The NASCAR Cup Series kicks off its 2024 season today – a day later than expected after rain postponed Sunday's scheduled start – as drivers took to the track at Daytona International Speedway for the sport's most famous race: the Daytona 500.
Forty drivers will compete on the high-banked superspeedway, racing to the checkered flag at extremely high speeds for the chance to etch their names into history.
The exciting thing about the Daytona 500 is that anyone can triumph – two of the last three winners (Michael McDowell in 2021 and Austin Cindric in 2022) earned their first career Cup Series victories in the Great American Race. The downside is that any driver's day can be ruined if they are involved in an accident caused by the close racing.
Who will be on the winning streak? Follow us for the latest updates and highlights from the 66th Annual Daytona 500.
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William Byron won the 66th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Monday after NASCAR's premier race was delayed a day due to rain.
Byron was getting ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman when an accident occurred just as Byron was taking the white flag for the final lap. Officials immediately raised a caution flag and the checkered flag followed, giving Byron his first Daytona 500 victory.
After a serious accident rocked the race with eight laps to go, the race was restarted with just four laps to go, with Byron and Ross Chastain leading two large fields of riders. Near the end of the penultimate lap, Chastain attempted to squeeze in front of 2022 Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric to retake the lead on the inside lane, but Chastain's Chevrolet No. 1 final caution.
The Big One broke out at Daytona International Speedway with eight laps to go in the 2024 Daytona 500.
Alex Bowman gave his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron a hard push to push the middle field forward, but Byron's No. 24 Chevrolet came loose, swayed and then crashed into Brad Keselowski's No. 6 Ford, which was on the inside lane was at the top. This contact at the front of the field triggered a massive accident that sent 18F cars, including some of the favorites, into traffic.
Among the cars taken out of the race in the accident: 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin's pole sitter Joey Logano, 2015 Daytona champion Kyle Larson, 2021 Cup Series Champion.
“It’s speedway racing. It's so much fun until it sucks,” Logano said after he was examined and released from the infield care center along with Blaney, his Team Penske teammate.
Last year's winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was also collected along with Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Hemric, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Preece, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Anthony Alfredo and Daniel Suarez
On lap 192, officials raised the red flag and stopped the race as the damaged cars were removed from the track.
With 20 laps to go before the end of Monday's race, the cars pulled into the pit lane for their final fuel stops. Most drivers pitted in other cars from the same manufacturer.
The pit stops ended with 18 laps to go with Ross Chastain and Joey Logano in the lead.
Pole sitter Joey Logano took the lead on the 163rd of 200 laps and maintained it through the final pit stops to refuel. David Ragan, driving a one-off for RFK Racing, and RFK co-owner Brad Keselowski also moved to the front of the field, following Logano in the bottom lane. With less than 30 laps to go, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were in the top lane.
Former teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch battled for the lead midway through the third and final leg of the 2024 Daytona 500. Busch was a longtime teammate of Hamlin at Joe Gibbs Racing before moving to Richard Childress Racing last season.
Hamlin has won three Daytona 500s, the most among active drivers. Busch has won two NASCAR Cup Series championships but has never seen the checkered flag in the Great American Race.
Austin Cindric and Bubba Wallace led two competing groups as the third stage of the Daytona 500 began with less than 70 laps to go.
A few laps later the cars were tied in threes, with AJ Allmendinger, Martin Truex Jr. and Tyler Reddick taking the lead of the three driver groups.
Ryan Blaney won the second stage of the Daytona 500 after a power move on the final lap. The reigning series champion dropped to the bottom lane under his Penske teammate Austin Cindric and pushed past him to take the lead and the checkered flag for Stage 2. Cindric, who won the 2022 Daytona 500, moved ahead of Kyle Busch. He stayed on the outside of the lane to avoid falling behind and managed to finish second while Daniel Suarez was third and Busch fourth.
Here are the top 10 finishers of the stage (all receive stage points, with 10 points for the winner and one point for the 10th place finisher):
Kyle Busch takes the lead from Todd Gilliland on lap 93 of 200, bringing Bubba Wallace with him.
A few laps later, 20 cars came down pit road for fuel to reach the end of stage two. The group was led by Wallace, Ryan Preece, Joey Logao and Martin Truex Jr. Preece was arrested for speeding in the pit lane and had to serve a pass-through penalty.
Busch led the next group on pit road and a lap later Kyle Larson led another group while the entire field burned fuel.
