Tyler Reddick wins the 2026 Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — After a winless 2025 Tyler Reddick leads the most important lap of the race to win the 68th annual Daytona 500.

The chaotic final lap started with Carson Hocevar taking a run in the middle lane straight into the lead.

Moments before the pack took to turn one for the final time the first wreck of the lap occurred.

Erik Jones delivered an off center push to the back of Hocevar sending the two straight down the track collecting Michael McDowell in the process.

That wreck set the stage for who would decide the fate of the race.

Chase Elliott took the newfound momentum into the lead on the backstretch with a few helpful pushes from Zane Smith. Tyler Reddick, who was as far back as fourth heading into turn three, sunk back into his aiding teammate Riley Herbst in the ultimate right time moment.

With his teammates help, Reddick shot back into contention with those pushes providing him the chance to seize the opportunity in front of him.

Reddick took his momentum to the high side around Zane Smith for second and made a career defining move on Chase Elliott to clear him for the win.

As soon as Reddick took the lead the rest of the leaders came crashing down from various late blocks and bad pushes, wrecking across the finish line.

In his post-race interview an emotional Reddick took the time to reflect on the season before.

“Last year was really hard for all of us, hard for me. When you’re a cup driver and get to this level, drive for Michael Jordan its expected you win every single year”

“For us to go on that drought we did made us really look hard in the mirror, I’m just really proud of everyone on this Chumba Casino Toyota Camry.”

“(We) Worked really hard in the off-season, and there was many points in this race where we weren’t making decisions we wanted to, but we just reset, and every opportunity we got to reset we went back at it.”

After catching his breath the race winner added, “My teammate Riley Herbst gave me a lot of pushes there and then tried to win the race for himself, as he should at the end there.”

Still in disbelief, he summarized how he accomplished the win.

“We had four guys that were really fighting, helping each other out. You never know how these races are going to end. You just try to survive.”

The win marks the first Daytona 500 victory for 23XI Racing and team co-owner Michael Jordan sung his praises for Riley Herbst as well.

“I thought Riley did an unbelievable job pushing at the end. That shows you what teamwork can really, really do. He doesn’t get enough credit. He won’t get enough credit. But we feel the love. We understand exactly what he did.”

Of course, Michael Jordan is no stranger to converting when the lights are brightest. He gave additional credit to his No. 45 team amidst the surreal moment.

“We hung in there all day. Great strategy by the team, and we gave ourselves a chance at the end. Look, I’m ecstatic. I don’t even know what to say. It feels like I won a championship.”

NEXT: EchoPark Atlanta Motor Speedway, Feb. 22, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90; 2 p.m. ET. Christopher Bell won last year.

DAYTONA POINTS AND RESULTS

STAGE ONE TOP 10 (LAP 60): Zane Smith, Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Carson Hocevar, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, and Noah Gragson.

STAGE TWO TOP 10 (LAP 120): Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Riley Herbst, Corey Heim, Chris Buescher, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, and Daniel Suarez.

The stage points earners: Ryan Blaney (17), Zane Smith (10), Bubba Wallace (10), Chris Buescher (9), Austin Cindric (9), John Hunter Nemechek (8), Carson Hocevar (7), Kyle Busch (7), Daniel Suarez (6), Riley Herbst (6), Corey Heim (5), Ryan Preece (4), Michael McDowell (3), Tyler Reddick (3), Alex Bowman (2), Joey Logano (2), Noah Gragson (1)

Here is an archive of the live updates on the 68th annual Daytona 500.

FINAL STAGE

TWO TO GO: Carson Hocevar takes the momentum in the middle lane as he takes the white flag first!

THREE TO GO: The Spire duo shove out to the front as McDowell leads.

LAP 195: We restart with 30 cars on the lead lap coming to four to go. McDowell chose the high side with teammate Carson Hocevar behind. Tyler Reddick restarts first on the inside with William Byron pushing.

Byron has a shot to defend his Daytona 500 crown!

LAP 194: Race leader Michael McDowell somehow saved enough fuel for the end. He has around enough gas to get him through another restart.

He ran 31st prior to the pit cycle and now restarts as the leader, just amazing strategy by Travis Peterson.

LAP 192: CAUTION WITH EIGHT TO GO! Corey Heim turns his boss Denny Hamlin into the outside tri-oval wall from a push gone wrong. The out of control Hamlin bounces off the wall and into his teammate Christopher Bell in the middle lane. Bell then shoots up the track into the outside wall as the rest of the field fans out for safety.

