The lineup is set after qualifying and the two Duel races for the Cup Series.  After some crash issues during the Duel races one-third of the field is either in a backup car or the crews have made major repairs to the cars – eight of them backup cars.

Assist stat man Keelan Harvick noted that in last year’s 500 there were five drivers in a backup car and one of them won the race – William Byron.

Drivers in the draft are running laps of over 190mph.

Cup Series practice has been cut short due to rain.  The skies have been heavy with clouds and some of them filled with rain.

Eleven of the drivers in the field did not make a practice lap.

After being destroyed in a crash during the Duel race, the crew completely rebuilt Helio Castroneves’ car and it is now going through the inspection process.  Helio was involved in an eight car accident in Duel number one.

The Cup Series drivers get one more chance at a practice session on the high banks of Daytona.  Not only is it the final race before the Great American Race, it is the final super speedway practice for the remainder of the season.

While some of the teams are desperate for some practice time after major repairs or in backup cars; others are happy with their cars and are taking the afternoon off.

IndyCar driver Scott Dixon is in the Legacy Motor Club pits supporting his friend Jimmie Johnson.  In an interview he said that he is looking to find out how he can race next year.

Starting lineup for the Daytona 500:
Chase Briscoe
Austin Cindric
Bubba Wallace
Erik Jones
William Byron
Chris Buescher
Ty Dillon
Denny Hamlin
Ross Chastain
Joey Logano
Tyler Reddick
Corey LaJoie
AJ Allmendinger
Todd Gilliland
Austin Dillon
Ryan Blaney
Chase Elliott
John Hunter Nemechek
Justin Allgaier
Christopher Bell
Kyle Busch
Kyle Larson
Ty Gibbs
Riley Herbst
Michael McDowell
Shane van Gisbergen
Ryan Preece
Cody Ware
Josh Berry
Cole Custer
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Noah Gragson
Carson Hocevar
Brad Keselowski
Justin Haley
Daniel Suarez
Zane Smith
Alex Bowman
Martin Truex Jr
Jimmie Johnson
Helio Castroneves

After crashes during the Duel races on Thursday, several drivers had to turn to backup cars; while others needed extensive repairs.  They all will have to move to the back of the field to start the race…
Kyle Larson is in a backup car
Brad Keselowski is in a backup car
Riley Herbst is in a backup car
Alex Bowman is in a backup car
Ricky Stenhouse Jr had multiple inspection failures
Ty Gibbs is in a backup car
Shane van Gisbergen is in a backup car
Helio Castroneves’ car needed an engine change
Daneil Suarez is in a backup car
Justin Haley is in a backup car

Captain America gave a rousing command to start the engines before a sold out crowd.

Stages one and two are 65 laps each with stage three lasting 70 laps for a total of 200 laps around the 2.5 mile track.

For the first time in Daytona 500 history a Toyota brings the field to green with Chase Briscoe driving the Joe Gibbs Racing 19 car.  Briscoe gets out in front from the inside lane getting a push from Bubba Wallace.

Chase Briscoe leads lap one.

Lapa three, Chase Briscoe leads the race with Bubba Wallace in second; Austin Cindric, William Byron, and Erik Jones round out the top five.

Just three laps into the race, the drivers are already in fuel conservation mode and are only running 50 to 60 percent.

Lap five, William Byron passes Chase Briscoe for the lead.

Ty Dillon and William Byron battle for the lead.

Lap six, the third lane on the top has begun to form.

Lap nine, the first caution flag comes out for rain on the track.

The top five are William Byron, Austin Cindric, Ty Dillon, Chase Briscoe, and Joey Logano.

Lap eleven, NASCAR calls the drivers down pit road to stop in their assigned pit stall.  Only car covers are being allowed over the wall.

The race is under red flag conditions.

As the wind and rains pick up, NASCAR has given the drivers permission to get out of their cars.

The jet dryers are on the track to begin the track drying process even before the rain has stopped.

At 5:15 NASCAR is calling for four crew members to go “over the wall” to remove the car covers as they get ready to go racing again.  The drivers will be called to the cars at 5:25.  No adjustments allowed!

A 5:30pm NASCAR gives the order to refire the engines and the red flag is withdrawn and replaced with the yellow flag after a delay of over three hours.

