Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Daytona 500 on Sunday 2023 NASCAR season.
Stenhouse held up Joey Logano on the final lap of overtime as the caution flag came out due to debris from Kyle Larson and several other drivers. Once the caution came out, Stenhouse was determined to be the leader and Logano finished second.
Stenhouse is the 42nd different driver to win “The Great American Race”.
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cotonelle Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Chris Grethen / Getty Images)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cotonelle Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew after winning the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Mike Ehrman / Getty Images)
“They left me a note on the car saying they believe in me and go out to get the job done tonight,” he told Jamie Little of Fox Sports about his crew. “I made some mistakes. We were able to battle back. This Kroger Cottonall team really worked really hard this off season.”
Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five. AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain and Riley Herbst rounded out the top 10.
Brad Keselowski took the Stage 1 win as he held off a charge from Ryan Pryce and Chastain narrowly toppled pole-sitter Bowman for the win in Stage 2.
Late warnings affected the field with 20 laps to go.
Brad Keselowski (6) beats Ryan Preece (41) across the start/finish line to win the first leg during the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race Sunday, February 19, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Kyle Larson (5) and Erik Jones (43) slide on the grass after being involved in a crash during the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cotonelle Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
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Preece, Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and Jimmie Johnson were involved in a wreck on lap 182. Harrison Burton restarted in the lead, but quickly lost it when Logano got a big push. Allmendinger and Kyle Larson came to the fore.
Kyle Busch If Suarez had not blown a tyre, the victory would have been pulled away. Busch also noted that if this had been 1998—when Dale Earnhardt won the race under caution—he would have been declared the winner.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch is shown during driver introductions prior to the start of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports)
Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 3CHI Chevrolet, drives at Daytona International Speedway during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 on February 17, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet, enters his car in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Mike Ehrman / Getty Images)
Busch, Austin Dillon and William Byron were away, while Chavis pushed into overtime. A crash involving Dillon and Byron took out a handful of racers, and on the final lap, Larson got into his own wreck that ended the race.
Harvick, who announced he would retire at the end of the season, was in the front pack for most of the race until he was caught up in a late crash. He finished in 11th.
Travis Pastrana had a great performance finishing 14th.
Stenhouse is the sole driver for JTG Daugherty Racing, which is partly owned by former NBA star Brad Daugherty. He had failed to finish in the top 10 in any Daytona 500 finish since 2014 prior to Sunday’s win.
More than a dozen drivers are caught in a late-race crash during the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
His last win came in 2017. He finished 13th in the NASCAR standings that year.
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For now, Stenhouse has a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs. A second win this season will surely help in that.