After four days of trial and races, the big day is finally here – the Daytona 500!  A total of 42 teams brought cars to Daytona for a 40 car field including seven time champion Jimmie Johnson, IndyCar driver Conor Daly, and open wheel and two wheel multiple champion Travis Pastrana.

Alex Bowman set a new Daytona record when he put his number 48 car on the pole; it was the sixth year in a row that Alex Bowman was on the front row at Daytona.

Dierks Bentley entertains the sold out crowd before the race.  This is the eighth year in a row that there is a sell out for the 500.

This year also marks the 75th anniversary of NASCAR and in that time 2981 different drivers have raced on the high banked superspeedway of Daytona International Speedway.  Of that group, there have been seven father/son duos; along with numerous sibling rivalries including the Labonte’s, Green’s, Bodine’s, Wallace’s, Waltrip’s, Dillon’s, and Busch’s.

There has also been nine drivers in the history of the Daytona 500 that have won “The Great American Race” and a NASCAR Cup Series championship – Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Bill Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Joey Logano,  Dale Earnhardt Sr who died in 2001 is a seven time champion and a Daytona 500 winner.

After contact from Daniel Suarez sent Kyle Busch into the wall during the second Duel race on Thursday night, Busch will be starting the race from the back of the field in a back up car.

The starting lineup for the 65th running of the Daytona 500:
Alex Bowman
Kyle Larson
Joey Logano
Aric Almirola
Christopher Bell
Austin Cindric
Ryan Blaney
Chase Elliott
Chris Buescher
Brad Keselowski
Michael McDowell
Corey LaJoie
Kevin Harvick
Todd Gilliland
Bubba Wallace
Martin Truex Jr
Zane Smith
Denny Hamlin
Harrison Burton
Ryan Preece
William Byron
Noah Gragson
Ross Chastain
Daniel Suarez
Erik Jones
Tyler Reddick
Austin Dillon
Justin Haley
AJ Allmendinger
Chase Briscoe
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
BJ McLeod
Ty Gibbs
Conor Daly
Cody Ware
Kyle Busch
Ty Dillon
Riley Herbst
Jimmie Johnson
Travis Pastrana

In a star studded start of the season, Breland sings the National Anthem and Tiffany Haddish will wave the green flag to start the race.  And the legends of NASCAR give the command to start the engines.

For the first time in Daytona 500 history all three of the NASCAR champions form 2022 – Zane Smith, Ty Gibbs, and Joey Logano – are in the Daytona 500.

Stages one and two are 65 laps each with stage three lasting 70 laps for a total of 200 laps around the two and a half mile track.  The drivers can run around 44 laps on a single load of fuel and will have to make a pit stop in all three stages.

Alex Bowman brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the outside lane before a packed house.  Bowman edges out in front of Kyle Larson for the lead but with a little help from Joey Logano, Kyle Larson edges out for the lead.  Alex Bowman come back to go side by side with Kyle Larson.  Kyle Larson leads lap one by inches.

Lap two, the top five are Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola, Joey Logano, and Austin Cindric.

Lap three, Kyle Larson has the lead with Alex Bowman in second; Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Three laps into the race, the field is two by two all through the field.

Lap five, Kyle Larson has the lead with Joey Logano in second; Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.

Lap six, the front row remains side by side with each driver edges out in front and swapping the lead back and forth.

Lap seven, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman continues to swap the lead back and forth with Aric Almirola, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric rounding out the top five.

Lap nine, there has been very little movement so far with the drivers still two by two through the field.

Lap 13, Christopher Bell has come up to take the lead while the broadcast was airing a commercial break.

Lap 14, the top five are Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Aric Almirola, and Joey Logano.  After starting at the back of the field, Kyle Busch has moved up to 31st.

Lap 17, Christopher Bell holds on to the lead with Alex Bowman in second; Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.

Lap 22, Kyle Larson has gotten back out in front with Joey Logano on his bumper; Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.  Jimmie Johnson has moved up 12 spots since the race start with Kyle Busch up nine spots.

Lap 24, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson battle for the lead with Bell getting out in front on the outside lane.  Jimmie Johnson is in 27th place.

Lap 27, Christopher Bell leads the race with Alex Bowman in second; Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.

Ty Dillon is slowed on the track with a smoking car.

