DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway in breathtaking fashion Saturday night as the Cup Series locked in its 16-driver playoff field.
Blaney went from 13th place to the win in the final two laps, a sensational drive that was barely enough to hold off a three-wide pack of desperate drivers.
“What a wild last couple laps,” the Team Penske driver said, sounding out of breath after an exuberant celebration.
WHERE DID HE COME FROM?!
RYAN BLANEY WINS IN A THRILLING LAST LAP AT DAYTONA! pic.twitter.com/H6IW6dtclh
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 24, 2025
NASCAR has a win-and-in format, and 14 drivers had already gone to victory lane at least once in the previous 25 races of the “regular season,” which secured playoff berths for each.
That meant two more playoff berths were available entering the regular-season finale. However, one was clinched rather quickly when Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman wrecked out of the race as part of a 12-car incident on Lap 27.
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Bowman’s misfortune immediately locked 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick into the field, leaving only one spot in doubt. Bowman was forced to sit and watch the race in his motor home, hoping a previous winner from this season would take the checkered flag and allow him to make the field based on the fallback option for non-winners — their points position.
Thanks to Blaney, it happened: Bowman got the last spot at the last possible second.
The finish was set up on a restart with eight laps remaining and non-playoff drivers occupying three of the top four spots. Those must-win drivers then traded the race lead on each of the remaining laps until Blaney snatched the checkered flag ahead of Daniel Suarez, Justin Haley, Cole Custer, Erik Jones and Chris Buescher, all of whom were eliminated from playoff contention.
Reddick came into 29 points ahead of Bowman, meaning he just needed a ninth-place finish to clinch a berth, no matter what anyone else did. There was an initial scary moment for Reddick when he collided with Todd Gilliland and spun on Lap 18, but Bowman crashed shortly thereafter.
Kyle Larson earned the No. 1 seed, followed by Hendrick teammate William Byron, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Blaney.
Christopher Bell, Shane van Gisbergen, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric rounded out the top 10 seeds. The rest of the drivers are Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Austin Dillon, Reddick and Bowman.
(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)
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