The NASCAR Cup Series kicked off the 2026 season on Sunday afternoon from Daytona International Speedway for the 68th running of the Daytona 500. With the weather approaching, NASCAR moved up the start time, and it was a good thing because they got the race in before the storm hit.
Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing started the race on the pole, while Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racing started second. They led the field to the green flag. It took six laps before the first caution came out when six cars were involved in an accident at Turn 4. They were Noah Gragson, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Justin Allgaier, Casey Mears, and B.J. McLeod. Only McLeod was unable to continue the race. Zane Smith would go on to win the first stage.
On lap 86, another multi-car crash happened in the frontstretch when Austin Dillon hit Chase Briscoe that involved nine cars. The other drivers involved were Ross Chastain, Connor Zilisch, Todd Gilliland, Justin Allgaier, Cody Ware, Ty Gibbs, and Corey Heim.
On lap 125, another multi-car crash happened in the frontstretch, involving a total of 20 cars, including Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, William Byron, and Alex Bowman. The crash would end the second stage, which was won by Bubba Wallace.
With 10 laps to go, Denny Hamlin hit Christopher Bell to bring out the fifth caution, setting up a wild finish. On the final lap, Carson Hocevar got turned around by Erik Jones, allowing Chase Elliott to take the lead. Zane Smith was sitting in second, and Tyler Reddick was third.
Reddick passed Smith for second, and Riley Herbst attempted to move up front. However, he ran into Brad Keselowski before hitting Chase Elliott, and Tyler Reddick avoided getting hit and went on to win the Daytona 500 by 0.308 seconds. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five. Zane Smith, Chris Buescher, Riley Herbst, Josh Berry, and Bubba Wallace completed the top ten.
For Reddick, it was his ninth-career win in the Cup Series. The last time Reddick won a race at Daytona was in 2018 in the then Xfinity Series, which is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
The Cup Series heads to EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) next Sunday, February 22, 2026, at 3 pm on Fox.
