The Daytona 500 was great once again.
Like crashing, slamming and mashing.
This time, the riders couldn’t wait until the final few laps of the race before the madness started. There was a nine-car crash on lap 86 of 200, but that was just the prelude. On lap 123, the track was piled like firewood, with front-stretch wreckage taking up about half the lineup, splattering cars all over the tri-oval and damaging several potential winners.
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Of course, there was a wreck on the final lap – another big one – and the survivors of the early skirmishes were on their way to history.
It was probably no coincidence that one of America’s most famous brats — Fox cartoon star and legendary troublemaker Bart Simpson — was asked to raise the green flag, sparking Sunday’s mayhem. 37 of the 41 vehicles were involved in at least one accident.
Chris Grayson – Getty Images
Ultimately, The Ultimate Survivor makes for a great story. Tyler Reddick escaped the madness of the last crash, which saw 15 drivers trying to figure out the best path to victory on a crowded track. Some of them either hit the wall or each other, and Redick charged through, beating Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 0.30 seconds to the finish line.
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Reddick’s victory was his first in NASCAR’s biggest race, and it brought more emotion than a typical Daytona 500 win, which carries a lot with every victory. Reddick spent so much time last season between the track and the hospital room while his youngest son, Rookie, battled complex health issues that put the Reddick family and his racing family on edge for weeks. The rookie walking to victory Sunday in the arms of his mother had to be the biggest part of Redick’s win.
Jim France and Michael Jordan shake hands. Chris Grayson – Getty Images
The win was Redick’s ninth in the Cup. Oddly enough, the wins came at nine different tracks.
Redick’s victory was also full of irony. Just two months ago, his team owners, Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, were locked in a court battle with NASCAR’s owners in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina. The case was resolved in the second week of the trial as NASCAR’s ruling French family reached an agreement with Jordan and his legal team. Sunday’s race results featured a surreal scene of NASCAR president Jim France shaking hands with his basketball hero in victory lane.
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Strange indeed.
The victory washed away Redick’s memories of the 2025 season, a winless season that was, as team captain Billy Scott described it, “less than ideal.”
On race day, for a large number of drivers, the lure of victory is everywhere. Joey Logano could have won. Both Chases — Elliott and Briscoe — could win. Same goes for Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Brad Keselowski. The race had 25 leaders and a record 500 finish.
But the day’s accident dashed many people’s hopes. Reddick called it “real Daytona madness.”
He only led one lap. The biggest one.