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William Byron becomes the first back-to-back winner since Denny Hamlin to win the Daytona 500 in a rain-affected race. The Hendrick Motorsports driver kept his cool and avoided the last-lap chaos to win the Great American Race. The event began with President Donald Trump attending the start of the race. He was pictured taking selfies with multiple NASCAR personalities, including the 'King' Richard Petty.
23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick finished runner-up, while 7-time champion Jimmie Johnson surprised everyone with a third-place finish. Denny Hamlin looked ever so close to winning his 4th Harley J. Earl trophy.
Penske Fords dominated the race throughout and looked like the favorites to win. However, a contact involving Joey Logano and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collected both the previous stage winners, Kyle Busch, and others in the process.
While Kyle Busch was determined to replicate Dale Earnhardt Sr. winning the Daytona 500 in his 20th attempt, his crash with just 15 laps to go took away any chance for Rowdy to win.
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Daytona 500: Who won the Stage 1 and Stage 2?
It was Team Penske's domination in the first two stages of the race at the Daytona International Speedway. Reigning NASCAR champion Joey Logano won Stage 1 ahead of Brad Keselowski (2nd), and Ryan Blaney (3rd).
In Stage 2, Ryan Blaney matched Joey Logano to make it a Penske stage sweep. He narrowly beat his Penske teammate Austin Cindric, who led the majority of Stage 2 to finish second. Hendrick teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman finished third and fourth, respectively.
Michael McDowell won the first fastest point lap at the 2025 Daytona 500. NASCAR initiated a F1-like fastest lap system in which, the fastest driver is awared a single point at the end of the race.
President Donald Trump's radio message to the NASCAR drivers before the Daytona 500
President Donald Trump spoke to the NASCAR drivers on the radio before the green flag and wished them a safe race. He admitted he was a "big fan" of all the race car drivers and said:
"This is your favorite President. I'm a big fan, I'm a really big fan of you people. I don't know how you do this, but I want you to be safe and you all talented people and great people have a good day, have a lot of fun. See you later," Donald Trump said.
The President also talked to NASCAR reported Jamie Little before the race and commended the "guts" of all the drivers and their skill. He said:
"I'll talk to them and I say they have a lot of courage doing this. It's I see it and I've been here and they havela lot of guts, as they would say."
William Byron's Daytona 500 win also saw him become the youngest driver ever to win multiple Great American Race's, eclipsing Jeff Gordon's record. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was also one of only 3 cars to not be involved in any of the collisions that happened.
