Tyler Reddick Steals 68th Daytona 500 in Final-Lap Dash Through Chaos
- Declan Wayman
- 9 minutes ago
- 3 min read
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Tyler Reddick delivered a dramatic, last-lap victory in the 68th Daytona 500 on Sunday night, sweeping to the checkered flag in NASCAR’s “Great American Race” after a chaotic finish at Daytona International Speedway. The victory is his first in the Daytona 500 and his ninth career Cup Series win that he will never forget, as it came in stunning fashion as the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE surged past the field in the final hundred yards, slipping by several contenders amid crashes and carnage in Turn 4 coming to the checkered flag.
The race-ending scramble unfolded after a late incident in the pack did not trigger a caution, allowing the leaders to race back to the line. Reddick received a timely push from behind, shot through the middle of the draft, and slipped past the leaders in the final yards as smoke and debris filled the track. As it turned out, the only and most important lap that Reddick led en route to victory. “Last year was really hard for all of us, hard for me,” Reddick said in a post-race interview. “When you’re a Cup driver, and you get to this level and drive for Michael Jordan, it’s expected that you win every single year." The victory delivered a milestone moment for 23XI Racing, co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, giving the organization its first Daytona 500 was as special as it could get. The team has steadily grown since its debut in 2021 and now adds to the sport’s most coveted trophies to its case when the team travels back to North Carolina.
At the white flag, Carson Hocevar found himself at the front of the field with Michael McDowell lined up directly behind him, as the leaders braced for a final-lap showdown. Hocevar, the young driver from Portage, Michigan, tried to protect the lead by moving to the outside lane to block a late charge from Erik Jones, but the move backfired when contact from Jones’ No. 43 sent Hocevar spinning out of control.
As the field scattered, Tyler Reddick, running fourth at the time, clipped Jones and knocked him down the track into McDowell, triggering a chain reaction that wiped out multiple contenders in an instant. The crash eliminated both Spire Motorsports cars and Jones from the battle for the win, clearing the path for Reddick to slip through the chaos and surge toward the front.
Reddick's final move to victory came when he was the last car standing among the melee between Riley Herbst getting into Brad Keselowski, causing the multi-car accident that saw Reddick survive through the mess.
The 2023 winner, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., came home with a close second-place run, ultimately running with Reddick side-by-side for the majority of the closing lap.
Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, and Keselowski completed the rest of the top 5 behind Reddick.
Zane Smith, Chris Buescher, Herbst, Josh Berry, and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top 10.
Wallace, Reddick's 23XI Racing teammate, led a race-high 40 laps but faded in the closing circuits, while pole sitter Kyle Busch was never able to factor into the finish after early damage. Several multi-car accidents thinned the field, though many contenders remained on the lead lap until the final sprint.
The night was marked by its staggering number of leaders and laps led. A record 26 different drivers paced the field at some point during the 200-lap event, resulting in 66 lead changes.
With the sport’s biggest race in the books, the NASCAR Cup Series now heads to Atlanta next weekend for the running of the Autotrader 400 for yet another plate track event.
Coverage kicks off on Sunday, February 22 at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX. Radio broadcasts can be found on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.