NASCAR News: Blaney wins Coke Zero 400 photo finish at Daytona
Ryan Blaney, driving for Team Penske Ford, clinched his second win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season in a thrilling regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
–by Mark Cipolloni–
With just three laps to go, Blaney surged from 12th place to take the checkered flag, edging out Daniel Suarez by a razor-thin 0.031 seconds. Justin Haley was right on their heels, finishing 0.036 seconds behind Blaney in a dramatic three-wide photo finish for second, while Cole Custer, who led the second-to-last lap, came in fourth, just 0.049 seconds back.
FOUR-WIDE AT THE LINE!
Ryan @Blaney wins @DAYTONA! pic.twitter.com/a5dbsjTb0m
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) August 24, 2025
A win by Suarez, Haley, or Custer would have knocked Alex Bowman out of the Playoffs. Instead, Bowman, piloting the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, secured the 16th and final postseason spot on points.
Blaney’s second victory of the year—his second at Daytona and 15th career win—propelled the No. 12 Team Penske Ford driver to second in the regular-season standings, earning him 10 bonus Playoff points. It also marked Ford’s first Cup Series win since Blaney’s triumph at Nashville Superspeedway on June 1.
“What a wild finish,” Blaney said. “I teamed up with Cole on the restart. We bided our time, and when the chance came, he made a smart move to the top. We got great pushes from the guys behind us, and when the 7 (Haley) and 41 (Custer) started racing, it cleared the path for me to take the lead and hold on by half a car length.”
Blaney seized his moment when Custer moved off the top lane to block Haley’s charge, giving Blaney the momentum to pull ahead and secure the win.
The race saw a whirlwind of 44 lead changes among 19 drivers. Blaney and teammate Joey Logano each led 27 laps, with Logano dominating much of the final stage before spinning out in front of Erik Jones with 11 laps remaining.
Jones finished fifth, followed by Stage 1 winner Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, and Chase Elliott. Ross Chastain, who won Stage 2, ended up 15th.
For Bowman, the race was a rollercoaster. Early on, a Lap 18 wreck sparked by Todd Gilliland took out Tyler Reddick’s Toyota, giving Bowman a glimmer of hope to overcome his 29-point deficit to the 23XI driver and clinch a Playoff spot. But on Lap 27, a massive 12-car pileup on the frontstretch—triggered by contact between Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch—collected Bowman and ended his race.
“Everything happened so fast,” Wallace said. “The hit from the 5 (Larson) pushed me down, and then the 22 (Logano) and 12 (Blaney) moved up to take the lane. We went from 20th or 22nd to the lead in no time, but that’s racing. We’re locked into the Playoffs, so we’ll regroup for Darlington.”
The crash also eliminated Busch and superspeedway standout Ricky Stenhouse Jr. from Playoff contention. Bowman, sidelined, could only watch and hope no new winner would steal his Playoff spot.
“It was out of our control,” Bowman said. “The bottom lane fell apart early, and we were clawing our way back into the top 10 when the wreck happened. It’s a shame it didn’t work out.”
Blaney’s victory ultimately preserved Bowman’s Playoff hopes, securing his spot alongside Hendrick teammates William Byron (the Regular Season Champion), Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott. With the 16-driver Playoff field set, the postseason kicks off on August 31 at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out Southern 500.
