Big one takes out big names in Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The big one is inevitable at Daytona and the 66th annual Daytona 500 proved that once more.
In what was a relatively clean Monday race, the defining moments of William Byron’s Daytona 500 victory came in the final two cautions of the race. Each gobbled up multiple past NASCAR Cup champions and past winners of the Great American Race.
As Ross Chastain led and Brad Keselowski challenged him on lap 193 of 200, a bad bump from Alex Bowman sent teammate Byron into Keselowski. Keselowski crashed into third-place Joey Logano and subsequently nearly the entire field behind them.
“I’m pissed off, that’s my emotions. The 1 was throwing hellacious blocks most of the time, I didn’t see what happened. The Shell/Pennzoil Mustang had a lot of speed. It’s speedway racing. It’s a lot of fun until it sucks. I was on the other end of that deal tonight,” Logano said.
Logano led 49 laps – a career-high for him in the Daytona 500, which he won in 2015.
Like Logano in 2021, Keselowski’s final moments in this year’s 500 weren’t at the checkered flag but in a wrecked heap in turn three.
The 2012 champ and 15-year veteran’s opportunities now dwindle.
“In car, all I know is I got hit in the back. One of those deals. I’m glad to be competitive, glad to be up front and we were making a pass for the lead with eight laps to go in the Daytona 500. That’s all you can ask for. It just didn’t work out,” Keselowski said.
The wreck not only took out Keselowski and Logano but also defending champion Ryan Blaney.
“This was just racing at the end of the 500. I thought we had a shot being up in the first few rows, especially if the 6 got up to the 1 and to get hooked up with Joey. Just a shame. I’m ok. My wrist is good,” Blaney said.
A replay showed Blaney holding his wrist after wrecking in the big one.
The wreck also took out Todd Gilliland, Daniel Suarez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Tyler Reddick.
A whopping 16 other cars also got damage in the wreck:
Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Noah Gragson, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, William Byron, Justin Haley, Ryan Preece, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Anthony Alfredo.
At the time of the crash, three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin had been making a surge to the front. He rode in the back for much of the day in typical Denny Hamlin fashion, then took the lead for the first time on lap 152. He faded back during green-flag pit stops which put him in the big one.
The climax of Byron’s win happened all at once. As the field approached the white flag and took the white flag, Austin Cindric got into Ross Chastain. They came back up the track, causing the yellow flag to come out right after the pack took the white flag.
After review, NASCAR determined that the No. 24 car edged out the No. 48 car by 0.006 seconds at the time of caution.
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