berth, turned Kevin Harvick after being clipped by Kurt Busch to trigger the multi-car crash.

Blaney, the winner in Michigan last week, heads into next week’s playoff opener at Darlington Raceway with three victories this season in his Team Penske Ford.

“Yeah, we’ve got good momentum,” Blaney said. “We’d like to make it three in a row, we’ll see.”

With Reddick assured of filling the final spot in the playoffs the only other competition was for the regular-season title, which went to Kyle Larson, a five-time winner this season. The race for the regular-season championship and its playoff points was between Larson and Denny Hamlin, who entered Daytona trailing Larson by 28 points. Hamlin held the regular-season lead for 22 weeks until Larson claimed it two races ago at Indianapolis.

In a nice gesture, NASCAR presented Wendell Scott’s family a custom trophy commemorating his historic 1963 victory before the race. Scott is the only Black driver to win a race at NASCAR’s top level. Scott passed Richard Petty with 25 laps remaining at Speedway Park in Jacksonville on Dec. 1, 1963. But Buck Baker, who actually finished second, was declared the winner of the Jacksonville 200 and received the trophy in victory lane.

The playoffs begin next Sunday at Darlington Raceway, which recently repaved a section in Turn 2 that could change the way the track races. Kevin Harvick is the defending race winner and Martin Truex Jr. won at the South Carolina track in May.

Unofficial Results: 63rd Annual Coke Zero Sugar 400, August 28, 2021, Daytona International Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, Stage 1 Pos, Stage 2 Pos, Pts, Status, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts
1) 6, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 BodyArmor Ford, 165, , 6, 45, Running, 3, 7, 5
2) 13, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, 165, 10, , 36, Running, 2, 8, 
3) 20, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Columbia PFG Toyota, 165, , 9, 36, Running, 4, 8, 
4) 23, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Coca Cola Zero Sugar Ford, 165, , , 33, Running, 2, 2, 
5) 24, * Ryan Preece, No. 37 Kroger/Coca-Cola Chevrolet, 165, 9, , 34, Running, , , 
6) 17, Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, 165, , 4, 38, Running, , , 
7) 28, Justin Haley(i), No. 77 FOE Chevrolet, 165, , , 0, Running, , , 
8) 15, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 165, , , 29, Running, , , 
9) 5, Chase Elliott, No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet, 165, 1, , 38, Running, 5, 36, 1
10) 30, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures Ford, 165, , , 0, Running, , , 
11) 36, Josh Bilicki, No. 52 Jacob Companies Ford, 165, , , 26, Running, , , 
12) 21, Erik Jones, No. 43 Columbia PFG Chevrolet, 165, , , 25, Running, , , 
13) 8, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 165, , , 24, Running, , , 
14) 3, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Shaping Black Futures Toyota, 165, 2, , 32, Running, 3, 7, 
15) 19, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 165, , , 22, Running, , , 
16) 11, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Unibet Ford, 165, , , 21, Running, 3, 4, 
17) 33, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Built Bar Chevrolet, 164, 7, , 24, Accident, 1, 1, 
18) 27, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet, 164, 6, 2, 33, Accident, 2, 3, 
19) 29, Ross Chastain, No. 42 Clover Chevrolet, 164, 4, , 25, Accident, 5, 14, 
20) 26, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet, 164, , , 17, Accident, , , 
21) 1, Kyle Larson, No. 5 Valvoline Instant Oil Change Chevrolet, 164, , 5, 22, Accident, , , 
22) 16, Chase Briscoe #, No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford, 164, , , 15, Accident, , , 
23) 12, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Funfetti Chevrolet, 164, , 7, 18, Running, , , 
24) 22, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 164, 8, 1, 26, Running, 5, 37, 1
25) 25, Cole Custer, No. 41 Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford, 164, , , 12, Running, , , 
26) 9, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford, 164, , , 11, Running, , , 
27) 32, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford, 163, , , 10, Running, , , 
28) 40, * David Starr(i), No. 66 Midwest Mobile Tech Ford, 163, , , 0, Running, , , 
29) 31, Cody Ware(i), No. 51 Nurtec ODT Chevrolet, 163, , , 0, Running, , , 
30) 7, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 163, 5, , 13, Running, 2, 13, 
31) 34, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 53 True Brand Chevrolet, 163, , , 0, Running, , , 
32) 37, Joey Gase(i), No. 15 ProMaster Ford, 162, , , 0, Running, , , 
33) 14, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 157, , 10, 5, Accident, 2, 8, 
34) 10, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Pirtek Ford, 156, , , 3, Accident, , , 
35) 4, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 156, 3, 8, 13, Accident, 1, 5, 
36) 38, * Kaz Grala(i), No. 16 Goettl Air Conditioning Chevrolet, 156, , , 0, Accident, , , 
37) 39, * Landon Cassill(i), No. 96 Carnomaly Toyota, 146, , , 0, Accident, , , 
38) 2, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 146, , 3, 9, Accident, 5, 12, 
39) 35, Quin Houff, No. 00 UNITS Chevrolet, 136, , , 1, Running, , , 
40) 18, Michael McDowell, No. 34 CarParts.com Ford, 23, , , 1, Engine, , ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time: 2 Hrs, 54 Mins, 3 Secs.
Length: 165 Laps, 412.5 Miles
Average Speed: 142.201 MPH
Margin of Victory: Under Caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 9, 11, 18, 42, 19, 3, 7, 22, 37, 17
Stage 2 Top 10: 22, 3, 24, 8, 5, 12, 47, 18, 23, 20

