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Byron gets his back-to-back victory as the leaders crash in stunning Daytona 500 finish

Daytona 500 William Byron Denny Hamlin Tyler Reddick NASCAR

History was made tonight as William Byron accomplished the improbable, and in the most unconventional of ways. At 27 years old, he joins four other illustrious names in racing, becoming the fifth driver to successfully defend their Daytona 500 victory — winning back-to-back.

Those watching the late-running race were still reeling from the terrifying airborne crash of Ryan Preece (who thankfully walked away) when the 500 went into overtime. As the green flag waved for the final two laps, Denny Hamlin stationed himself up front, hunting down a fourth victory in NASCAR's crown jewel event. Fate, however, had other ideas.

Down the backstretch on the final lap, Byron was outside the top five with little hope of challenging for the victory. Hamlin, meanwhile, was attempting to fend off Cole Custer, Chase Briscoe, and Austin Cindric, when all four drivers came together in a wild crash. Hamlin spun up the track as the No. 24 of Byron snuck its way through. Tyler Reddick followed in his tire tracks, unable to build a run through the final corners to take a shot at the win. Close behind was veteran Jimmie Johnson, who crossed the line in third.

"Obviously some good fortune, but just trusted my instincts on the last lap there," said Byron, who took the white flag in ninth. "I felt like they were getting squirrelly on the bottom and I was honestly going to go third lane regardless because I was probably sixth coming down the back. Just obviously fortunate that it worked out in our favor. But just really proud of this team. Worked super hard all week and had an amazing car. Just had a really hard time with the fuel saving and kind of staying towards the front.

"Crazy. I can't honestly believe that. But we're here. So proud of it."

Byron joins rare company as a back-to-back winner of the Daytona 500. Richard Petty did it first in 1973-1974, followed by Cale Yarborough in 1983-1984, Sterling Marlin in 1994-1995, Denny Hamlin in 2019-2020, and now, Byron for 2024-2025.

This is Hendrick Motorsports' tenth victory in the Daytona 500 as Byron becomes the first driver to lock himself into the 2025 playoffs.

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (Photo by: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Reddick comes up one spot short

Surprisingly, NASCAR let the race remain green to the checkered flag, which follows controversy in the Duel qualifying race when the sanctioning body was criticized for not letting the finish end naturally. Despite the decision to let the race play out, it didn't change the final outcome. As the leaders wrecked, Reddick actually scrubbed the wall as the nose of Hamlin's car collided with Reddick's door. While he made a lucky escape, he lost a lot of momentum and with no one directly behind him, there was no chance to make a charge back at Byron.

"When they started to spin on the dogleg, I kind of jumped out of line thinking that was going to be it, and we just kept going," said Reddick, who was 16th for the final restart.

"I knew that me and the 24 [Byron] had a good run and they were throwing big blocks, and when they started spinning on the inside and I had a run on the 24, I thought, 'man, if I can just make it through on the 11 [Hamlin] and not scrub my speed, I would have had at least an opportunity to do something.'"

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Toyota Camry (Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)

An unexpected podium result for Johnson

Johnson, who already has two 500 victories, was overjoyed with his first top-five finish as a driver/owner. In fact, the seven-time Cup Series champion could hardly believe it after masterfully navigating the last-lap crash. It's his best result in a Cup car since Dover in 2020, back when he still drove the No. 48 for HMS.

"This feels incredible. I have emotions that I didn't expect to have," said the NASCAR Hall of Famer. "I've never been in this position as an owner, and it's really opened up a different set of emotions. And the pride that I have in this result and the pride that I have in this company, now that we're trying to achieve and the journey we're on, I am so satisfied, so happy right now."

Jimmie Johnson, Legacy Motor Club Toyota (Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images)

