Be honest, how many of you picked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the win today?
Well at Daytona, and in NASCAR‘s biggest race, anything is possible.
And after several late-race wrecks and a big crash that brought out a caution on the final lap, Stenhouse was the last man standing to bring home the Harley J. Earl Trophy in today’s Daytona 500.
Stenhouse qualified a measly 31st, but managed to keep his car clean despite a speeding penalty earlier in the race (and a reputation for being involved in on-track incidents that earned him the nickname “Wrecky Spinhouse”).
RFK Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher looked dominant as they led the field late in the race, with Richard Childress Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon on their tail. But a late caution when Daniel Suarez spun out stacked up the field just as Busch in the lead during his first race for RCR, and sent the race into overtime.
On the ensuing restart, Stenhouse managed to go from 7th to the lead just as a big crash broke out behind him when Austin Dillon got turned and collected nearly half the field.
The race went back to green on lap 208, making it the longest Daytona 500 in history. And as Stenhouse battled Joey Logano for the lead on the final lap, Travis Pastrana got turned into Kyle Larson, sending Larson into the wall and the rest of the field piling into a wreck.
When NASCAR threw the yellow flag, Logano and Stenhouse were neck and neck, and the finish came down to who was in the lead at the moment NASCAR threw the caution flag.
After a video review, NASCAR determined that Stenhouse was the leader, bringing home the win for the single-car JTG Daugherty team co-owned by former NBA player Brad Daugherty.
And Stenhouse is probably thankful that the caution came out when it did: When it came time to celebrate, the #47 car didn’t even have enough fuel for Stenhouse to do a celebratory burnout.
Behind Logano in 2nd, Christopher Bell managed to bring his #20 Toyota home in 3rd, with Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman rounding out the top 5.
The win is Stenhouse’s third overall, with his previous two also coming on superspeedways when he won at Talladega and the summer Daytona race back in 2017.
Stenhouse also becomes the third straight longshot to win the Daytona 500, after Austin Cindric brought home the trophy in his rookie season last year, and Michael McDowell won with underdog team Front Row Motorsports in 2021.
Pretty good start to the season – especially for Stenhouse, who managed to lock himself into the 2023 playoffs with a win NASCAR’s biggest race.