Lap 32, Christopher Bell has the lead with Alex Bowman in second; Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.

Lap 36, drivers in the outside lane are beginning to move down in preparation for a green flag pitstop.  Ty Dillon is in the garage.

Lap 37, Alex Bowman takes the lead on the inside lane with Corey LaJoie in second; Christopher Bell, Martin Truck Jr, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.

Lap 37, drivers begin making green flag pit stops with the Fords coming down first.

Lap 39, more drivers come down pit road for service; this time it’s the Chevrolets.  Noah Gragson was slow coming down pit road.

Riley Herbst spins out but the track stays green.

Lap 40, Travis Pastrana leads the race before making his pit stop.

Denny Hamlin is the new leader.

Riley Herbst has been charged with a commitment cone violation on his enter pit road spin.

Travis Pastrana has been charged with going through too many pit stalls while making his pit stop.

Lap 45, Denny Hamlin leads the race with Chase Briscoe in second; Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace round out the top five.  After his pit stop, Kyle Busch has entered the top 10.

Lap 47, Denny Hamlin takes the lead with Chase Briscoe in second; Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

Lap 48 Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe are swapping the lead back and forth.

Lap 53, Bubba Wallace comes down pit road after getting pushed into the fence after contact from Martin Truex Jr.  The track stays green.

Lap 54, Martin Truex Jr is the leader with team mate Denny Hamlin in second; Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

Lap 56, Martin Truex Jr leads the race with Denny Hamlin in second place as the drivers get single file at the front; Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

Just seven laps remain in stage one with Martin Truex Jr leading the race; Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Aric Almirola, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.  The race has been green all race so far.

Martin Truex Jr remarked that he drives car number 19 and is making his 19th 500 start…and he started the race in 19th place.

Lap 62, Martin Truex Jr leads the race with Denny Hamlin in second; Ty Gibbs, Aric Almirola, and Brad Keselwoski round out the top five.

Drivers are making moves to maximize points as the end of stage one approaches.

Bubba Wallace and Zane Smith are one lap down.

Brad Keselowski wins stage one for his first Daytona 500 stage win.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Brad Keselowski
Ryan Preece
Chris Buescher
Kevin Harvick
Michael McDowell
Ty Gibbs
Jimmie Johnson
Aric Almirola
Martin Truex Jr
Todd Gilliland

Drivers come down pit road for service.  Ryan Preece wins the race off of pit road.

Reports are  the rear toe link is bent on Bubba Wallace’s cr after getting into the wall from contact with Martin Truex Jr.

Ryan Preece brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two from the inside lane and goes side by side with Brad Keselowski on lap 72.

Brad Keselowski gets the lead after a push from Aric Almirola.

Lap 73, Aric Almirola takes the lead with Austin Cindric in second; Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece, and William Byron round out the top five.

Ryan Preece gives Brad Keselowski a push and sends Keselowski to the lead on lap 74.

Lap 75 Aric Almirola and Brad Keselowski battle back and forth for the lead with Keselowski getting back in front; Ryan Preece, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, and Austin Cindric round out the top five.  There are 33 cars on the lead lap.  The drivers are two wide through the field.

Lap 82, Brad Keselowski and Aric Almirola battle back and forth for the lead; Ryan Preece, Kevin Harvick, and Austin Cindric round out the top five.

Lap 84, Brad Keselowski has the lead after a push from Ryan Preece; Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick ,and Austin Cindric round out the top five.

Lap 86, Brad Keselowski leads the way with Ryan Preece in second.

Lap 91, Brad Keselowski leads the race with Ryan Preece as the leaders get single file; Kevin Harvick, Michel McDowell, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.

Lap 94, Brad Keselowski leads the race with Ryan Preece in second; Kevin Harvick, Michael McDowell, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.

Lap 100, halfway, Brad Keselowski holds on to the lead with Ryan Preece in second; Kevin Harvick, Michael McDowell, and Erik Jones round out the top five.  Jimmie Johnson is in sixth place with Kyle Busch just outside the top 10 in eleventh.

Lap 102, Kyle Busch leads the outside lane but is several crs back from the leaders.

Lap 107, Brad Keselowski leads the race from the inside lane with Ryan Preece in second; Kevin Harvick, Michael McDowell, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

Lap 108, the first group of drivers come down pit road for service.