Bell sustained terminal front-right damage and retires from the event. Meanwhile Denny Hamlin takes his car down pit road for extensive repairs.

LAP 191: The field regroups with nine to go. Tyler Reddick is running in the net lead, currently second.

LAP 189: Now comes Logano and two others including Ryan Blaney. Michael McDowell to the lead.

LAP 188: It’s Elliott and the rest of the leading Chevrolets come down pit road. Joey Logano to the lead.

LAP 187: Ross Chastain takes the brief lead as he leads another small group down to pit. Chase Elliott takes the inherits the lead.

LAP 185: The lead pack is around two seconds faster than the four cars who pit first. The leading Fords pit with Kyle Busch as the new leader.

Cole Custer runs out of fuel down the backstretch. He pulled to the apron after running in the top five.

LAP 183: Chris Buescher becomes the 22nd different leader of the event which makes this Daytona 500 have the most different leaders.

LAP 181: Four Toyota’s and Casey Mears start the final pit cycle. A bunch of separation and the lack of total cars might hinder them.

LAP 180: The holding pattern holds no more! The lead pack quits their fuel saving measures as they prepare to pit.

LAP 177: The Toyota’s have gathered on the bottom lane as the final pit stop cycle draws close.

LAP 171: The speeds are starting to pickup once again as the field nears the pit window. The fuel saving holding pattern still continues after 30 plus laps.

LAP 166: We have a new line leader on the high side: Cole Custer.

A frustrated Brad Keselowski radioed, “I think we have to tell all of the guys in our lane to go… We can’t make it either way… time to tell the other Fords to go.”

LAP 160: The field is running lap times nearly four seconds slower than at the end of stage two. The fuel mileage holding pattern extends into their 20th consecutive lap.

LAP 152. The pack continues their holding pattern.

LAP 146: While the rain starts to creep closer the field does not look too concerned. Fuel mileage maintains the primary focus of strategy, the field runs three by three, nine rows deep at around 50 percent throttle.

LAP 143: What spin earlier? Jimmie Johnson obtains the free pass following the big one and rebounds to run 14th in the lead pack.

LAP 140: Similar to the second stage, it did not take long for the pack to return to three-wide racing. The Toyotas of Corey Heim, Bubba Wallace, and Christopher Bell lead their lanes.

LAP 136: Justin Allgaier, Todd Gilliland, and Alex Bowman officially retire from the race after the big one on lap 124. They join BJ McLeod as the only drivers out of the event.

LAP 135: Bubba Wallace won the race off pit road and restarts the Daytona 500 with teammate Corey Heim restarting second besides him on the inside.

There has been 28 total cars involved in incidents so far today. The race has had 42 lead changes with 19 different leaders.

The final stage is set for 70 laps and is scheduled to end on lap 200.

STAGE TWO WINNER: Bubba Wallace

LAP 131: Bubba Wallace crosses the line under caution to capture the stage two win. The top ten behind Wallace consists of Ryan Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Riley Herbst, Corey Heim, Chris Buescher, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, and Daniel Suarez.

LAP 128: Once the dust settled, Alex Bowman, Justin Allgaier, and Todd Gilliland take their vehicles behind the wall.

Austin Cindric and Shane van Gisbergen make a quick return to the race. They are four and two laps down.

Kyle Larson continues on the lead lap but his hopes for the race win are dashed.

Meanwhile Austin Dillon returns to the track from the LAP 91 incident, 41 laps down and missing his hood.

LAP 124: CAUTION!! THE BIG ONE STRIKES IN THE TRI-OVAL.

Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney take a huge run into the tri-oval on the outside lane coming to seven to go in the stage. Leader Justin Allgaier tries to block the run with no success and hooks himself into the outside wall off the nose of Hamlin starting the big one.

It might be better to list who was not involved as 20 cars sustain varying levels of damage.

LAP 123: Denny Hamlin retakes the lead briefly from Kyle Busch as the pack comes to life with eight to go in the stage.

LAP 121: With the lap 85 caution, all cars can make it on fuel to the end of the second stage. Busch continues to lead, now with a push from Ryan Blaney, with ten laps remaining.

The leaders also come around to lap the two-car tandem of Casey Mears and Connor Zilish.

