Inside Daytona 500’s big crash, from the dri...

Denny Hamlin was on the cusp of a historic fourth victory within the Daytona 500. Austin Cindric had an opportunity to safe his second Harley J. Earl trophy within the final 4 years. Chase Briscoe and Cole Custer had been preventing for what would have been the most important win of their careers. And Corey LaJoie was inside attain of an upset that might have shocked the NASCAR world.

Besides, immediately, all 5 drivers crashed with simply half a lap remaining, permitting William Byron to steal the victory out from beneath them. Race-defining wrecks are a motif of the trendy Daytona 500, with the final six all ending in calamity. Each 2020 and 2022 noticed a wreck throughout the road, whereas 2021, 2023, and 2024 all ended beneath warning following wrecks close to the entrance of the sector.

However 2025 was distinctive in that each one eight drivers within the first 4 rows of a white flag restart (because of a two-lap extra time) ended up concerned in an incident through the ultimate 2.5 miles of the race. 

So what really occurred within the crash that resolve the Daytona 500? Here is what it appeared like from the within, in accordance with the drivers concerned.

The crash: a refresher

Whether or not the Daytona 500 is more of a chess match or a blackjack hand is tough to say, however the crash that took out the race’s most important contenders made it appear extra like a boxing match. Regardless of the plan, you are going to get hit.

What we do know: On the white flag, Cindric led, with the Toyotas of Hamlin and Riley Herbst straight behind him, and Custer to his exterior. Behind Custer within the exterior line, so as, had been Alex Bowman, Briscoe, and Byron. 

A complete lot of shuffling began when Herbst slid off the grass and LaJoie jumped into his spot. Bowman additionally fell again as he tried to kind a 3rd line. Cindric failed to carry again a charging Hamlin, who pulled to his exterior — however the actual mess began when Custer got here down the monitor after being frolicked three-wide, colliding with Briscoe and slamming into the aspect of Hamlin’s machine. Custer and Hamlin wrecked up the monitor as LaJoie spun to the within. The mess collected loads of different automobiles and concerned a lot of the race leaders.

Briscoe and Cindric had been lucky sufficient to straighten their automobiles again out, ending fourth and eighth, respectively. However Hamlin, Custer, and LaJoie all positioned exterior the top-20.

Byron and Tyler Reddick made the smart — or perhaps simply fortunate — resolution to maneuver up alongside the skin wall. They stayed protected, and claimed a 1-2 end. 

Hamlin: Custer “steered left and was attempting to crowd”

After the race, Hamlin mentioned the scenario with Custer on pit highway earlier than talking to the media.

“I measured up the two [Cindric], and obtained a run on him,” defined Hamlin as he supplied his perspective. “I stayed with him lengthy sufficient the place I may sort of management which aspect I needed to move him on, after which we had pulled away from the pack barely, so I knew a run was going to return. The 41 [Custer] had a run, and I selected to not block him, as a result of these races, you need to reside to make it off of Flip 4, and we simply didn’t.

“I assumed the [Custer] got here down. I’m pushing [Cindric] down as little as I can to present him the entire area, and never stopping his run, and I assumed he, not hung a left, however steered left and was attempting to crowd it. I perceive what he was attempting to go for — he’s going for it, all of us are — however you already know, in these conditions, you’ve gotta do it off of (Flip) 4. Then we are able to we do that. However we by no means made it — and another person gained. I don’t even know the place he was operating.”

Custer: “All people is simply going for it”

Custer, returning to the Cup Sequence in 2025 after two years within the Xfinity Sequence, mentioned it was a case of  “everyone simply pushing arduous and aspect drafting arduous.”

“All people goes for it. That is the most important race of our lives right here in Daytona. It’s the head of our sport. I had an enormous run on the 11 [Hamlin]. I want I waited yet another nook, however it was such an enormous run that I simply felt like I needed to take it. The 19 [Briscoe] went with [Hamlin], after which we had been sort of frolicked, and it simply didn’t work on the market on the finish.”

Cindric: “Whoever was pushing Denny…wrecked him”

For the second consecutive 12 months, Austin Cindric discovered himself with a professional shot on the win solely to get wrecked on the ultimate lap. The phrase “frustration” was at on the tip of his tongue.

“You’re taking the white because the chief. I felt like I executed all of the restarts the suitable manner — and actually that entire third stage. I didn’t get wrecked out of the lead this time, in order that was cool. Nevertheless it nonetheless doesn’t make it really feel any higher.”

On that ultimate lap, Cindric mentioned:  “Denny needed to take his run straight away and I nonetheless obtained a great shot from the 01 [Lajoie]. Whoever was pushing Denny clearly wrecked him. There was only a ton of momentum, with the sector getting damaged up [after Herbst’s spin]. I didn’t actually know at what level of the lap I wanted to truly be the chief. It’s simply irritating to be that shut.”

Briscoe: “I’ll push Denny to the win”

Briscoe, caught in the course of a last-lap squeeze, had a front-row seat to the race-changing pileup.

“All of them cut up off sort of three-wide, and the 11 [Hamlin] automotive was simply sitting there for me,” he mentioned.

At that time, the Daytona 500 pole-sitter had only one thought in his first race as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver:

“I used to be like, ‘I’m going to push Denny to the win. JGR goes to win with my first race right here.’ After I hit him, all of us got here collectively — I haven’t seen it but — and by some means I used to be in a position to hold it straight, and clearly transfer ahead.”

Photographs from Daytona 500