The lights are on as the drivers get moving again.  Pit road is closed while the track dryers work on pit road.

The skies are still laden with clouds and reports are there is still a chance for more rain.
Some of the drivers are reporting vibrations upon returning to the track.

Caution car reports the track is ready to go green.

Pit road is open and the drivers come down for fuel to make it to the end of stage one.  The teams have only seven sets of sticker tires and one set of scuffs for the race.

Josh Berry had a slow stop after stopping in the wrong pit box.

Caution car reports a few raindrops are coming down.  NASCAR tells the drivers to keep moving.
The flag stand reports that rain is picking up. 

NASCAR has ordered the caution car to bring the drivers down pit road and for the drivers to stay in their cars after nine laps. 
At 5:54 the red flag is back out on lap 20.  Two crew members are allowed on pit road to attend to the cars.

NASCAR has sent out the track drying equipment.

6:01, the rain has stopped; the drivers should be moving again soon.

At 6:02, NASCAR has called for the crews to uncover the cars.

At 6:14 NASCAR has ordered the drivers to fire the engines again.

The red flag is out and the caution displayed once again after a delay of about 20 minutes.

Good News! The Goodyear blimp is back in the air!

Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 24 with William Byron alongside.  And they are racing once again!  Joey Logano leads the race with Austin Cindric in second; Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, and William Byron round out the top five.

The third lane is beginning to form up.

Lap 26, the drivers are now three wide with Joey Logano leading the race on the inside lane.

Ryan Preece just ran a lap at 194.7mph.  New this year, the driver with the fastest lap earns a point toward the championship.

Lap 30, Joey Logano holds the lead with William Byron in second; Ty Dillon, Kyle busch, and Corey LaJoie round out the top five.

Lap 31, William Byron takes the lead with Ty Dillon in second.

Lap 32, Corey LaJoie takes the lead in his “Stacking Pennies” car.

Lap 36, Joey Logano passes Corey LaJoie for the lead.

Lap 38, Joey Logano leads the race on the inside lane with Corey Lajoie behind him.

Lap 39, Chase Elliott passes Corey LaJoie for second and passes Joey Logano for the lead.

The field is separated by only three and a half seconds.

Lap 42, Joey Logano retakes the lead with Kyle Busch in second.

AJ Allmendinger is off the track; the remainder of the field is on the lead lap.

AJ Allmendinger takes his car to the garage with a mechanical issue.

Lap 50, Joey Logano continues to lead the race with William Byron in second; Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Bubba Wallace round out the top five.

Lap 53, the top five are Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse, and William Byron.

AJ Allmendinger is the first driver out of the race with mechanical issues.

Lap 58, Joey Logano holds on to the lead of the race with Brad Keselowski in second; Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Leader Joey Logano has some debris on his grille.

The caution flag comes out on lap 63 for a wreck involving Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry, and Zane Smith.

Stage one ends under caution with Joey Logano winning the stage for his first ever Daytona stage win.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Joey Logano
Brad Keselowski
Ryan Blaney
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Christopher Bell
Daniel Suarez
Alex Bowman
Tyler Reddick
Erik Jones
William Byron

Zane Smith has taken his car to the garage for repairs.

Josh Berry is the only driver on the track not on the lead lap.

Kyle Busch and Justin Allgaier were charged with having a crew member come over the wall too soon and will have to restart the race from the end of the longest line.

Brad Keselowski’s crew had issues getting the fuel cell filled and had to make a second trip down pit road.

Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 71 with Alex Bowman alongside.  Alex Bowman takes the lead.

The caution flag comes out on lap 71 for a big crash.  Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, Helio Castroneves, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Riley Herbst, Martin Truex Jr, Cody Ware, and John Hunter Nemechek were all involved in the crash.

Ross Chastain takes his car to the garage for repairs.

Jimmie Johnson had a crewmember over the wall too soon when coming down pit road.

Martin Truex Jr takes car to the garage for repairs.  Martin Truex Jr is out of the race and loses out on his 20th attempt to win the 500.

Joey Logano has a power issue and is on pit road where the crew is changing the ECU.

Ryan Blaney is the new leader and brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 77.   Blaney gets out in front from the outside lane with Austin Cindric on the inside.

