Winners and losers from a spectacular 2026 Daytona 500

The 68th running of the Daytona 500 is now history, with Tyler Reddick and 23XI Racing its anointed champions. 25 of the 41 starters took a turn out front, there was a 20-car pileup, the race somehow finished under green, and the rain held off!

Before Reddick claimed the checkered flag drivers, like Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and several others all had a legitimate shot of ending up where he stood in the final seconds of the race.

Here’s a look back at five of the biggest winners and losers from Sunday’s wild race:

WINNER: Tyler Reddick, 23XI, and Michael Jordan

Watch: Michael Jordan on Daytona triumph: ‘Feels like I won a championship’

There’s so much to be said here, but we’ll try to keep it brief. Reddick comes back from a winless 2025 to triumph in NASCAR’s crown jewel event, leading only the final lap of the race. 23XI puts all three of its full-time cars in the top ten for the first time, and in the first race back after their trial against NASCAR ended in a settlement. And the GOAT Michael Jordan just added another ring to his historic career, hoisting the Harley J. Earl trophy with Reddick in Victory Lane.

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Driving for Michael Jordan, Tyler Reddick wins the Daytona 500 in wreck-filled finish

LOSER: Chase Elliott raced clean, and paid the price

Watch: Elliott after Daytona 500 loss: ‘Really sucks to be that close’

On the final lap of the 500, a lot of drivers were losing their heads. However, Elliott was not one of them. He came out with the lead at the other end of the Turn 1 pileup, and led most of the final lap of the race. Exiting Turn 4, Reddick made the winning move and Elliott did not pull a wild block that would have surely ended in disaster. And while moments later, he got turned into the outside wall by another car, had that not happened, perhaps he could have side-drafted his way back even with Reddick in a photo finish. But instead, he was left with a mangled car and dashed dreams. Elliott later lamented the fact that he tried to avoid wrecking himself, only to get wrecked anyway.

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Inside the battle that decided the Daytona 500

WINNER: NASCAR for making the right calls on start times, caution flags

NASCAR Cup Series logo

What a refreshing day in race control! NASCAR moved the race’s start time up a full hour in a proactive move, and with the rain that hit the track within an hour of the checkered flag, that decision saved the Daytona 500 from being the first season-opener rain shortened since 2009. And throughout the race, NASCAR only threw the yellow when they truly needed to, and even let the field race back to the line at the end of the race. There would have been some years where Sunday’s race ended unceremoniously in Turn 1 after the first wreck, but NASCAR let the field race it out. Just good decisions that helped avoid angst and frustration amongst the fanbase.

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NASCAR moves up start time of Daytona 500 due to incoming storms

LOSER: Spire’s 1-2 ends in disaster

Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Spire Motorsports nearly had it all. An incredible fuel-save by Michael McDowell and a great drive by Carson Hocevar left the team running 1-2 as the field raced to the white flag. But it all ended in tears, as Hocevar got turned from the lead, collecting his teammate. Hocevar ended up 18th and McDowell 22nd, while their new teammate Daniel Suarez navigated through the mess to finish 13th. It ended a difficult Speedweek for Hocevar, who was involved in multiple wrecks during the Truck and O’Reilly races as well. But once again, Spire was within arm’s length of a NASCAR Cup win while leaving empty-handed.

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Carson Hocevar’s last-lap 500 heartbreak ends his wild Daytona Speedweek

WINNER: Riley Herbst, despite the post-race criticism

Tyler Reddick wins the Daytona 500 as Chase Elliott, Riley Herbst, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crash

On one side, Herbst pretty much caused the massive crash in the tri-oval with a late block on Brad Keseowski, drawing the ire of the veteran Cup Series champion. But on the other side of it, he pushed his 23XI teammate to the lead and got praised by his boss, Michael Jordan, on national TV. I’d say the good outweighs the bad there. And even while crashing, Herbst secured his best career finish on Sunday, and was integral to Reddick’s triumph, which surely helps with job security too.

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LOSER: Allgaier wrecks out of the lead, triggering 20-car crash

Big one strikes at Daytona: Justin Allgaier, Todd Gilliland, Denny Hamlin, John-Hunter Nemechek involved

It was all so good for JRM, until it wasn’t. Dale Jr. was chatting on the radio, excited as Justin Allgaier took the lead of the 2026 Daytona 500. The last lap he led was Lap 123, and unfortunately, he was slamming into the wall as he crossed the start/finish line. Allgaier left a little room to his outside, enticing superspeedway ace Hamlin to poke his nose in there. Allgaier tried to close the gap, but it was too late, resulting in the biggest wreck of the race — roughly 20 cars sustained damage. And that was the end of JRM’s second appearance in the 500, finishing 38th. Allgaier later took full responsibility for the crash.

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Big One strikes, roughly 20 cars involved in Daytona 500 crash

WINNER: Kyle Busch seemingly ‘gives up’ only to net a lot of positions

Clever move or bad look? The debate rages online about Busch’s decision to drop out of the pack in the final two laps of the Daytona 500. However, the fact remains that most of the cars he was around before lifting wrecked on the final lap. And while Busch dropped back to almost 30th, he ended up finishing 15th as he navigated his way through the carnage without a scratch. In this new era of points racing, that was a smart move. But if there wasn’t a wreck, we might be having a different conversation right now…

LOSER: Joe Gibbs Racing…all of them

Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Ty Gibbs finished 23rd, and he led the way for Joe Gibbs Racing. Oof. His three teammates all finished in the 30s with damage. ‘Driver’ Denny Hamlin was 31st, Christopher Bell 35th, and Chase Briscoe 37th. And what is even more frustrating for JGR is the fact that Hamlin and Bell were damaged in the same wreck that basically involved only the two of them with a few laps to go. But hey, at least ‘Owner’ Hamlin still got to visit Victory Lane with Reddick and MJ.

WINNER: Ryan Preece for being determined to finish the race

Preece did not win the 68th running of the Daytona 500, but he didn’t fly through the air either, so that’s a positive. Following flips in the 2023 summer race and 2025 Daytona 500, Preece was surely relieved to just finish the race, but it was the way he did it that makes him one of our winners. He threw the car in reverse, and drove backwards around the superspeedway, taking the checkered flag long after race winner Reddick climbed from his car. He was 25th, the last driver who officially finished the race. Now that is determination!

LOSER: Bubba Wallace leads the most laps, but left wondering what could have been

Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

23XI still won NASCAR’s biggest race, but Wallace knows how close he was to ensuring that it was him. After leading 40 laps — more than any other driver — he made it through the first last-lap crash clean. At that point, teammate Herbst was to his outside with Keselowski to his inside, and Reddick just ahead. Wallace was fully in the fight, only for a barely in-control William Byron to shoot back up the track from the apron, forcing Wallace to slam the brakes. He still finished inside the top ten, but it could have been so much more, and he knew it.

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