Daytona 500

Date
Feb 16
Distance
200 Laps

RACE RECAP

Tyler Reddick did not lead a single lap through the first 199 circuits of the 68th Daytona 500. He ran inside the top 15 for most of the afternoon while bigger names traded haymakers at the front โ€” Bubba Wallace commanding 40 laps out front, Kyle Busch pulling away from the pole, Chase Briscoe flexing his front-row speed early. Then came the white flag, and Carson Hocevar โ€” the 22-year-old leading the biggest race of his life โ€” got turned into the outside wall by Erik Jones before the field even reached Turn 1. Three lead changes on the final lap. Chaos behind. And Reddick, pushed by 23XI teammate Riley Herbst, threaded past Chase Elliott exiting Turn 4 to steal the Daytona 500 with the only lap he led all day.

It was the exclamation point on a wild afternoon that featured a record 25 different leaders across 66 lead changes. The Big One struck on Lap 124 when Justin Allgaier threw a block on Denny Hamlin and the two made contact, triggering a 20-car pileup that swept up defending champion Kyle Larson, 2022 winner Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, and William Byron โ€” whose historic bid for a third straight Daytona 500 had already been compromised by an early wreck on Lap 5. Bubba Wallace threaded through the carnage to win Stage 2 under caution, but even his 40-lap masterclass couldn't survive the final restart.

For Michael Jordan, watching from the pit box two days before his 63rd birthday, it was a moment 23XI Racing had been building toward since its founding. Jordan bear-hugged Reddick in Victory Lane, and the two hoisted the Harley J. Earl Trophy together โ€” the basketball icon's first piece of Daytona 500 hardware. 'It's like winning a championship,' Jordan said, before requesting a size 13 championship ring. The $31 million purse โ€” the largest in race history โ€” didn't hurt either.

BY THE NUMBERS

56
Lead Changes
15
Leaders
5/32
Cautions / Laps
11
DNFs
16,389
Green Flag Passes
0.308 seconds
Margin of Victory
129.159
Avg MPH
3:23:55
Race Time
16.0%
Under Caution
28.0
Avg Green Run (Laps)
Stage Winners
S1Zane Smith
S2Bubba Wallace
Lap Leaders
#2Cindric59laps
#22Logano43laps
#12Blaney23laps
#23Wallace18laps
#48Bowman11laps
#24Byron10laps
#01LaJoie10laps
#60Preece6laps
#11Hamlin6laps
#19Briscoe4laps
#71McDowell4laps
#10Dillon3laps
#9Elliott2laps
#4Gragson2laps
#77Hocevar1laps
Caution Breakdown
1L10โ€“2314LWeather [Red Flag: 03:09:59; Red Flag: 00:20:29]
2L64โ€“707L#11, 38, 21 Incident Backstretch / Stage 1 Conclusion
3L72โ€“765L#91, 1, 19, 84, 8, 35, 56 Incident Turn 1LD #21
4L84โ€“863LDebris Turn 1LD #22
5L132โ€“1376LStage 2 ConclusionLD #88
6L163โ€“1653LDebris Turn 1LD #88
7L187โ€“1926L#22, 12, 4, 9, 8, 47, 34, 41 Incident BackstretchLD #10
8L197โ€“1993L#20, 41, 60, 6, 5, 43, 99, 23 Incident Backstretch [Red Flag: 00:06:05]LD #10

KEY TAKEAWAYS

01Tyler Reddick won the Daytona 500 leading just 1 lap โ€” the final circuit โ€” after starting 26th. His 23XI teammate Riley Herbst delivered the crucial push exiting Turn 4 that propelled him past Chase Elliott.
02Carson Hocevar led at the white flag but was turned by Erik Jones before Turn 1, ending his bid to become the youngest Daytona 500 winner. He didn't even know it was the last lap due to radio issues all race.
03A record 25 different drivers led laps across 66 lead changes โ€” the most leaders in Daytona 500 history. All three manufacturers led laps.
04The Big One on Lap 124 collected 20 cars after Justin Allgaier's block on Denny Hamlin went wrong. Allgaier accepted blame: 'It was my fault. I was halfway in, and that's not the right spot to be in.'
05William Byron's three-peat bid was doomed from the start โ€” hit in a Lap 5 wreck, caught again in the Big One, and slowed by the final-lap chaos. He finished 12th in a backup car.
0623XI Racing placed three cars in the top 10 (Reddick P1, Herbst P8, Wallace P10), the team's best collective result ever. Michael Jordan: 'Riley did an unbelievable job pushing him. That's what teamwork can do.'
07Zane Smith won Stage 1 after starting 30th โ€” the first stage win of his Cup career โ€” and backed it up with a P6 finish, making him the best fantasy value in the field.
08The race was held on the 25th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash at Daytona. Drivers held a three-finger salute on Lap 3 in tribute.

VALUE PICKS

8.8
pts/$
Car #35
Riley Herbst$4
P8S2:P5
8.38
pts/$
Car #38
Zane Smith$5
P6S1:P1Led:9
6.75
pts/$
Car #4
Noah Gragson$4
P11S1:P10
5.05
pts/$
Car #51
Cody Ware$4
P17Led:2
4.66
pts/$
Car #10
Ty Dillon$5
P14Led:3

BUSTS

0.2
pts/$
Car #48
Alex Bowman$14
P40S1:P9
0.22
pts/$
Car #20
Christopher Bell$13
P35Led:9
0.27
pts/$
Car #19
Chase Briscoe$12
P36Led:23
0.38
pts/$
Car #88
Connor Zilisch$11
P33Led:2
0.42
pts/$
Car #11
Denny Hamlin$15
P31Led:3

PERFECT LINEUP

Optimal 5-driver roster for this race

Salary
$47/50
Avg Finish
P6.4
Total Points
303.38
GroupDriverSalaryFinishPts
A
Car #45
Tyler Reddick
$111
86.20
2 ร— 43.10
B
Car #38
Zane Smith
$56
73.33
1.75 ร— 41.90
C
Car #17
Chris Buescher
$137
59.10
1.5 ร— 39.40
D
Car #35
Riley Herbst
$48
43.75
1.25 ร— 35.00
E
Car #23
Bubba Wallace
$1410
41.00
1 ร— 41.00