Cla	Driver	#	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points
1	W. ByronHendrick Motorsports	24	Chevrolet	201	3:53'25.002		10	41
2	T. Reddick23XI Racing	45	Toyota	201	+0.113 3:53'25.115	0.113	11	38
3	J. JohnsonLegacy Motor Club	84	Toyota	201	+0.696 3:53'25.698	0.583	15	34
4	C. BriscoeJoe Gibbs Racing	19	Toyota	201	+1.407 3:53'26.409	0.711	14	33
5	J. NemechekLegacy Motor Club	42	Toyota	201	+1.680 3:53'26.682	0.273	12	32
6	A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports	48	Chevrolet	201	+3.373 3:53'28.375	1.693	12	42
7	R. BlaneyTeam Penske	12	Ford	201	+6.389 3:53'31.391	3.016	13	48
8	A. CindricTeam Penske	2	Ford	201	+6.477 3:53'31.479	0.088	10	38
9	J. AllgaierJR Motorsports	40	Chevrolet	201	+7.853 3:53'32.855	1.376	19
10	C. BuescherRFK Racing	17	Ford	201	+8.018 3:53'33.020	0.165	11	32
11	M. McDowellSpire Motorsports	71	Chevrolet	201	+9.218 3:53'34.220	1.200	12	27
12	E. JonesLegacy Motor Club	43	Toyota	201	+10.850 3:53'35.852	1.632	13	31
13	D. SuarezTrackHouse Racing	99	Chevrolet	201	+10.851 3:53'35.853	0.001	12	29
14	T. DillonKaulig Racing	10	Chevrolet	201	+11.128 3:53'36.130	0.277	15	23
15	C. ElliottHendrick Motorsports	9	Chevrolet	201	+11.452 3:53'36.454	0.324	13	30
16	T. GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing	54	Toyota	201	+11.453 3:53'36.455	0.001	10	21
17	R. Herbst23XI Racing	35	Toyota	201	+13.079 3:53'38.081	1.626	15	20
18	R. Stenhouse JrHyak Motorsports	47	Chevrolet	201	+14.246 3:53'39.248	1.167	13	26
19	J. HaleySpire Motorsports	7	Chevrolet	201	+17.520 3:53'42.522	3.274	13	18
20	K. LarsonHendrick Motorsports	5	Chevrolet	201	+20.608 3:53'45.610	3.088	12	17
21	C. CusterHaas Factory Team	41	Ford	201	+32.291 3:53'57.293	11.683	14	16
22	C. LajoieRick Ware Racing	01	Ford	201	+1'01.057 3:54'26.059	28.766	11	15
23	A. DillonRichard Childress Racing	3	Chevrolet	201	+1'12.593 3:54'37.595	11.536	12	14
24	D. HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing	11	Toyota	201	+1'25.841 3:54'50.843	13.248	14	13
25	C. WareRick Ware Racing	51	Ford	200	+1 Lap 3:52'37.550	1 Lap	12	12
26	B. KeselowskiRFK Racing	6	Ford	200	+1 Lap 3:54'13.201	1'35.651	15	20
27	T. GillilandFront Row Motorsports	34	Ford	199	+2 Laps 3:53'55.749	1 Lap	15	16
28	N. GragsonFront Row Motorsports	4	Ford	198	+3 Laps 3:53'43.430	1 Lap	13	9
29	B. Wallace23XI Racing	23	Toyota	197	+4 Laps 3:47'38.742	1 Lap	11	10
30	C. HocevarSpire Motorsports	77	Chevrolet	196	+5 Laps 3:44'21.382	1 Lap	14	7
31	C. BellJoe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	195	+6 Laps 3:43'06.048	1 Lap	11	12
32	R. PreeceRFK Racing	60	Ford	195	+6 Laps 3:43'06.405	0.357	11	5
33	S. van GisbergenTrackHouse Racing	88	Chevrolet	193	+8 Laps 3:53'55.238	2 Laps	16	4
34	K. BuschRichard Childress Racing	8	Chevrolet	186	+15 Laps 3:37'20.159	7 Laps	16	4
35	J. LoganoTeam Penske	22	Ford	185	+16 Laps 3:27'00.562	1 Lap	12	15
36	Z. SmithFront Row Motorsports	38	Ford	108	+93 Laps 3:03'17.860	77 Laps	9	1
37	J. BerryWood Brothers Racing	21	Ford	105	+96 Laps 2:51'07.468	3 Laps	9	1
38	M. Truex JrTRICON Garage	56	Toyota	71	+130 Laps 1:33'03.699	34 Laps	7	1
39	H. CastronevesTrackHouse Racing	91	Chevrolet	70	+131 Laps 1:31'31.030	1 Lap	6
40	R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing	1	Chevrolet	70	+131 Laps 1:31'31.304	0.274	7	1
41	A. AllmendingerKaulig Racing	16	Chevrolet	42	+159 Laps 1:00'06.853	28 Laps	6	1