Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driving for JTG Daugherty Racing, won his first Daytona 500 and third career race after edging out two-time series champion Joey Logano for the lead in front of a multi-car accident on the final lap.
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.[15] The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[16] The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.[16]
Alex Bowman scored the pole for the race with a time of 49.536 and a speed of 181.686 mph (292.395 km/h). Kyle Larson earned the outside pole.[17]
Only the top two cars qualify from time trials. The Duels set the lineup for positions 3–38. The first race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in odd-numbered positions on pole qualifying day, while the second race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in even-numbered positions. Only one Open team in each Duel will qualify in this manner. Grid positions 39 and 40 are filled by the two "Open" (teams without a charter) cars that set the fastest times in qualifying, but did not lock in a spot in the Duels.
The fastest two Open team qualifiers were Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana which earned them a spot in the race regardless of the outcome of the Duels.
The Bluegreen Vacations Duels are a pair of NASCAR Cup Series races held in conjunction with the Daytona 500 annually in February at Daytona International Speedway. They consist of two races 60 laps and 150 miles (240 km) in length, which serve as heat races that set the lineup for the Daytona 500. Both races sets the lineup for positions 3–38. The first race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in odd–numbered positions on pole qualifying day with exceptions based on open teams. The second race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in even–numbered positions. Only the top finishing open car will transfer from each qualifying race. After qualifying races, the final two positions are determined by fastest times in qualifying of open teams that did not advance.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in victory lane after the Daytona 500
The race began with Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson on the front row, The next few laps Larson and Bowman exchanged the lead.
10 laps in, the inside line began to show its strength, with Larson, Joey Logano, and Christopher Bell making up the top 3 of the field. A third line emerged with Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Justin Haley, but quickly faded. Smoke started billowing from Ty Dillon's car on lap 28. His team pushed him to the garage, and discovered an engine problem, making him the first driver to retire from the race.
Between laps 37 and 40, the drivers made their first pit stops. On lap 38 there was a spin by Riley Herbst, however NASCAR did not throw the yellow flag. After the pit cycle, Denny Hamlin took the lead, but was passed by Chase Briscoe on lap 42, as two lines have formed again. On the bottom are Briscoe, Wallace and Aric Almirola, with Hamlin, Bell and Reddick on the top. On lap 55, Wallace had taken the lead but made contact with the backstretch wall after a push from Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.
On lap 64, two laps from the end of the first stage, A. J. Allmendinger, who was one lap down at the time, blocked and slowed the inside line led by Almirola and Jimmie Johnson, with the intention of getting the free pass at the stage break, leading the top lane, now led by Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece, to pass Hamlin and Truex. They were followed by Chris Buescher and Kevin Harvick. Keselowski would win the first stage.
The race restarts on lap 72, with Keselowski dropping to the inside to block Preece. Truex and Kyle Busch move to lead the outside line on lap 94, but it has no effect. After another sequence of pit stops, the pack went three wide on lap 112, with Logano and Ryan Blaney leading the race. On lap 117, Harvick bumped Reddick, causing a multi-car incident, the first of many, which would involve almost a dozen cars. Reddick, Erik Jones and Chase Elliott retired from the race, while Blaney received repairs on his right front. The leaders took advantage of the pit stops, with Cindric and Hamlin pitting for two tires while all other teams took four. The race restarted on lap 126, with a group of drivers preferring track position and stage points. Ross Chastain gets down to take the lead from Logano. He begins to block both lines, while Alex Bowman is strong on the outside line with a push from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chastain would win the second stage due to a late push from Truex and Logano, in a close finish against Bowman.
During the yellow flag at the end of the second stage, pit stops occurred place, with Chastain getting penalized for going too fast exiting pit lane. Bell was also penalized for passing over equipment, and rookie Noah Gragson was as well for an uncontrolled tire. All three would serve pass-throughs. Wallace stayed out of the pits and would takes the lead of the race at the lap 138 restart. Almirola would overtake him after a push from Buescher, though the yellow flag would come out for debris two laps later, with the right front tire tread coming off Blaney's car in turn two.
Almirola was strong on the inside line on the restart, receiving strong drafting help from Buescher. Wallace tried to stick the middle lane, but wound up losing the draft. On lap 145, Buescher moved up to the outside line with a push from teammate and co-owner Keselowski. They would go on to strongly lead the outside lane as laps go by and the inside line led by Hamlin gains no ground. Wallace's gamble of staying out on the stage break would not pay off, as he pitted for fuel alone with 30 laps to go, and would fall a lap down.
Between laps 176 and 180, drivers began making their final pit stops, with Harrison Burton taking the lead after the cycle. Stenhouse is penalized for speeding, having to make a pass-through on lap 180. With 18 laps to go, the first Big One takes place, with Preece losing control and making a heavy impact on the wall before collecting Harvick, Truex, Johnson, and Chase Briscoe. The race restarts with 14 laps to go, with Burton leading on the outside pushed by Busch, and Logano on the inside with William Byron. Logano would get loose on the straightaway, forcing him up to the outside, losing the draft. A dive-bomb move from Allmendinger would thrust him into the lead until he was overtaken by Keselowski with 10 laps to go.
With laps winding down, both RFK Racing cars of Keselowski and Buscher and the Richard Childress Racing cars of Busch and Austin Dillon remained close each other. With four laps to go, the RCR drivers coordinated with Byron on the back straight to pass Keselowski and Buescher, with Busch taking the lead, looking for his first Daytona 500 victory in his 18th attempt. But on the next lap, Suarez gets a touch from Johnson, sending him spinning at the exit of turn 4, and with this the race went into overtime.
After radio communications on how to take advantage of having his two cars in the first two positions, Richard Childress decided Dillon slow the inside line on the restart, to protect Busch, who would immediately switch into that line, in order to command a 1-2 finish for RCR. However, the inside line would lose pace with Logano and Stenhouse passing both cars. On the back straight, Stenhouse, with a push from Larson, passed Logano, and the yellow flag was waved seconds later for another Big One, caused by Byron's touch on Dillon who spun up the track collecting Cindric, Burton, Hamlin, Johnson, Gragson, Todd Gilliland, and Zane Smith.
Both RFK Racing drivers pitted for fuel, in the case that the race could extend into several additional overtimes. Herbst and Almirola also pitted at this time.
The race restarted for a second overtime on lap 210, with Stenhouse leading on the outside and Larson on the inside. Stenhouse grew his lead to a stable amount coming to the white flag, blocking the inside line, leaving Larson without a draft. In turn 2, Almirola bumped Travis Pastrana who lost control and spun, creating the third Big One with Keselowski, Almirola, Busch, Wallace, Allmendinger and Hamlin involved, and the yellow flag was quickly waved, ending the race as the white flag had already flown, with Stenhouse in the lead.
This was confirmed by NASCAR using video replay, confirming that Ricky Stenhouse Jr, driving the No. 47 car for JTG Daugherty Racing, was the winner of the 2023 Daytona 500.
The race was broadcast on radio by the Motor Racing Network who has covered the Daytona 500 since 1970—and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. The booth crew consists of Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and 1989 Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace. Longtime turn announcer Dave Moody was the lead turn announcer, calling the race from atop the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 2 when the field races through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley works the backstretch for the race from a spotter's stand on the inside of the track & Kyle Rickey called the race when the field races through turns 3 and 4 from the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 4. On pit road, MRN was operated by Steve Post, Kim Coon, Brienne Pedigo and Dillon Welch.
