Ricky Stenhouse Jr Wins Daytona 500, Passes NASCAR Champion Joey Logano

Ricky Stenhouse Jr Wins Daytona 500, Passes NASCAR Champion Joey Logano

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Daytona 500 on Sunday to kick off the 2023 NASCAR season.

Stenhouse held off Joey Logano on the final lap of overtime when a crash involving Kyle Larson and several other drivers caused the caution flag to go out. Once the caution came out, Stenhouse was determined to be the lead, and Logano finished in second place.

Stenhouse is the 42nd different driver to win “The Great American Race.”

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Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the 65th annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19. of 2023, in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew after winning the 65th annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew after winning the 65th annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Mike Ehrman/Getty Images)

“They left me a note in the car saying they believed in me and to get the job done tonight,” he told FOX Sports’ Jamie Little of his team. “I made some mistakes. We were able to fight back. This Kroger Cottonelle crew worked very, very hard this offseason.”

Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five. AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain and Riley Herbst rounded out the top 10.

Brad Keselowski scored the Stage 1 win when fending off a charging Ryan Preece, and Chastain narrowly edged polesitter Bowman for the Stage 2 win.

Late warnings impacted the field with less than 20 laps to go.

Brad Keselowski (6) beats Ryan Preece (41) at the start/finish line to win the first stage during the NASCAR Daytona 500 car race on Sunday, February 19, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Brad Keselowski (6) beats Ryan Preece (41) at the start/finish line to win the first stage during the NASCAR Daytona 500 car race on Sunday, February 19, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Kyle Larson (5) and Erik Jones (43) slide across the grass after being involved in an accident during the NASCAR Daytona 500 race car on Sunday, February 19, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Kyle Larson (5) and Erik Jones (43) slide across the grass after being involved in an accident during the NASCAR Daytona 500 race car on Sunday, February 19, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, drives during practice for the 65th Annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, drives during practice for the 65th Annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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Preece, Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, and Jimmie Johnson were all caught up in a wreck on lap 182. Harrison Burton restarted in the lead, but quickly lost it when Logano got a big push. Allmendinger and Kyle Larson took the lead again.

Kyle Busch might have gotten the win if it wasn’t for Suárez’s blown tire. Busch even pointed out that if it had been in 1998, when Dale Earnhardt won the race under caution, he would have been declared the winner.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch is shown during driver introductions before the start of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on February 19, 2023.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch is shown during driver introductions before the start of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on February 19, 2023. (Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports)

Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 Chevrolet 3CHI, drives during practice for the 65th annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 Chevrolet 3CHI, drives during practice for the 65th annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet, enters his car into the garage area during practice for the 65th annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet, gets into his car in the garage area during practice for the 65th Annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Mike Ehrman/Getty Images)

Busch, Austin Dillon and William Byron would all go down as the Chevys made the effort in overtime. A crash involving Dillon and Byron took out a handful of riders, and on the final lap, Larson was caught up in a race-ending crash of his own.

Harvick, who announced that he would retire at the end of the season, led for most of the race until he was involved in a late crash. He finished at 11.

Travis Pastrana had an impressive performance finishing 14th.

Stenhouse is the sole driver for JTG Daugherty Racing, partly owned by former NBA star Brad Daugherty. He hasn’t made the top 10 in any Daytona 500 finish before Sunday’s victory since 2014.

A late-race crash traps more than a dozen drivers during the 65th annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida .

A late-race crash traps more than a dozen drivers during the 65th annual NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida . (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

His last win was in 2017. He finished 13th in the NASCAR standings that year.

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For now, Stenhouse has a berth in the NASCAR Playoffs. A second win this season will definitely help that.

By Jacob Wilson

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