- William Byron waited through a four-hour rain delay and dodged three wrecks in the final 15 laps to win the Daytona 500. It was his second straight win in the Great American Race.
- President Donald Trump was in attendance for pre-race activities, leading the cars around the track in his limousine.
- Ryan Preece called on NASCAR to improve driver safety at Daytona after his car flipped in the air during the crash.
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It was a long day for drivers, crews and the fans in Daytona, Florida, Sunday, Feb. 16. However, for Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron, it was all smiles in the end. Byron became just the fifth NASCAR driver in history to win back-to-back Daytona 500 races, and he is the first to do it in five years.
President Donald Trump attended the pre-race festivities, the second time he’s been at Daytona while in office. The president led the cars around the track for a few laps before watching the start of the race from a suite.
Rain delays Daytona 500, race halted for four hours
The Great American Race started an hour earlier than usual in an attempt to avoid the rain but to no avail. After getting in just nine green flag laps, the race was halted due to the weather. The delay lasted four hours.
The finish, however, was thrilling for the fans who stuck it out well into the night.
Thrilling finish at Daytona 500 after multiple crashes
There were three major crashes in the final 15 laps as drivers jockeyed to win the sports crown jewel.
The second crash with just five laps to go sent Ryan Preece’s car flying into the air, flipping over for the second time in three years at the superspeedway.
Afterwards, Preece called for more safety measures during restrictor plate races, like Daytona and Talladega, to help keep the cars on the ground.
“I think we know where there’s a problem at superspeedways, so I don’t want to be the example of you know when it finally does get somebody, I don’t want to be me, you know.” Preece said. “I got a 2-year-old daughter and just like a lot of us we have family, so something needs to be done because cars lifting off the ground like that, I mean that that felt honestly worse than Daytona in ’23. So, I don’t know.”
Preece’s crash pushed the race into overtime, leading to a dramatic finish with just two turns remaining on the final lap.
Byron seizes opportunity in overtime for second Daytona win
William Byron was running seventh when the leaders wrecked and the seas parted, giving Byron an opening to race through to the finish unscathed for his second straight Daytona win.
“It’s the best gift you can have probably. I don’t want to discredit the hard work that goes into this, all of our team.” Byron said. “We had a great Duel race, finished second in that and obviously having the experience of being up front at the superspeedways and being in contention to win I feel like that helped our selection there at the end. Just fortunate it worked out for us. It’s a great start to our year”
After winning Daytona last year, Byron won two more races. He is hoping to better that run this year, starting Sunday, Feb. 23, in Atlanta.
