DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — One lap from the end of Saturday night’s Cup race at Daytona, Alex Bowman’s playoff hopes seemed over as a new winner was poised take his spot in the postseason.
A chaotic 47 seconds later, Bowman — forced to watch the action after he was collected in a crash early in the event — was in the playoffs. As he exhaled, several drivers needing a win to make the playoffs were left to lament what could have been after Ryan Blaney went from 13th to first in the final two laps.
The Team Penske driver won from the pole by outdueling several desperate drivers.
“I’m going to relive (the last lap) for a long time,” Cole Custer said after his fourth-place finish, his first top-five result since his victory at Kentucky in July 2020.
Custer led as the final lap at the 2.5-mile track began. A victory by him would have eliminated Bowman.
By the time the field exited Turn 2, Justin Haley led.
A victory would have put Haley in the playoffs and eliminated Bowman.
Haley ‘got too far out front’ to secure win
It was a season’s-best finish for Justin Haley, who found himself in position for the win at Daytona, but he “got too far out front” to hold off the pack and settles for a third-place finish.
As the field went down the backstretch, Haley went from the bottom lane to the top lane to stop Custer’s surge. Custer shot to the bottom but Haley marked him and stayed in front.
But that left Blaney leading the top lane.
“I wanted to stay with (Blaney) and that’s why I was trying to stay with him on the last lap but (Haley) got clear … it kind of forced me to try to go around him and leave (Blaney),” Custer said.
Blaney had been 13th with two laps to go. He was following Custer, who was 11th. When Custer went to the top lane, Blaney joined him and began a charge to the front.
As the field went through Turn 3 on that final lap, five of the top six cars needed a win to make the playoffs and eliminate Bowman. The only driver in the top six who could have won and not eliminated Bowman was Blaney since Blaney already was locked into a playoff spot.
Blaney goes from 13th to first to win Daytona
Ryan Blaney recaps a “wild” final two laps at Daytona, going from 13th to first to secure the win, and he describes his team’s strategy throughout the race for his second win of the season.
Blaney had Daniel Suarez, who needed to win to make the playoffs, behind him on the top lane. Suarez pushed Blaney, who cut down to the middle lane.
When Blaney crossed the finish line a breath ahead of Suarez, Haley and Custer, it secured the final playoff spot for Bowman and meant that all four Hendrick Motorsports cars would be in the playoffs.
The regular-season finale came down to the last corner at Daytona International Speedway.
Suarez, who is losing his ride at Trackhouse Racing after this season to Connor Zilisch, finished second and missed making the playoffs by .031 seconds.
“I felt like we didn’t set up ourselves as good as we wanted to be, but that’s not an excuse,” Suarez said. “(Blaney) was back there with us and he was able to make it to the front. Definitely probably the fastest superspeedway car we have had in a few years. … Our playoff run ends here, but I’m very positive we’re going to be in Victory Lane here very soon.”
Bowman ‘in a tough spot’ after Daytona wreck
Alex Bowman’s shares his perspective after being caught up in an early Stage 1 crash that puts his playoff hopes in jeopardy.
It’s just beginning for Bowman, who endured the long night after he was collected in a crash that brought out the caution at Lap 28 of the 160-lap event.
Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch made contact, triggering a 12-car crash that ended Bowman’s race in the opening stage.
Bowman, who started second, was running about 10th in the middle lane when the incident happened in front of him. He slowed and drifted up but couldn’t avoid contact and hit the wall.
“I don’t think any of us expected the bottom lane to fall apart like it did at the beginning of the race and all lose all of our track position,” Bowman said after exiting the infield care center. “That was pretty surprising. Just couldn’t get going. We chipped away at getting our track position back. … When they crashed in front of us, there wasn’t anything we could have done different to get through that.
Team Penske driver wins from the pole on the final lap as crashes eliminate several playoff hopefuls.
“I hate it for everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. They work really hard. The last 10 or 11 weeks has been really fun to be a part of. We’ve been really strong and that’s been cool.
“I don’t want to let the result of (Saturday) turn into falling apart the rest of the year. We’ve got to keep it together whether we’re in the playoffs or not. We’re a race team plenty capable of going and winning anywhere.”
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