Tyler Reddick wins Daytona 500 on gutsy last-lap pass, stuns Chase Elliott
Did William Byron win his third in a row? No.
Did Kyle Busch capture his first? Also, no.
Was the 68th running of the Daytona 500 the coming out party for rookie sensation Connor Zilisch? Not so much.
Instead, for the second consecutive year, the winner led just one lap all race: the last lap, the one that mattered most.
Tyler Reddick executed several last-lap passes amid a pair of wrecks and raced off with the win in the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
See below for a full lap-by-lap recap of the Great American Race.
Live updates from the Great American Race
Stage 3
Lap 201: Tyler Reddick shocks the field with a big pass in the last half of the last lap. Chase Elliott was in front, but Reddick picked his way to the front through a small crowd on a last lap marred by two wrecks in the middle and back of the field. Tyler Reddick is your Daytona 500 champion!
Lap 196: Back to green for the stretch run. Michael McDowell stayed out at a previous caution, and he still has juice left for a final run.
Lap 192: Denny Hamlin gets loose after an apparent push from Corey Heim behind him goes wrong. He knocks into Christopher Bell, whose nose rams straight into the fence and delivers some damage that can’t be undone. And the caution that so many race teams desired — the one that they wanted to avoid green-flag pit stops — has arrived. And now it’s anyone’s race ... including ... William Byron’s? Yes, the Charlotte native is in P4, somehow, after suffering some damage on Lap 7 and hanging in the back all race. ... Another pit stop under caution incoming. Buckle up!
Lap 181: The pit cycle has begun. Those who pitted: Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Riley Herbst. The next lap, Denny Hamlin and a few other Toyotas follow suit. Cole Custer is out of fuel but will make it back to pit road. The Fords are working together and take a group trip to pit road ... but even they don’t come out super organized. Let’s see what happens when this pit cycle works through.
Lap 165: Looks like Daytona Beach will miss the bad weather; the mess might just pass over north of everything. Looks like we’ll see 500 miles today.
Lap 145: We have a sustained green run. Looks like there will be at least one more green-lap pit stop. Your Top 10 so far: Bubba Wallace, Corey Heim, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, Josh Berry, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain.
Stage 2
Lap 130: Stage ends under caution ... and Bubba Wallace, who somehow missed all the chaos a few laps before, is the winner. The rest of those collecting points: Ryan Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Riley Herbst, Corey Heim, Chris Buescher, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez.
Lap 124: The Big One! 17 cars piled up on the front-stretch after it appeared Justin Allgaier failed to block Denny Hamlin on the outside line properly. Hamlin naturally ran into Allgaier’s right-rear quarter-panel, slinging Allgaier into the wall and prompting some smoke and some crashing and some general chaos. Once the smoke cleared, here’s your new Top 10: Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, John Hunter Nemechek, Riley Herbst, Joey Logano, Corey Heim, Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez.
Lap 90: We’re 10 laps away from the Daytona 500 being “official” — in other words, from making it so if the race ends early due to weather, a winner will be crowned. It’s an interesting wrinkle to keep track of, particularly if you look at the not-so-promising radar. There’s a tornado watch in neighboring counties in the Daytona Beach area.
Lap 85: Woahhhh! Cars get loose — starting with Cody Ware, and then everyone else. Connor Zilisch is collected. So is Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon; all three are headed to the garage area. Ty Gibbs caught in the mess as well. The caution prompts most of the field to head down pit road to fuel up. Check out a replay below:
Stage 1
Lap 65: The winner of the first stage of the first race of the 2026 season? Zane Smith. Haven’t heard his name much this weekend. Part of his Stage 1 win is by virtue of cars being on a non-ideal part of the pit cycle. The other part is that Smith has run a mistake-free race so far. The rest of the Top 10 and thus drivers receiving important season points: Smith, Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Carson Hocevar, Justin Allgaier, Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe.
Lap 38: The wind is getting questionable. Highly questionable. Kyle Busch got loose off of Turn 4 and crushed into Brad Keselowski — but somehow Busch and Keselowski stayed in it without any damage. How did Keselowski hold onto that?
Lap 28: Ten different race teams take up the Top 10. That’s cool. Top 10: John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Shane van Gisbergen, Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott, Cole Custer. It appears we’re done with the three-wide chaos for now, as drivers have organized into two lines well. The draft is helping several cars, including notably Kyle Busch, who stayed out during the first caution and thus has seven fewer laps of fuel than most of the field. Also ... radio chatter over the radio: It’s gusty out here today.
