DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Tyler Reddick won the 68^th running of the Daytona 500 as the field crashed behind him on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

Reddick had a rough season in 2025. The 23XI Racing driver went winless and on top of the drought, his son Rookie was battling serious heart issues. That being said, the Reddick family overcame the adversity and prevailed, and now 30-year-old Reddick has kicked off this season by etching his name into Daytona 500 history after winning the prestigious race on his eighth try. Reddick is now the 44^th different driver to win the Daytona 500.

“Last year was really hard for all of us, hard for me,” Reddick said. “When you’re a Cup driver and you get to this level and drive for Michael Jordan, it’s expected you win every single year.

“For us to go on that drought we did made us look hard in the mirror, and really proud of everyone on our Chumba Casino Toyota Camry. Worked really hard in the off-season, and there was many points in this race where we weren’t making decisions we wanted to, but we just reset, and every opportunity we got to reset we went back at it.”

On the final lap, an unaligned bump draft from Erik Jones sent leader, Carson Hocevar spinning in front of Reddick. Jones then slid across the nose Reddick’s No. 45 Chumba Casino Toyota, and from that point, it was a race to the finish line.

“Yeah, we had the lead there when that caution came out, lined up next to (Michael) McDowell, and we just kind of kept getting hung a couple times in the closing laps there,” Reddick said. “Yeah, just every time we’d kind of break up, there would be nowhere left to go but to push, and they pushed me, obviously.”

Reddick pulled ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Elliott to take the lead in Turns 1 and 2; however, momentum was on Elliott’s side as he catapulted to the lead down the backstretch. With a bump from his teammate, Riley Herbst, Reddick solidified the third position heading into Turn 3, and then in Turn 4, he made his way around the outside of  Zane Smith for second.

“My teammate Riley Herbst gave me a lot of pushes there and then tried to win the race for himself, as he should at the end there,” Reddick said. “Just incredible how it all played out. Just true Daytona madness.”

Reddick made a move on Elliott for the lead and as he was alongside of him on the frontstretch coming to the checkered flag, the Hendrick Motorsports driver was clipped by Herbst who made contact with Brad Keseloski. Reddick was the only driver still pointing forward as he crossed the line for his 9^th career NASCAR Cup Series win.

“Just speechless,” Reddick said. “I didn’t know if I’d ever win this race. It’s surreal, honestly. Honestly, the best part is my son asked before this race, Are you finally going to win this race? Something about today just felt right.”

The Daytona 500 win is also the first for 23XI Racing, which is entering only its third season in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“I can’t even believe it,” team owner Michael Jordan said. “It was so gratifying. We had four guys that were really fighting, helping each other out. You never know how these races are going to end. You just try to survive.

“I thought Riley did an unbelievable job pushing at the end. That shows you what teamwork can really, really do. He doesn’t get enough credit. He won’t get enough credit. But we feel the love. We understand exactly what he did.”

Following the victory, Jordan said the emotion was similar to winning a championship, and the NBA legend knows a thing or six about winning championships. Oh, by the way, he wears a size 13 rings.

“Look, I’m ecstatic,” Jordan said. “I don’t even know what to say. It feels like I won a championship, but until I get my ring, I won’t even know.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crossed the finish line in second with a torn-up HYAK Motorsports No. 47 Chef Boyardee Chevrolet. The strong finish marked his first top-five in the Daytona 500 since winning in 2023.

“It’s never bad to finish in the top-five in the Daytona 500,” Stenhouse said. “It’s a big race and we have left here finishing in the 30s and have been pretty down about that. So, on one hand, it’s good because our strategy worked out perfectly today.”

Team Penske’s Joey Logano crashed across the finish line in third. He didn’t score any stage points throughout the day, but he was in contention to battle for the win on the final lap.

“Missed the last lap crash into (Turn) 1, and off of (Turn) 4 you just kind of go where they’re not,” Logano said. “I got spun and came across the line third. Compared to where we’ve been in this race recently, to see the finish is great. I ended up in the same building (Infield Care Center), but at least I seen the finish, and that’s just kind of where it was.”

Elliott and Keseloski rounded out the top-five. Completing the top-10 was Zane Smith, Chris Buescher, Herbst, Josh Berry and Bubba Wallace.

Smith won Stage 1, and Wallace won Stage 2.

There were 66 lead changes among a record 26 drivers. Wallace led a race high of 40 laps.

The caution flew on five occasions for 32 laps. Four cautions were for accidents.

On Lap 6, BJ McLeod’s car suffered a mechanical failure, and he spun in the middle of the pack in Turn 4. Everyone maneuvered to miss him, and five other cars were involved, including two-time Daytona 500 winner, William Byron.

On Lap 86, a chain reaction with the leaders sent Connor Zilisch, Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon and other spinning along the frontstretch.

“It was a long day after the wreck, but our No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet was getting better as the race went on and as the sun went down,” Zilisch said. “We struggled a little bit when it was really hot out, but as the shade came in, we definitely started to excel a little more. We were able to get up to the front and lead a lane. But right when we got up there, that’s when we wrecked. Overall, it was a good day for me. I learned a lot and I got to experience my first DAYTONA 500. I know there will be more to come.”

The largest crash of the day occurred on Lap 125, when Justin Allgaier made a move to block Denny Hamlin from taking over the lead on the frontstretch, and it didn’t work out. A total of 20 cars were involved.

“I got to the top lane there and I watched the run coming on the top with Denny (Hamlin),” Allgaier said. “I thought he was going to push. I thought the lane was closed up just enough that he wouldn’t try to go up there, but when I realized he was going up there, it was just too late. Once the air kind of got on the spoiler, it just turned me to the right. I hate it for everyone that got caught up in it because it wasn’t what we wanted.”

The final caution of the day came out on Lap 193, when an uneven bump draft from rookie, Corey Heim sent Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell crashing down the frontstretch.

Reddick leaves Daytona with a17-point lead over Smith in the standings.

Up next, the NASCAR Cup Series will visit EchoPark Speedway on Sunday, Feb. 22, for the Autotrader 400. Live coverage will broadcast on FOX at 3 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Mitchell White/TheFourthTurn.com