Comments: Ryan Blaney won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, his seventh victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicles dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: Nos. 5, 7, 15, 16 (multiple inspection failures), Nos. 34, 38 (inspection violations). 

Caution Flags: 8 for 31 laps;
Laps: 22-25 (Competition  [66]);
52-55 (Stage 1 Conclusion [52]);
78-81 (No. 10, 37, 38, 48 Incident Turn 4 [15]);
102-105 (Stage 2 Conclusion [51]);
141-144 (No. 15, 51, 53 Incident Turn 4  [2]);
147-150 (No. 19, 96, 14, 8, 24, 99, 38, 2 Incident Backstretch [Red Flag: 00:14:51] [52]);
158-163 (No. 9, 20, 21, 2, 18, 11, 37, 42, 41, 47, 16 Incident Turn 4 [78]);
165-165 (No. 4, 3, 99, 1, 5, 42, 7, 48, 43 Incident Turn 3  [None]).

Lead Changes: 45 among 15 drivers;
K. Larson 0;
W. Byron 1-6;
K. Harvick 7-8;
W. Byron 9;
D. Hamlin 10-13;
W. Byron 14-15;
D. Hamlin 16;
W. Byron 17;
A. Dillon 18-19;
C. Elliott 20-41;
J. Logano 42-43;
C. Elliott 44-52;
R. Newman 53;
C. Elliott 54-55;
M. Truex Jr. 56;
C. LaJoie 57;
M. Truex Jr. 58-69;
C. Bell 70-76;
J. Logano 77-94;
R. Blaney 95-96;
J. Logano 97-101;
A. Dillon 102;
R. Newman 103;
W. Byron 104-105;
D. Hamlin 106-107;
K. Harvick 108;
C. Elliott 109;
K. Harvick 110;
J. Logano 111;
R. Chastain 112-113;
R. Blaney 114-116;
R. Chastain 117-123;
B. Wallace 124;
R. Chastain 125-126;
B. Wallace 127-128;
R. Chastain 129;
B. Wallace 130;
R. Chastain 131-132;
B. Wallace 133-136;
K. Busch 137-141;
C. Bell 142;
J. Logano 143-153;
C. Buescher 154;
C. Elliott 155-156;
C. Buescher 157-163;
R. Blaney 164-165.