Kyle Larson and Josh Berry led the restart as stage two began on lap 70. Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace also started at the front. But Joey Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 champion who won the pole on Wednesday, led from the outside and passed the field in three to take the lead on lap 72.
The pole sitter hasn't won the Daytona 500 since Dale Jarrett's triumph in 2000.
Chase Elliott, NASCAR's most popular driver, won the opening stage of the 2024 Daytona, finishing ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson. Elliott got a push from Ross Chastain in Turn 4 on the final lap, pushing him past Larson at the finish line.
Chevrolet drivers were the big winners of the opening 60-lap segment, taking the top six spots. After dominant green flag pit stops, the Chevy drivers were grouped together on the final stretch, holding off a group of Toyota drivers. Here are the top ten riders in the first segment who will receive all stage points:
Cars come out of the pit lane on green light to refuel to finish Stage 1
With ten laps to go in the first stage, a large group of nine Chevrolets pulled into pit road for a splash of gas, led by former NASCAR Cup Series champions Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. One lap later, on lap 56, Bubba Wallace led the Toyota drivers down pit road, including Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Tyler Reddick.
Green flag pit stops began on lap 40 of the opening stage, led by three Team Penske cars. Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric led a group of cars down pit road to get enough gas to finish the stage. Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Daniel Hemric also pitted in the Penske cars.
A lap later, Chris Buescher came out of the pit lane alone, as did Michael McDowell on lap 47 – never a good idea on superspeedways when staying in the pack is optimal for speed.
The Daytona 500 restarted on lap 12 with Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell leading the field. Blaney, who had been moved to the back before the start because he was driving a backup car, decided to stay on track as most of the field headed to pit road during the early warning for fuel and/or new tires.
The caution flag flew due to a multi-car accident on lap 6. Seven cars were involved, and Harrison Burton, Carson Hocevar, Kaz Grala and Austin Dillon had to take their cars into the garage with excessive damage, ending their race early.
Just six laps into the 2024 Daytona 500, a multi-vehicle accident occurred. While racing for three laps in a tight crowd, Brad Keselowski ran into the back of John Hunter Nemecheck on the outside lane, who turned into the center lane and drove into Harrison Burton, who then made hard contact with Carson Hocevar, sending both of them into the grass . When Burton and Hocevar returned to the track, they gathered Austin Dillon, Kaz Grala, Ryan Preece and Jimmie Johnson.
Six drivers dropped to the back of the field before the green flag waved because they were forced to use backup cars after an accident at the Daytona Duel races on Thursday. Drivers include reigning series champion Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 Ford and two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch in the No. 8 Chevrolet. Also falling to the back: William Byron (No. 24 Chevrolet), Noah Gragson (No. 10 Ford ), Kaz Grala (No. 36 Ford) and Daniel Hemric (No. 31 Chevrolet).
Two former champions led the field of 40 drivers as the green flag flew for “The Great American Race” at Daytona International Speedway. Joey Logano, the 2015 champion, was on the pole in the No. 22 Ford, and Michael McDowell, the 2021 winner, started alongside in the No. 34 Ford.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. edged two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano in double overtime to win the 2023 Daytona 500. It was Stenhouse's third career Cup victory and his first since winning the summer Daytona race in 2017 The win was also the first Daytona 500 win for JTG Daugherty Racing, a small team that hasn't won a Cup Series race since 2014.
The winner of the Daytona 500 is presented with the Harley J. Earl Trophy, a 4-foot-tall, 5-foot-wide black and silver creation decorated with the winners of each Daytona 500.
The trophy is named after Harley J. Earl, an automobile designer, father of the Corvette and second commissioner of NASCAR.
However, you are not allowed to keep it. After the presentation, the large trophy, also called the Harley J. Earl Perpetual Trophy, will be displayed again at Daytona International Speedway and the winner will receive a smaller replica with a black base and a scaled down version of the Firebird One Earl was created in 1954.
The winner's car will also be on display alongside the trophy for fans to see over the next year. – CA Bridges, USA TODAY Network
The total prize money – all the money available to win – for the 2024 Daytona 500 is a record-breaking $28,035,991, an increase of more than $1 million from 2023, when the purse amount was $26,934,357. However, until 2016, NASCAR did not disclose how much of that the winner actually receives and how much goes to other drivers.
