DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won Sunday’s 65th Daytona after a major crash in turn two on the final lap of the second overtime gave the JTG Daugherty driver the biggest win of his career.
It broke a 199-race winless streak for the driver from Olive Branch, Mississippi.
It was the longest Daytona 500 in history, covering 212 laps and 530 miles.
“I’m not doing a burnout,” Stenhouse radioed to his crew. “I ain’t got no fuel.”
Stenhouse was just ahead of Joey Logano’s Ford at the time the yellow light came on, according to NASCAR officials.
Stenhouse was reunited with crew chief Mike Kelley during the offseason.
“Mike just preached how much we all believed in each other,” Stenhouse said. “They left me a note in the car that said they believe in me and to go get the job done tonight. I made a few mistakes. We were able to battle back.
“This Kroger Continental team worked really, really hard in off-season, great pit stops, Hendrick engines. Glad a Chevy won.
“Man, this is unbelievable. This was the site of my last win back in 2017. We’ve worked really hard. We had a couple shots last year to get a win and fell short. It was a tough season, but man, we got it done, Daytona 500.”
Stenhouse described the frantic culmination of the race that helped him grab the victory.
Stenhouse celebrates on the frontstretch with his team. (David Moulthrop Photo)
“When the 8 (Kyle Busch) went to the bottom there I was able to push the 22 (Logano) and the 5 (Larson),” he recalled. “We had a huge run. I was hoping we were going to get to the white there, and we didn’t, so I knew I was going to take the top. I was hoping the 22 was going to follow, and he did. He was able to push us out.
“I went to the bottom, the 8 and the 22 got a huge run. The 5 split me in the middle, but another fellow dirt racer with Bell gave me a good shot down the little, short chute into 1, and we were out front when the caution came out. We were out of fuel, so the fuel light was going crazy.
“I hope y’all had fun. That was a heck of a race.”
Stenhouse led the final 10 laps of the race, but Logano was making a charge before the massive crash began behind them.
“Second is the worst, man,” Logano said. “You’re so close. Leading the white flag lap there, I was up front. Kyle gave me a good push and, yeah, you’re watching in the mirror and you’re three-wide across there. I felt like the three wide was going a hurt a lane; looked like Kyle was getting pushed ahead, and then Ricky started getting pushed ahead.
“I knew if I went to the bottom my car didn’t handle good enough. I already got pushed off the bottom once and I thought, if I go down there, I’m probably going to get wrecked, and I don’t know if I can get down there in time to throw the block and so I didn’t want to wreck my car either.
“Then you don’t expect them to wreck either. You think you’re racing to the checkered flag, and you put yourself in the best position to try to win at the start-finish line, and just caution came out — you wish you could race to the end. Obviously, you can’t when they wreck that much.
“Congratulations to Ricky. There’s nothing like winning the Daytona 500. That’s why it stings so much finishing second.
“Still proud of the team, still proud of the effort coming off the championship last year and bringing this Shell-Pennzoil Mustang back toward the front and getting a Ford close to the front. Wish it was in victory lane, though.”
Christopher Bell was third in a Toyota and gave the race winner the push he needed to stay ahead of Logano’s Ford. The Team Penske driver did not have another car pushing him and when the caution light came on, it was lights out for Logano.
“I’m very thankful to be here at Joe Gibbs Racing, but I hate superspeedway racing,” Bell said. “Just running thing in the Daytona 500 is a really big deal. But right now, I’m bummed. I thought we were in position here.
“I’m really happy for Ricky. Really happy for Ricky.”
Stenhouse has won at Talladega and has won at Daytona in the summer, but never the Daytona 500.
Stenhouse crosses beneath the start/finish line to win the Daytona 500 under caution. (Dick Ayers Photo)
It was JTG Daugherty’s first NASCAR Cup Series win since A.J. Allmendinger won at Watkins Glen in 2014. It was the team’s second victory. It was the first win for the team in 266 races.
The massive crash was triggered when Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet was turned, heading straight up the track. With sparks and fire coming from turn two, other drivers involved included Aric Almirola, defending Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Allmendinger.
It was a fairly clean race at the beginning, but it ended up being a mess at the end, extending the race longer than any Daytona 500 in history.
Kyle Busch appeared primed to finally get his first Daytona 500 win when the Richard Childress Racing driver went to the high side in turn three on lap 197 to pass Keselowski’s Ford. Austin Dillon went with his RCR teammate.
Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez spun off turn four and slid down the apron on Lap 198 to set up overtime. At the time of the yellow flag, it was Busch leading Dillon, Byron, Logano and Keselowski.
Busch and teammate Dillon split lanes at the choose cone, putting them side-by-side at the start of overtime instead of nose-to-tail.
That plan proved disastrous. Logano blew by Busch for the lead in turn two, Dillon got turned and that triggered a massive crash heading into turn three when Byron ran into the back of Dillon, turning him sideways and wading up a large number of cars.
Also involved in the crash was Harrison Burton, Riley Herbst, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Jimmie Johnson, Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland, Justin Haley, Michael McDowell, and Denny Hamlin.
Stenhouse was in the lead ahead of Larson, Christopher Bell, Logano and Busch.
Earlier in the race, Stenhouse was penalized for exiting pit road too fast. But he was able to fight his way back to score the biggest win of his career.
It was the third NASCAR Cup Series win of his career. His previous two both came in 2017 when he was at what was then known as Roush Fenway Racing.
The winner averaged 163.324 miles per hour. There were 52 lead changes among 21 different drivers. The lead changes were the fourth most in Daytona 500 history. Keselowski led six times for 42 laps, the most of the race. Chris Buescher led five times for 32 laps and Bell was our front three times for 20 laps.
Keyword: Stenhouse Jr. Breaks 199-Race Drought, Wins Daytona 500