Joey Logano returns to the track one lap down but reports the car still isn’t right.

Lap 78, Austin Cindric takes the lead.

The top five are Austin Cindric, Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson, Michael McDowell, and Ryan Blaney.

Lap 79, ryan Preece is the new leader.

Michael McDowell reports some sort of issue with the car; possibly the engine.

The drivers are three wide through the field.

Lap 81, Noah Gragson takes the lead.

Joey Logano is 20mph off the pace and 1,000rpms down.

Lap 82, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson battle for the lead; swapping it back and forth.

Joey Logano goes one lap down.

The caution flag comes out for debris on lap 83.

Joey Logano is the “lucky dog” but needs to come down pit road for repairs.

The drivers are in their fuel window to make it to the end of stage two.  Pit road is very busy with drivers fueling up.

Austin Cindric leads the race after winning the race off of pit road.

Austin Cindric brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 87 with Chase Elliott in second.

Bubba Wallace had a brief issue with the electrical system but after recycling it, all is well.

Lap 88, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, and Michael McDowell are thee wide and battle for the lead.

Joey Logano’s crew reports that some debris came through the grille and got stuck in the throttle body.  The crew made repairs in just 80 seconds.

Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, and Chase Elliott continue to battle for the lead; swapping it back and forth in a three wide battle.

Lap 92, Noah Gragson joins the battle for the lead.

Lap 95, Michael McDowell leads the race as the drivers continue a three wide battle.  The field continues to run three wide.

Lap 96, Noah Gragson takes the lead.

Lap 97, Ryan Preece takes the lead.

Lap 99, Ryan Preece leads the race with Alex Bowman in second.

Lap 100, halfway, Ryan Preece leads the race with Alex Bowman in second; Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, and Noah Gragson round out the top five.

Since returning to the race, Joey Logano has advanced 17 spots

Lap 102, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, and Austin Cindric continue their battle for the lead with the field three wide.

Lap 106, Austin Cindric leads the race with Alex Bowman in second.

Lap 109, there have been 13 different race leaders so far.

Lap 111, Chaase Elliott leads the race briefly before Austin Cindric retakes the lead.

Lap 112, Austin Cindric and Alex Bowman battle for the lead.

Zane Smith returns to the track 50 laps down.

Lap 115, Autin Cindric and Alex Bowman continue their battle for the lead with Chase Elliott right behind.

Lap 118, Austin Cindric leads the race with Ryan Blaney on his bumper.

Josh Berry returns to the race 39 laps down.

Driver are now allowed to make repairs in the garage and have three laps to reach minimum speed once they return.

Lap 120, Austin Cindric leads the race with Ryan Blaney in second; Chase Elliott, Todd Gilliland, and Riley Herbst round out the top five.

The piece of debris that was on Joey Logano’s grille was the debris that caused his engine issues.  He is now in the top 15 in 14th.

Lap 124, Joey Logano has entered the top 10 in sixth place.

The drivers have returned to double file racing with Austin Cindric in the lead.

The Team Penske cars have led 85 of the 129 laps so far.

Austin Cindric wins stage two.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ryan Blaney
Austin Cindric
Chase Elliott
Alex Bowman
Todd Gilliland
Chris Buescher
Erik Jones
Joey Logano
Bubba Wallace
Kyle Busch

Joey Logano comes down pit road for further repairs; pit road is not yet open.  He will have to restart the race at the back of the field.

Drivers come down pit road for service with Ryan Blaney winning the race off of pit road.

Ryan Blaney brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three from the outside lane on lap 137 with Bubba Wallace alongside.  Kyle Busch moves up and takes the lead.  Ryan Blayne gets a push from Bubba Wallace and takes the lead.  Drivers are three wide.

Shane van Gisbergen was the “lucky dog” but came down pit road and failed to take advantage of the spot.  NASCAR has brought him down pit road to “get their lap back.”
Lap 140, Bubba Wallace takes the lead.

Lap 141, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Busch are three wide and in a battle for the lead.

Lap 143, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, and Bubba Wallace continue to battle for the lead; swapping back and forth.

With 53 laps to go, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace continue their battle for the lead.

