DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As the final laps of a thrilling Daytona 500 whizzed around him, Ryan Preece was somewhere else — physically and mentally.

Physically, after an admirable run that ended in a gnarly wreck with fewer than 10 laps to go, he stood in the infield care center grass, somehow safe.

Mentally, he was with his child.

“I don�...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — William Byron went back-to-back at the Daytona 500, relying on a little luck and his gut.

Byron sat ninth entering the final 2.5 miles, but for the second time avoided danger at the end to take the checkered flag, leaving heartbreak and wreckage in his wake.

“Obviously some good fortune,” he said. “But trusting my...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla — What’s more difficult than winning the Daytona 500 once? Why winning it twice.

It took overtime and a crash on the white-flag lap for William Byron to win his second straight Daytona 500 on Sunday. Byron was ninth going into the final lap in overtime when Cole Custer and Chase Briscoe made contact causing many cars to ...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — That wasn’t rain that delayed the Daytona 500 on Sunday, it was Bill France’s tears.

Once upon a time, during NASCAR’s heyday, the Daytona 500 used to run without a hitch on a dry track and underneath the blue skies as race fans basked in what they famously called “Bill France Weather.”

The narrative back then...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The buzz started small and grew louder at the sold-out Daytona International Speedway about an hour before the green flag dropped to officially start Sunday's Daytona 500.

No, it wasn't for Pitbull, a former car owner and Cuban American rapper and singer, taking the main stage for a mini-set.

It wasn't for Anthony ...Read more

Bubba Wallace had barely settled into his seat for Daytona 500 Media Day earlier this week when the first question came.

The question wasn’t about his chances of perhaps winning his first 500 and what that would mean for his racing career.

It wasn’t about what he needs to do to be a more consistent driver and a championship contender.

And...Read more

Here are five drivers to watch during the 67th Daytona 500. The 200-lap affair at the storied 2.5-mile oval is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sunday on Fox.

Ryan Blaney

The 2023 Cup Series champion sandwiched a 2021 summer race win at Daytona International Speedway with a photo-finish runner-up to Denny Hamlin in 2020 and a fourth-place showing in ...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR star Denny Hamlin won the closest Daytona 500, along with one of the most chaotic.

He earned win No. 3 in a photo finish while Ryan Newman’s car was left behind in a burning heap.

To become just the third driver in 67 years to win the Great American Race a fourth time, Hamlin might need to do something even ...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The team’s first full-time driver is from Monterrey, Mexico, who in 2022 became the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, a Cinderella — or Cenicienta — story for the ages.

The team’s second full-time driver is from south Florida, an eighth generation watermelon farmer who slammed his way ...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Everything seemed to come easy for Jeff Gordon, including his first Daytona 500 win.

In 1997, NASCAR’s 25-year-old superstar became the youngest champion ever. A year later, fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Sr. finally picked off his only 500 victory in his 20th attempt. In 1999, Gordon answered with a second title at the ...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — He didn’t finish first, but you would’ve thought Justin Allgaier won the whole thing.

There were other celebrations going on the front-stretch and in Victory Lane. Bubba Wallace won the first Duel race at Daytona International Speedway, fist-pumping the crowd as he stood on his car after his win at the start-finish ...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The threat of rain has changed Sunday’s schedule on NASCAR’s biggest weekend.

NASCAR announced Friday afternoon that its premier race — the Daytona 500 — will be moved up an hour. The start time for the Cup Series’ first points-paying race of the season will start at 1:30 p.m., an adjustment from the original 2...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch’s star has begun to fade, while his Daytona 500 chances are clearly running out.

Coming off his first winless season since he joined the Cup Series full time in 2005, the 39-year-old continues his push to capture the one race that has eluded him. If he does, Busch would deliver NASCAR’s showcase event a ...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Josh Berry heard the rumblings earlier this week — that his former team owner and one of the sport’s biggest stars, Dale Earnhardt Jr., would be at the racetrack super early.

“I still have several friends over at JR Motorsports,” Berry said. “And they kinda said, ‘Yeah, Dale is gonna be there at 6 a.m., when ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — NASCAR driver Ross Chastain’s family watermelon farm in southwest Florida is never too far away for him.

The closer the better on race days. After all, whenever he takes the checkered flag, Chastain smashes a succulent watermelon in Victory Lane.

The ritual is a nod to his roots on the family’s 400-acre farm in Alva — a...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Roughly a third of the 36 NASCAR Cup Series teams have a new look this season.

While Team Penske looks to win its fourth straight championship and the four star drivers return to Hendrick Motorsports, there are notable changes up and down the Cup Series grid heading into the season-opening Daytona 500 at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The ongoing legal maneuvering between the sanctioning body of NASCAR and two of its premier series race teams took another turn Wednesday night.

NASCAR has filed an appeal to a district court’s recent ruling that the two plaintiff Cup Series teams — 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, who sued NASCAR on the ...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — What’s retirement anyway?

That’s what two former NASCAR Cup Series champions were probably asking themselves after good showings at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday night.

Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson — who’ve each retired from full-time NASCAR competition in the past five years — have ...Read more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Two years ago, after a wreck in overtime dashed his Daytona 500 championship dreams, Kyle Busch had the late Dale Earnhardt on his mind.

He had his reasons why.

That year, at the conclusion of the 2023 Great American Race, Busch stood just outside Daytona International Speedway’s infield care center. His No. 8 car was...Read more