LAP 116: The second pack of seven cars, led by Erik Jones, sits around two seconds behind the lead pack with the Kyle and Kyle show continuing on schedule.

LAP 111: 20 laps to go in the second stage. Kyle Busch leads as RCR officially crosses the 1,000 lap led mark at Daytona. Could this be the day he gets the job done ?

Chase Briscoe returns to the race after completing repairs in the garage 11 laps down.

LAP 107: The lead pack continues to cycle drivers to and from the front. But it’s the Kyle and Kyle show right now. Larson leads the outside lane with Busch on the inside.

LAP 100: We are halfway through the Daytona 500! The cloud cover has set in while as Shane van Gisbergen leads.

SVG, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier, and Zane Smith consist of the top ten at the halfway point.

The 2026 edition has set the third most lead-changes in the first half of the race at the Daytona 500.

LAP 98: Trackhouse Racing takes command of the field. Shane van Gisbergen joins his teammate Ross Chastain up front.

LAP 94: It didn’t take long for the field to return to three-wide racing. After starting dead last, Chris Buescher shows his face as the leader of the inside lane while Chastain continues to lead.

LAP 91: After the usual superspeedway fuel shenanigans, Ross Chastain restarts in the lead with Kyle Larson second on this inside.

Connor Zilisch returns to the race four laps down.

LAP 87: Ty Dillon and more than ten other come down pit road under caution for fuel while Zilisch, Briscoe, and Austin Dillon go behind the wall.

LAP 85: CAUTION: They’re wrecking in the tri-oval!! Zilisch bounces off of Allgaier which bunches up the pack. Cody Ware checks up in the middle lane and smacks into Chase Briscoe on the inside lane.

Ty Gibbs, Connor Zilisch, and Austin Dillon join Briscoe in the tri-oval grass. Dillon slams into Briscoe’s right-rear causing Johnny Morris’s worst nightmare.

Todd Gilliland and Corey Heim sustain damage from an out of control Zilisch spinning back up onto the track.

LAP 84: JRM and Justin Allgaier to the lead on the inside lane with rookie Connor Zilisch behind getting a taste of racing near the point.

LAP 80: Cody Ware goes from the press pass to the lead, anything is possible at Daytona! The pack condenses to a three-wide formation with Ware, Wallace, and Hamlin leading their respective lines.

LAP 76: Denny Hamlin slid to the outside lane for the lead as Bubba Wallace inherits the lead of the inside lane.

LAP 73: Austin Cindric jumps in front of teammate Ryan Blaney on the high side for the race lead early in the stage. Denny Hamlin leads the low lane with three of his manufacturer teammates behind.

LAP 71: Many cars employed the same fueling strategy as the first stage which cycles Ryan Blaney to the lead on the restart.

Jimmie Johnson and Josh Berry are currently a lap down with Casey Mears three laps down.

LAP 68: Carson Hocevar wins the race off pit road as Cody Ware receives the free pass to regain his lead lap status.

LAP 66: Noah Gragson runs out of fuel on the cooldown lap under caution. He is able to crawl back to pit road from a prime sportsmanship move from Josh Berry.

Stage two is 65 laps and ends on lap 130

STAGE ONE WINNER: Zane Smith

LAP 65: With a big push from Austin Cindric, Zane Smith comes around to capture his first career stage win. The top ten are as follows: Smith, Cindric, Blaney, Hocevar, Buescher, Suarez, Preece, McDowell, Bowman, and Gragson.

LAP 63: Smith continues to lead with two to go in the first stage as the top ten commit to stretching their fuel run to the end of the stage.

LAP 59: Chase Elliott leads a lap then brings the majority of the field to their pit stop cycle. The Fords stay out with Zane Smith taking the lead.

LAP 58: Spin! Jimmie Johnson joins his fellow Toyota’s to pit road as he locks up the brakes and into the infield grass. No yellow as he continues onto pit road from the grass.

LAP 57: William Byron takes a shot from Shane Van Gisbergen on the backstretch as Byron makes contact with the outside wall for the second time today.

LAP 56: Another small group of cars go to pit road led by Joey Logano which kickstarts the main green flag pit cycle.

LAP 52: Another close call for a Richard Childress Racing car! This time it’s Austin Dillon. He gets tight in the middle of turn 3 and 4 resulting in a quick bounce off the outside wall and continues.

LAP 50: Kyle Busch comes down pit road as four others join him including Ty Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Casey Mears, and Josh Berry.