Fifty-one to go, William Byron moves up to join the battle for the top spot.

Josh Berry is out of the race.

With 49 laps to go, Ryan Blaney gets back out in front.

Forty-seven to go, Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney continue their battle for the lead.

Out of 153 laps, Team Penske has led 100 of them.

With 42 to go, Bubba Wallace leads the race.  William Byron moves up on the inside to take the lead.

The drivers are now within their window to make it to the finish on one more pit stop; but many of the drivers will wait as long as possible as long as the track stays green.

The caution flag comes out with 40 laps remaining in the race for debris on the track.

Zane Smith takes his car to the garage.

Drivers come down pit road for fuel with Austin Cindric winning the race off of pit road; Bubba Wallace comes out second.

Jimmie Johnson has a slow stop after getting blocked in his pit box.

Austin Cindric brings the field down for the green flag restart with 35 laps remaining in the race.  With 34 cars on the lead lap, Austin Cindric gets out in front for the lead but Bubba Wallace comes up on the outside to take the lead.

Zane Smith is out of the race.

Lap 166, Austin Cindric and Bubba Wallace battle back and forth for the lead.  Cindric gets out in front on the inside lane.

The top six drivers are single file with Austin Cindric in the lead.

Thirty to go, Austin Cindric leads the race with teammate Ryan Blaney right behind; Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

His crew chief is telling Kyle Busch to save as much fuel as possible.  Busch is currently in third place.

Twenty-five to go!  Austin Cindric continues to lead the race with Ryan Blaney in second; Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

With 33 cars on the lead lap, Austin Cindric leads the race with 21 laps to go.

Can the drivers avoid “the big one” as the laps wind down???

With 17 to go, it’s an every driver for himself with a few  teammates connections.

The top five are Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Corey LaJoie, Kyle Busch, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

“The Big One” hits with 15 laps to go.  Corey LaJoie had just taken the lead.  Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Kyle Busch, Cole Custer, Todd Gilliland, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, and Noah Gragson were all involved in the crash.

Todd Gilliland takes his car to the garage.

Corey LaJoie brings the field down for the green flag restart from the inside lane with just nine laps remaining in the race with Austin Cindric alongside.   LaJoie gets out in front for the lead but Austin Cindric comes up on the outside to take the lead.

Joey Logano is out of the race.

Austin Cindric leads the race with Denny Hamlin coming up on the outside to take the lead.

The caution flag comes out with five laps to go after Cole Custer got into Christopher Bell who hit the wall.  Ryan Preece goes flying and flipping through the air before landing on all four wheels.  Christopher Bell has a destroyed car.  Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Larson , Bubba Wallace, Justin Allgaier, and Chase Elliott were also involved in the crash.

Ryan Preece climbs out of the car and walks to the ambulance!

The race goes into overtime.

Ryan Preece is out of the infield care center!  Saying that he was lucky to walk away, Preece said things got really quiet and all he could think about was his daughter.

Denny Hamlin brings the field down from the inside lane for the overtime shootout with Austin Cindric alongside.  There are 27 cars on the lead lap.  Hamlin takes the lead but Cole Custer gives Austin Cindric a big push and Cindric takes the lead.

Riley Herbst goes around but he saves the car and the  track says green.

Big wreck on the final lap and William Byron goes back to back for the win!

Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, and Cole Custer all locked up and went spinning taking out several drivers.

The unofficial results of the Daytona 500:
William Byron
Tyler Reddick
Jimmie Johnson
Chase Briscoe
John Hunter Nemechek
Alex Bowman

Ryan Blaney
Austin Cindric
Justin Allgaier
Chris Buescher
Michael McDowell
Daniel Suarez
Erik Jones
Ty Dillon
Chase Elliott
Riley Herbst
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Ty Gibbs
Justin Haley
Kyle Larson
Cole Custer
Corey LaJoie
Austin Dillon
Denny Hamlin
Cody Ware
Brad Keselowski
Todd Gilliland
Noah Gragson
Bubba Wallace
Carson Hocevar
Christopher Bell
Ryan Preece
Shane van Gisbergen
Kyle Busch
Joey Logano
Zane Smith
Josh Berry
Martin Truex Jr
Helio Castroneves
Ross Chastain
AJ Allmendinger