2025 Coke Zero 400 Results
| Fin | Str | No. | Driver | Team | Laps Led | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Advance Auto Parts Ford | 27 | 160 | Running |
| 2 | 12 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Coca-Cola Chevrolet | 6 | 160 | Running |
| 3 | 37 | 7 | Justin Haley | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 2 | 160 | Running |
| 4 | 29 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas/Bonanza Ford | 7 | 160 | Running |
| 5 | 26 | 43 | Erik Jones | Dollar Tree Toyota | 10 | 160 | Running |
| 6 | 3 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 3 | 160 | Running |
| 7 | 24 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 8 | 18 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 9 | 11 | 21 | Josh Berry | DEX Imaging Ford | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 10 | 30 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 11 | 28 | 34 | * Todd Gilliland | Grillo’s Pickles Ford | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 12 | 20 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Fly Alliance Chevrolet | 3 | 160 | Running |
| 13 | 15 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Rheem Toyota | 4 | 160 | Running |
| 14 | 31 | 60 | Ryan Preece | Kroger/Little Bites/Capri Sun Ford | 3 | 160 | Running |
| 15 | 19 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Safety Culture Chevrolet | 7 | 160 | Running |
| 16 | 17 | 88 | Shane Van Gisbergen # | Red Bull Chevrolet | 6 | 160 | Running |
| 17 | 34 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 7 | 160 | Running |
| 18 | 10 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Consumer Cellular Ford | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 19 | 8 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 5 | 160 | Running |
| 20 | 35 | 51 | Cody Ware | Arby’s Jamocha Shake Ford | 23 | 160 | Running |
| 21 | 27 | 45 | * Tyler Reddick | McDonald’s Toyota | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 22 | 23 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Sea Best Chevrolet | 9 | 160 | Running |
| 23 | 9 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 6 | 160 | Running |
| 24 | 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Breztri Chevrolet | 4 | 160 | Running |
| 25 | 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | King’s Hawaiian Toyota | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 26 | 21 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Celsius Chevrolet | 0 | 159 | Running |
| 27 | 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 27 | 159 | Running |
| 28 | 40 | 44 | * Joey Gase(i) | NFPA Chevrolet | 0 | 157 | Running |
| 29 | 39 | 66 | * Casey Mears | SI Yachts Ford | 0 | 156 | Running |
| 30 | 36 | 33 | * Austin Hill(i) | United Rentals Chevrolet | 0 | 155 | Running |
| 31 | 13 | 38 | * Zane Smith | Aaron’s Rent To Own Ford | 0 | 154 | Running |
| 32 | 38 | 78 | * BJ McLeod(i) | Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster Chevrolet | 0 | 137 | Accident |
| 33 | 14 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet | 0 | 95 | Running |
| 34 | 16 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Modo Casino Chevrolet | 0 | 81 | Engine |
| 35 | 25 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Jack Link’s Duos Chevrolet | 0 | 28 | Accident |
| 36 | 2 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 0 | 27 | Accident |
| 37 | 22 | 23 | * Bubba Wallace | Columbia Toyota | 1 | 27 | Accident |
| 38 | 32 | 4 | * Noah Gragson | Zep Ford | 0 | 27 | Accident |
| 39 | 5 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Maytag Ford | 0 | 27 | Accident |
| 40 | 33 | 35 | * Riley Herbst # | Chumba Casino Toyota | 0 | 27 | Accident |
Average Speed of Race Winner: 130.909 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 3 Mins, 20 Secs. Margin of Victory: .031 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 39 laps.
Lead Changes: 44 among 19 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Blaney 1-23;*. Wallace 24;D. Suarez 25-30;R. Blaney 31-32;M. McDowell 33;R. Blaney 34;K. Larson 35-37;R. Chastain 38;C. Ware 39-55;T. Dillon 56-64;R. Chastain 65-66;S. Gisbergen # 67-69;M. McDowell 70;S. Gisbergen # 71-72;M. McDowell 73;C. Ware 74-75;J. Logano 76;C. Ware 77-78;C. Briscoe 79;C. Custer 80-84;W. Byron 85-89;J. Logano 90;C. Briscoe 91-93;J. Logano 94;R. Chastain 95-98;C. Custer 99;C. Bell 100-101;J. Nemechek 102;C. Bell 103-104;J. Nemechek 105-110;S. Gisbergen # 111;C. Ware 112-113;A. Dillon 114-117;J. Logano 118-134;C. Briscoe 135-136;J. Logano 137-141;E. Jones 142-145;J. Logano 146-147;E. Jones 148-152;J. Haley 153;E. Jones 154;R. Preece 155-157;J. Haley 158;C. Custer 159;R. Blaney 160.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Ryan Blaney 4 times for 27 laps; Joey Logano 6 times for 27 laps; Cody Ware 4 times for 23 laps; Erik Jones 3 times for 10 laps; Ty Dillon 1 time for 9 laps; Ross Chastain 3 times for 7 laps; Cole Custer 3 times for 7 laps; John Hunter Nemechek 2 times for 7 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen # 3 times for 6 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 6 laps; Chase Briscoe 3 times for 6 laps; William Byron 1 time for 5 laps; Austin Dillon 1 time for 4 laps; Christopher Bell 2 times for 4 laps; Ryan Preece 1 time for 3 laps; Kyle Larson 1 time for 3 laps; Michael McDowell 3 times for 3 laps; Justin Haley 2 times for 2 laps; * Bubba Wallace 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 5,1,12,71,7,22,34,60,19,20
Stage #2 Top Ten: 1,20,22,42,24,19,12,60,54,5