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The winners and losers from the Daytona 500

William Byron Ryan Preece Corey LaJoie Daytona the Daytona 500 Dale [ Earnhardt ] Jr. Daytona 500 Helio Castroneves Justin Allgaier Erik Jones

The 2025 Daytona 500 turned into another wild season-opener for the NASCAR Cup Series, kicking off the 77th season with the kind of insanity the race is known for, en route to William Byron winning for the second year in a row.

But before Byron lifted the Harley J. Earl Trophy, chaos reigned. A roughly three-hour rain delay turned into an omen of the messiness to come: eight cautions, three red flags, one airborne crash, and 56 lead changes between 15 drivers.

After all that — plus 201 laps of actual racing — plenty of drivers and teams were able to walk away with their heads held high. Others, not so much.

These are the winners and losers of the 2025 Daytona 500.

WINNER: William Byron brings more glory to Gordon's No. 24

Sure, it's obvious, but Byron is now just the fifth driver in history to win back-to-back Daytona 500s — and in doing so, breaking a record for the youngest multi-time winner of the 500 previously held by his boss (and former driver of the No. 24 var) Jeff Gordon. Fun fact: Byron's only led a total of 14 laps between his two 500 victories. He has a knack for knowing exactly where to put his car at this 2.5-mile superspeedway, and positioned himself perfectly to capitalize when most of the leaders got tangled up on the final lap.

WINNER: William Byron's car designer

William Byron's flaming Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (Photo by: Mike Ehrmann - Getty Images)

Whoever cooked up the new paint scheme on the No. 24 car, with its blue, red, and yellow flames, deserves to hoist the trophy, too.

LOSERS: Trackhouse and a no good, very expensive week

Helio Castronoves' No. 91 finishing its race

Trackhouse went into Daytona lacking one famous co-owner, but making history as the first team to enter four drivers from four different countries, including four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves (racing on a special exemption) and three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen. Instead, the team ended up with a lot of wrecked metal. Three cars were completely destroyed in the two pre-race Duel qualifiers, forcing the team to use both of their available backups while also burning the midnight oil to repair Castroneves' car.

Then, three of their cars were severely damaged in a single incident on a Stage 2 restart during the 500. Ross Chastain and Castroneves never made it back on track. Van Gisbergen limped on with a wounded machine, while only Daniel Suarez remained unscathed. But he suffered damage later in the race, dragging the car to a team-best — by far — 13th-place finish. The rest of Trackhouse squad finished with SVG in 33rd, Castroneves in 39th, and Chastain in 40th.

WINNERS: Jimmie Johnson and Legacy Motor Club

It's not often you see a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion get emotional over a third-place finish, but Johnson's Daytona podium result was special for the Hall-of-Famer. The 233rd top-five finish of his illustrious career was his first since becoming a team owner. After qualifying into the big show on speed, the result stands as the best-ever performance by an open driver in the Charter era of Charters (beating out a sixth by Ryan Preece). Johnson showcased his still-formidable skills as he cut a path through the race-deciding wreck, emerging without a scratch. Even better, Legacy Motor Club notched a double top-five as John-Hunter Nemechek finished fifth.

LOSERS: Team Penske wonders what could have been

Penske has a knack for winning championships in the current era of NASCAR, but that good fortune did not extend to The Great American Race this year. All three Penske cars were in contention for the win late in the running, but the always-aggressive Joey Logano went for a gap that wasn't quite there, and saw his race end 15 laps shy of the finish. Worse yet, he collected Ryan Blaney — who was running second — in the process. Penske's Austin Cindric lead at the white flag before getting caught up in the race-deciding wreck. Both Cindric and Blaney still hung on for top-ten finishes, but it's a far cry from where Penske could have — and should have — ended up.

WINNERS: NASCAR officials are listening and learning

Back on Thursday, NASCAR race officials hit the caution button just seconds away from Erik Jones crossing the line in Duel #2, robbing the viewers of an epic photo finish and denying Jones a well-deserved victory. But NASCAR heard — and heeded — the criticism from fans, media, drivers.

When Daytona's leaders started crashing all over the place on the final lap, officials showed restraint and let the race play out. That meant we got to watch Tyler Reddick chase William Byron across the line at full speed, instead of another yellow flag video review to see who finished where. Hopefully Daytona represents a new benchmark for judicious use of the yellow.

LOSER: Kyle Busch and 20 years of frustration

Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch is now 0-20 in the Daytona 500. Despite an early spin and some pit road issues, he remained a firm contender throughout most of the race. After the final pit stop, he found himself running a strong third with teammate Austin Dillon directly behind him. It was a perfect position...save for the fact that he was right next to Logano and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. when the two drivers started elbowing for space down the backstretch. Busch got door-slammed and spun into the inside wall, ultimately finishing 34th. He had some choice words for Logano for trying to force it up the middle — and for NASCAR officials due to confusion over the new damaged vehicle policy.

WINNER: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s foray into Cup team ownership

Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Chevrolet with Dale Earnhardt Jr., JR Motorsports owner (Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images)

Dale Jr. has been a kid in a candy store all week. JR Motorsports, which he co-owns, raced its way into the 500 with Justin Allgaier behind the wheel and brought him to tears. Earnhardt has dreamed of owning a Cup Series team for years while enjoying plenty of success as an owner in the Xfinity Series. He puts in the work, even showing up before sunrise to watch the crew unload the car. While making the race was its own victory, Allgaier took that No. 40 Chevrolet to a ninth-place finish in the Daytona 500. no doubt Earnhardt and his co-owner, sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, are busy figuring out how to put JR Motorsports on a path into full-time Cup ownership.

LOSERS: NASCAR can't keep Preece grounded

You can't blame Sunday's massive crash on Ryan Preece — it's really the fault of bad pushes and draft packages. But you have to feel for him. Embarking on a new venture with RFK Racing, he was in an all-too familiar state of terror racing down the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway. Less than two years after his shocking airborne crash that resulted in NASCAR ripping the grass out around the Le Mans chicane, here he was going airborne once again — tossed skyward when his car effectively wheelied over a perpendicular-to-the-track Christopher Bell, propelling forward before tumbling over in view of Erik Jones.

Post-crash, a "lucky to walk away" Preece told reporters that he thought of his daughter as the No. 60 car climbed higher, going eerily quiet before it slammed back down onto the asphalt, roof-first. In-car video shows him bracing for impact while closing his eyes.

Preece had been was fast all day, even leading the race at the halfway point, and running inside the top-ten when his car took flight. Hopefully he's able to shake it off and come back next week even stronger than before.

WINNER: Corey LaJoie stacks some more pennies

Corey LaJoie, Rick Ware Racing Ford, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota, Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Chevrolet (Photo by: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

It may seem strange to place Lajoie in the "winners" category for a 22nd-place finish (the result of a last-lap spin), but here's why: LaJoie wasn't even supposed to be on the grid this year. He fronted his own money to secure a part-time ride in January, doing so with zero guarantee of being in the Daytona 500. Lajoie race his way into the show, lining up 12th in the 41-car grid, then put himself in position to potentially win the race, leading with fewer than ten laps remaining. Without the spin, he brings home top-five finish (or better). Even still, LaJoie put up an incredible showing, reminding everyone that he belongs behind the wheel of a NASCAR stock car. Here's hoping his Daytona opens a few more doors.