Kyle Busch was caught speeding on pit road and will have to serve a pass through penalty.

Lap 109, the next group of drivers comes down pit road including the leaders.

Lap 110, the next group of drivers make their pit stops.

Lap 112, and finally the last group of drivers come down pit road.

Joey Logano is the new leader on lap 112.

Lap 116, Joey Logano leads the race with Chris Buescher alongside; Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, and Kevin Harvick round out the top five.

Lap 118, Chris Buescher leads the way with Joey Logano in second; Martin Truex Jr, Ryan Blaney, and Kevin Harvick round out the top five.

The first caution flag for an on track incident comes out on lap 119 when Tyler Reddick gets loose and makes contact with Ryan Blaney.  Erik Jones, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr, and Daniel Suarez were all collected up in the crash.  Erik Jones took his car to the garage.  Ryan Blaney has significant damage to his car.  Chase Elliott’s team reports that his car is “destroyed” and is out of the race.

Some drivers come down pit road for service…and to check for any crash damage.

Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag restart and holds on to the lead with Martin Truex Jr in second.; Ross Chastain, AJ Allmendinger, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Out of the infield care center, Tyler Reddick said that he is fine.  He reported that he wasn’t sure his car was stable at the time of the hit.

Bubba Wallace is back on the lead lap after getting the “lucky dog” from the caution flag.

Lap 128, Ross Chastain takes the lead on the inside lane.

Melon man Ross Chastain wins stage two…by a foot over Alex Bowman.  This is Chastain’s first stage win in the Daytona 500.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ross Chastain
Alex Bowman
Joey Logano
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Austin Cindric
Martin Truex Jr
William Byron
AJ Allmendinger
Chris Buescher
Christopher Bell

Drivers come down pit road for service with Aric Almirola wins the race off of pit road.

There are 32 cars on the lead lap with four drivers out of the race.

Ross Chastain was caught speeding on pit road, Christopher Bell ran over equipment in his pit stall, and Noah Gragson had an uncontrolled tire during his pit stop; as a result the drivers will have to restart the race from the back of the field.

Some of the drivers come down pit road just before the restart to top off the fuel.

After staying out on the track, Bubba Wallace leads the race and brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three from the outside lane on lap 138.  Over the off season, NASCAR has increased the size of the restart window by 50 perfect.  Bubba Wallace takes the lead but Aric Almirola comes up on the inside to take the lead with Chris Buescher in his wake.

There have been 38 lead changes among 16 different leaders so far.

Lap 139, the top five are Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick ,and Bubba Wallace.

The caution flag comes out on lap 140 for debris on the track, Ryan Blaney lost a large portion of his tire.

Several drivers come down pit road to top off their fuel.

There are 58 laps remaining in the race; Kyle Larson and his crew chief discuss fuel conservation and making it to the end of the race.  A normal fuel load is about 44 laps.

Aric Almirola brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 143 with Bubba Wallace on the outside.  Almirola takes the lead.

Bubba Wallace gets hung out to dry in the middle after slowing up the pack on the outside lane.

With 56 laps to go the top five are Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Austin Cindric.

Lap 145, Chris Buescher takes the lead with Aric Almirola in second; Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Lap 148, Chris Buescher is the leader with Brad Keselowski in second; Aric Almirola, Austin Cindric, and Kevin Harvick round out the top five.

Fifty to go, Denny Hamlin and Chris Buescher battle for the lead with Buescher getting out in front with bossman Brad Keselowski right behind; Denny Hamlin, Corey Lajoie, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.

Lap 153, Aric Almirola takes the lead on the outside; Austin Cindric, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Lap 154, Chris Buescher retakes the lead with Brad Keselowski on his bumper; Aric Almirola, Austin Cindric, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Lap 156, Chris Buescher leads the way with Brad Keselowski in second; Aric Almirola, Austin Cindric, and Ryan Preece round out the top five.

Lap 159, Chris Buescher leads the race; Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Austin Cindric, and Ryan Preece round out the top five.

In full fuel conservation mode Kyle Larson is currently just outside the top 10 in eleventh and is running at about 60 percent.

Just 36 laps remain in the race with Chris Buescher in the lead; Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Austin Cindric, and Ryan Preece round out the top five.