LAP 47: The earlier track position call for Kyle Busch is starting to rear its ugly head. New crew chief Jim Pohlman will call his driver down pit road shortly. He is currently around eight laps shorter on fuel than the rest of the field.

LAP 43: Four Toyotas team up on the inside lane. Tyler Reddick sits fourth after a brush with McLeod on lap 4.

LAP 41: Chase Briscoe continues to lead followed by Logano. The front of the pack regrouped back to three-wide racing.

LAP 36: Close call for Kyle Busch! The wind off of turn four nearly takes out the polesitter off the nose of Christopher Bell. Brad Keselowski dove way to the inside off the track to compensate. Everyone continues on.

LAP 34: The third line forms on the outside as Chase Briscoe takes the lane to the lead as the pace picks up.

LAP 32: The field laps Casey Mears into turn three. He is the only car a lap down after sustaining damage on the lap 4 wreck.

LAP 26: The windy conditions are starting to effect the spotters as Connor Zilisch reports muffled sounds from his spotter. Currently, Daytona Beach as 21 mph winds have been reported.

LAP 21: Logano and Nemechek continue to lead their lanes as the field settles into the current green flag run.

LAP 16: John Hunter Nemechek retakes the lead on the inside as we pay tribute to Greg Biffle.

LAP 14: Joey Logano finds his way to the lead of the race, his tenth straight 500 leading laps.

LAP 11: Busch leads the field back to green after valuing track position over fuel early.

LAP 10: Drivers and crews will take advantage of every opportunity to add fuel in the first two stages. Many teams come back down with one lap to go before the restart to splash and go. Kyle Busch was the only one not to fuel during the caution period.

LAP 8: John Hunter Nemechek leads the field down pit road for a quick fuel stop. Kyle Busch and Carson Hocevar stay out.

LAP 4: Wreck! BJ McLeod goes spinning off of turn four with a right-rear tire issue.

William Byron, Justin Allgaier, Casey Mears, Chris Buescher, Tyler Reddick, and Noah Gragson sustain damage. McLeod is the first driver out of the 500.

LAP 3: Kyle Busch still leads as the crowd salutes Dale Earnhardt

LAP 1: Kyle Busch takes the outside lane and start the 68th running of the Daytona 500!

PRERACE

The 68th Daytona 500 is set to go green at around 2:13 p.m. ET on FOX, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and Motor Racing Network affiliates. The start time was moved an hour earlier due to the threat of rain in the evening.

Kyle Busch is on the pole with Chase Briscoe alongside him. Behind them are Duel winners Joey Logano and Chase Elliott.

In the first Duel, Casey Mears pulled off a “Days of Thunder”-esque move to get through a wreck and make the Daytona 500. Then, BJ McLeod made the Daytona 500 after Anthony Alfredo was disqualified since his car failed inspection after the second Duel.

Mears and McLeod joined Corey Heim and Justin Allgaier as the open entries in the field.

In Sunday’s field are former Daytona 500 champions Joey Logano (2015), Austin Dillon (2018), Michael McDowell (2021), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2023), Denny Hamlin (2016, 2019-20), Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2013) and William Byron (2024-25).

The first stage is set for 65 laps, the second stage is set for 65 laps to end on lap 130 and the final stage is set for 70 laps to end on lap 200 — or beyond, depending on overtime.

Stage one is 65 laps and ends on lap 65. Here is the starting lineup:

1. Kyle Busch
2. Chase Briscoe
3. Joey Logano
4. Chase Elliott
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Carson Hocevar
7. Austin Dillon
8. Kyle Larson
9. Brad Keselowski
10. Michael McDowell
11. John Hunter Nemechek
12. Christopher Bell
13. Shane Van Gisbergen
14. Josh Berry
15. Daniel Suarez
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17. Casey Mears
18. Todd Gilliland
19. Ryan Preece
20. Ty Gibbs
21. Alex Bowman
22. Denny Hamlin
23. Cole Custer
24. Erik Jones
25. Noah Gragson
26. Tyler Reddick
27. Bubba Wallace
28. Riley Herbst
29. Corey Heim
30. Zane Smith
31. Jimmie Johnson
32. Connor Zilisch
33. Cody Ware
34. Ty Dillon
35. A.J. Allmendinger
36. Austin Cindric
37. Ross Chastain
38. B.J. McLeod
39. William Byron
40. Justin Allgaier
41. Chris Buescher