Ryan Blaney won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, capitalizing on a furious charge in the race’s final two laps. It marked Blaney’s second time winning a NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway, following a victory in the same event in 2021. The driver of Team Penske’s No. 12 Ford Mustang now has 15 career victories after prevailing in a thrilling four-wide finish.
“What a wild last couple laps, honestly,” Blaney said. “I was with Cole [Custer], I kind of asked him on the restart, if you go to the top I’m going with you. We kind of just waited and waited and then the opportunity came, and he made a good move to get to the top, and we were able to really get good shoves.”
The race on Saturday locked in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoff field, with Blaney seeding himself fourth with his second win of the year. Despite there being four drivers behind him who hadn’t yet won to lock in their playoff spot, Blaney’s repeat kept there from being a fifteenth winner.
Daniel Suárez finished second in his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, followed by Spire Motorsports’ Justin Haley, Haas Factory Team’s Cole Custer, and Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones. Blaney’s Penske teammate, Joey Logano, led over two dozen laps before being spun out after contact from Jones.
“A couple good guys behind us, and then it kind of cleared the way for us when the 7 [of Justin Haley] and 41 [of Cole Custer] got racing, and I was able to clear on the top and just barely hold out for the win,” Blaney continued.
Several contenders were taken out early when contact from Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet turned Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota down in front of traffic. The ensuing crash eliminated Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman, and Riley Herbst.
Two other drivers had a race within a race in contention for the final spot in the playoff bracket. Fourteen of the sixteen spots had been occupied by race winners, with the last two spots up for grabs for those with the most points. Coming into Daytona, that was Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman. Only Bowman, who was sixteenth in points, would be bumped out of the bracket if a new winner emerged. He could prevent this only by making up a 29-point deficit from Reddick.
Both Bowman and Reddick sustained damage early in the race; Bowman was involved in the aforementioned multi-car crash, while Reddick hit the inside wall after spinning with Todd Gilliland. Bowman’s damage ultimately proved to be fatal to his race, while Reddick was able to continue. Thus, Bowman couldn’t catch Reddick in points and had to hope there wasn’t a new winner. Blaney saved him from being bumped, with four straight non-playoff drivers hot on his tail.