With 29 laps to go, Bubba Wallace had to make a pit stop; but did so along and has lost the draft.

It has been 39 laps since the leaders have come down pit road and are low on fuel.

Thirty to go, Chris Buescher leads the race but it has been 40 laps since he last made a pit stop.

Lap 175, drivers start coming down pit road for fuel.

Lap 177, the next group of drivers come down pit road for fuel.

Daniel Suarez is the new leader.

Five more drivers come down pit road for fuel.

Lap 179, another group of drivers come down pit road including leader Daniel Suarez and Kyle Larson.

Fuel stops continue and pits stops continue to cycle through.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr was caught speeding on pit road.

With all pit stops complete, Harrison Burton leads the race.

The caution flag comes out with 19 laps to go for “the big one”.  Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece, Martin Truex Jr, Kevin Harvick, Chase Briscoe, Jimmie Johnson, and Ty Gibbs were all involved.  Ryan Preece takes his car to the garage.

The top five are Harrison Burton, Joey Logano, William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Kyle Larson.

Harrison Burton brings the field down from the outside lane for the green flag restart with just 13 laps remaining in the race and edges out for the lead before Joey Logano comes up alongside.  Joey Loagno takes the lead with Kyle Busch in second.

Driver are getting three wide in a battle for position.

Lap 188, AJ Allmendinger takes the lead with Kyle Larson in second,  Drivers are getting three and four wide across the track.

Eleven to go, Brad Keselowski battles with AJ Allmendinger for the lead.

Ten to go…Brad Keselowski leads the race with Chris Buescher on his bumper; Kyle Busch, Austin Dillin, and William Byron round out the top five.

Eight to go, Brad Keselowski leads the race with Chris Buescher in second; teammates Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon come next with William Byron in fifth.

Five to go, the top nine cars are single file with 29 cars on the lead lap.

The top three drivers – Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, and Kyle Busch – have never won a 500.

Four to to, Kyle Busch gets help form Austin Dillon and William Byron to take the lead.

Three to go, Kyle Busch leads the race with Austin Dillon in second, William Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Joey Logano.

Daniel Suarez  spins out and brings out the caution flag with less than three laps to go.  He comes to a stop in the grass.

The race goes into overtime…

Kyle Busch brings the field down for the overtime shootout to the finish with Kyle Busch on the outside and teammate Austin Dillon on the inside.  Kyle Busch takes off and gets out in front of Austin Dillon for the lead.  Joey Logano comes up on the outside to battle for the lead.  Big crash in turn three to bring out the seventh caution flag.  William Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Austin Dillon, Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Justin Haley, Todd Gilliland, and Riley Herbst were all involved.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr leads the race.

The race goes into a second overtime shootout for the win.

The top five are Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch.

Some drivers came down pit road to top off on fuel.

There have been 52 lead changes in today’s race; the third most in Daytona history.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr brings the field down for the second overtime shootout for the win from the outside lane with Kyle Larson on the inside Joey Logano gives Stenhouse a push with Christopher Bell giving Kyle Larson a put in a battle for the lead.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr takes the white flag.  Drivers get three wide in a battle for the lead.  Kyle Larson gets loose and hits the wall causing another crash and brings out the caution flag.  NASCAR will determine which driver won the race.

In the longest Daytona 500 in history (212 laps) Ricky Stenhouse Jr wins the Daytona 500 for his first 500 win.  He will need a push to Victory Lane after running out of fuel.

The unofficial results of the Daytona 500:
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Joey Logano
Christopher Bell
Chris Buescher
Alex Bowman
AJ Allmendinger
Daniel Suraez
Ryan Blaney
Ross Chastain
Riley Herbst
Kevin Harvick
Zane Smith
Cody Ware
Travis Pastrana
Martin Truex Jr
Corey LaJoie
Denny Hamlin
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Bubba Wallace
Aric Almirola
Brad Keselowski
Austin Cindric
Noah Gragson
Ty Gibbs
Harrison Burton
Todd Gilliland
Michael McDowell
Conor Daly
BJ McLeod
Jimmie Johnson
Justin Haley
Austin Dillon
William Byron
Chase Briscoe
Ryan Preece
Erik Jones
Chase Elliott
Tyler Reddick
Ty Dillon