In 2015 it was around 9% of the total. So if that still holds true, the winner of the 2024 Daytona 500 should receive a payout of around $2.5 million. – CA Bridges, USA TODAY Network
When does the 2024 Daytona 500 start?
The start of the 2024 Daytona 500 is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET at Daytona International Speedway, with the green flag at approximately 4:30 p.m. ET.
What TV channel is the 2024 Daytona 500 on?
Fox will broadcast the Daytona 500 with play-by announcer Mike Joy and color commentators Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick.
Will there be a live stream of the 2024 Daytona 500?
The Daytona 500 can be streamed live on the FoxSports website and app.
Before the green flag is raised, the drivers must first be given the order to drive onto the track. That is the job of the Grand Marshal. For the 2024 Daytona 500, that job belongs to actor, producer and former WWE star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who will deliver the proverbial “four most important words in motorsports”: “Drivers, start your engines.”
A race may be called early if the rain does not stop and the weather forecast continues to look bleak. However, a race cannot be declared official until at least 100 laps have been completed or Stage 2 ends, whichever comes first (in today's race, Stage 2 ends on lap 130). If a race is canceled prematurely, the leading driver at that time will be declared the winner.
After Sunday's postponement, fans are naturally concerned about the weather. So what happens if it rains once the race is green?
NASCAR officials first raise a yellow warning flag and then move the cars down pit road to their stands. From there, the officials raise a red flag and stop the race. The teams cover the cars after the drivers get out. However, during a red flag, teams are not permitted to work on vehicles or repair damage.
During a stoppage, you may see your favorite drivers or teams using social media to chat with fans, do TV interviews, grab something to eat, or just take a break.
Once the rain has eased or stopped, the fleet of Air Titans head out to dry them out. The Air Titans are large vacuum/sweep vehicles equipped with compressed air to blow and suck up water from the track. As soon as the route is deemed safe enough to drive on, the race will continue.
Richard Petty was truly the king at Daytona. Petty won the Daytona 500 seven times (1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979 and 1981), three more times than the next closest driver Cale Yarborough (1968, 1977, 1983 and 1984).
Denny Hamlin has the most Daytona 500 victories among active drivers. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who will start eighth in the No. 11 Toyota, has won three times (2016, 2019 and 2020). Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson (2006 and 2013) is the only other driver in the 2024 Daytona 500 field with more than one win; The co-owner of Legacy Motor Club will drive the No. 84 Toyota in the 2024 race.
Click here to see a complete list of Daytona 500 winners by year.
The front row will be exclusively Ford, with two former Daytona 500 winners dominating the field. Joey Logano, the 2015 winner, won the pole on Wednesday evening. The two-time Cup Series champion will compete alongside 2021 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell.
The winners of Thursday night's Daytona Duel start in row 2. Tyler Reddick starts third and leads the Toyota contingent, followed by his Toyota colleague Christopher Bell. Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, starts fifth, the top Chevrolet driver.
Here are the top 10 starters for the 2024 Daytona 500. Click here for the full starting lineup:
- 1. (22) Joey Logano, Ford
- 2. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford
- 3. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota
- 4. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota
- 5. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
- 6. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford
- 7. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
- 8. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
- 9. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet
- 10. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota
Denny Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, is the favorite to win today's race alongside two-time Cup Series champions Joey Logano and Kyle Busch and reigning series champion Ryan Blaney, according to BetMGM.
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Here are drivers with the best odds to win the 2024 Daytona 500, according to BetMGM as of Monday afternoon:
- Denny Hamlin…+900
- Joey Logano…+1200
- Ryan Blaney…+1200
- Kyle Busch…+1200
- Brad Keselowski…+1300
- Chase Elliott…+1500
- Kyle Larson… +1600
- Christopher Bell…+1800
- Martin Truex Jr…+1800
- William Byron…+2000
- Tyler Reddick…+2000
- Bubba Wallace…+2000
Today the drivers do not drive 500 laps, but 500 miles. The oval at Daytona International Speedway is 2.5 miles long. So to reach 500 miles, drivers must complete 200 laps around the track.
Almost every NASCAR race is divided into three stages, and drivers can earn stage points for finishing in the top 10 of a stage, as well as a bonus point for winning a stage that moves into the playoffs later in the season.
Here are the lengths of the stages for the 2024 Daytona 500: Stage 1: 65 laps; Stage 2: 65 laps; Stage 3: 70 laps.
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