Lap 7: BJ McLeod appears to have sustained some damage because of an issue with his right-front wheel. McLeod, who qualified his way into the race, collected a few in his wake, including Justin Allgaier and William Byron. Not the way you want to start it out. McLeod is done for the day.
The Top 10 as it stands right now: John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Shane van Gisbergen, Brad Keselowski, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon.
2:14 p.m.: Green flag! We’re racing!
2:10 p.m.: Cars are on the track, and we’re a few minutes away from the 68th running of the Daytona 500. A few notes: We just got word from NASCAR that the green flag will run at 2:13 p.m. ET. Only four drivers were moved back to the rear of the field because they’re using backup cars after incurring damage during the Duels on Thursday. Those four: William Byron, Ross Chastain, Justin Allgaier, William Byron.
Oh, and the radar looks clear of rain for now — but it is windy out there. Not quite the 30-plus miles an hour winds that was predicted earlier in the week yet ... but it could get up there, per Wind Alert. The rain doesn’t look like it’ll arrive until 8 p.m., so that’s good news, too.
Important race details
- Track length: 2.5 Mile Asphalt Oval
- Purse: $31,045,575
- TV: FOX, 1 p.m. ET (race at 1:30 p.m.)
- Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
- Distance: 500 miles (200 Laps)
- Stages: Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 65), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 130), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
Top 10 driver odds to win Daytona 500
The Top 10 odds to win it all, as of Sunday morning on FanDuel Sportsbook: Kyle Busch (+1000), Ryan Blaney (+1100), Joey Logano (+1200), Chase Elliott (+1200), Denny Hamlin (+1400), William Byron (+1600), Kyle Larson (+1700), Bubba Wallace (+2000), Brad Keselowski (+2000), Chase Briscoe (+2000).
Observer writers make picks for Daytona 500
Scott Fowler: Denny Hamlin. He has had a tumultuous and tragic past few months, but Hamlin is a dominant force at Daytona and one of the kings of restrictor-plate racing. He’s already won The Great American Race three times; I believe he’ll grab No. 4 on Sunday.
Alex Zietlow: Kyle Busch. Mannnnnnn, I don’t wanna hear it! Don’t bother reminding me that no driver has won the Daytona 500 for the first time after 20 unsuccessful attempts. There’s no use telling me that it’s been over two decades since a driver has won this race after starting on the pole — where Busch finds himself on Sunday. Don’t even mention the fact that Busch hasn’t taken a trip down Victory Lane in 93 races, or that he hasn’t won since 2023. Let’s focus, instead, on what matters: Busch is in a contract year. His No. 8 Chevrolet is fast. And with this new playoff format — one that could (read: should) promote more clean racing at the end of superspeedway races — that should spell good things for a racer like Busch, shouldn’t it? That’s where my head’s at, anyway. Let’s revel in a legacy moment.
Other NASCAR Cup Series bets to check out
All odds are as of Sunday morning via FanDuel Sportsbook:
- Christopher Bell is +800 to win a Cup championship? Yes please. The uber-talented Joe Gibbs Racing driver is no longer a “budding” star. He’s simply a “star.” If you want to capitalize on all your enthusiasm for the Cup Series season at Daytona, making this season-long bet could be fun. He’s also +2200 to win the Daytona 500.
- A race-winning long shot Daytona 500 winner to consider: Chase Briscoe. Hear me out. Briscoe is starting out front — he has the fastest Toyota — and in talking with drivers in the garage, they certainly trust him in the draft: to make the right moves, to hold lines, etc. He’s +2000 odds right now, too, so it’s worth a consideration.
- Jimmie Johnson Top 10 ... why not? This is Johnson’s second-to-last Daytona 500; the seven-time Cup Series champion who retired from full-time Cup racing years ago announced on Saturday that the 2027 Daytona 500 will be his final Cup race. He’s starting P31 but has run OK in practice all week. His +360 odds are fun.
- Either Ryan Blaney or Joey Logano to win the race: +600. Fords always run well here. Logano won one of the two Duel races; Blaney is looking for his first 500 but is generally one of the best drivers on the circuit.
- RFK Racing taking a trip to Victory Lane? +800. Yes, it’s always prudent to go to one of the big three teams: Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske or Joe Gibbs Racing. But RFK has shown speed all week, and Keselowski is one of the best superspeedway racers in the game (though has yet to obtain a Daytona 500). Regardless of who you take, this is an interesting category to ponder.
This story was originally published February 15, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Tyler Reddick wins Daytona 500 on gutsy last-lap pass, stuns Chase Elliott."
