Winners and losers from an unbelievable NASCAR Cup race at Daytona

There were 44 lead changes between 19 different drivers at Daytona, and at the checkered flag, the entire top five were covered by less than one tenth of a second. It was an incredible race, culminating with a four-wide photo finish.  

Somehow, there were no new winners despite drivers facing a must-win situation finishing second through sixth. Ryan Blaney prevailed by just 0.031s and earned his second win of the year, ensuring there were no changes in the final two playoff spots.

Take a look at the biggest winners and losers from Daytona:

WINNER: Ryan Blaney’s new best friend Alex Bowman

While Blaney captured the checkered flag, Bowman was the real winner at Daytona. After wrecking out on Lap 27, the Hendrick Motorsports driver could only look on and hope one of the must-win drivers didn’t prevail in the end. Well, his nightmare was becoming a reality as the front of the field was filled with those must-win drivers in the closing laps. Bowman’s Hendrick teammates did what they could, shuffling drivers out of line, but in the end, it wasn’t up to them.

On the final lap, it was Blaney who surged ahead and claimed victory, finishing just ahead of five must-win drivers!

It’s no surprise that in post-race interviews, Bowman said he owes Blaney “seven million beers.”

LOSER: Jones and Preece are undone by preexisting loyalties 

Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club Toyota

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

Erik Jones and Ryan Preece positioned themselves perfectly to win at Daytona, but the circumstances around the final playoff spot led to their undoing. Kyle Larson was on a mission to prevent any new driver from winning, shoving Jones out of the way.

Preece, who had just moved up in front of Jones before the No. 43 got moved, now had Larson directly behind him. Unsurprisingly, he too got shuffled back, leaving him frustrated with what could have been.  

WINNER: The field for keeping it clean and giving us a four-wide finish

NASCAR Cup photo finish with Ryan Blaney winning

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

Despite so many desperate drivers at the front of the pack, everyone kept it clean in one of the most thrilling and professional finishes we’ve seen in recent years at Daytona. No one ran over each other, and while the blocks were big, they weren’t reckless. And because of that, we got to witness one of the best Daytona finishes of the Next Gen era.

LOSER: Joey Logano spins from the lead

Joey Logano spins from the lead, Team Penske Ford

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Logano somehow escaped being at the epicenter of the race’s biggest wreck on Lap 27, and went on to lead much of the final stage. However, his shot at the win ended with just over ten laps to go, spinning from the lead.

The race remained green, but No. 22 then took an interesting path, driving out into the grass and causing a caution instead of continuing down pit road.

WINNER: Kyle Busch can’t seem to catch a break

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

Busch has now missed the playoffs in two consecutive seasons, and at Daytona, he didn’t even get a chance to fight for it. He was swept up in the Lap 27 pileup, and the two-time Cup champion has just one finish higher than 20th in the last five races.

To make it sting a bit more, Busch will also have to watch as his teammate and Richmond winner Austin Dillon takes part in the playoffs.

LOSER: A fairytale lost for all those Blaney denied

Watch: Justin Haley: ‘Hurts’ to come up just short at Daytona

0.031s for Suarez, 0.036s for Haley, 0.049s for Custer, 0.091s for Jones, and 0.106s for Buescher — that’s how close each of those drivers were to winning on Saturday night.

All of them were in a must-win situation, but instead finished second through sixth. For Suarez, it could have been a huge moment on the same day Trackhouse confirmed Connor Zilisch as his replacement.

Then there’s Haley, whose own future is in question. Custer and Jones would have been incredible upsets, and Buescher misses the playoffs yet again despite being top ten in points.

WINNER: Cody Ware strong night, and his efforts to blow up the playoffs

Cody Ware, Rick Ware Racing Ford

Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

Entering Daytona, people looked at Ware as the most extreme example of the ‘win and you’re in’ system. He is dead last in points among full-time drivers, has no top tens this year, and a shock victory for him would have been met with lots of controversy as he takes the final playoff spot. That didn’t happen in the end as Ware finished 20th, but he certainly made some people sweat.

Ware led 23 laps, and to put that achievement in perspective, he has led just 11 laps in his previous 131 career starts combined! 

LOSER: The three-car teams with no playoff presence

Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford; Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

It hurts to miss the playoffs, but it hurts even more when you have three full-time cars in the NASCAR Cup Series, RFK Racing, Spire Motorsports, and Front Row Motorsports all went 0-3 in their effort to break into the playoffs. It’s even more painful for RFK, who had two drivers fairly high up in points, but no wins to help secure them a spot. 

WINNER: SVG leads some laps, secures ROTY

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

Shane van Gisbergen continues to get more comfortable at ovals, and he even led some laps at Daytona. He went on to finish 16th, and with Riley Herbst failing to make the playoffs, SVG officially locked up Rookie of the Year honors. He will be the first foreign-born driver to win ROTY since Juan Pablo Montoya did it in 2007, and with 16 points over the cutline after the playoff reset, he has a real chance to advance deep into the postseason.

LOSER: Chase Elliott loses three valuable bonus points

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Elliott had a solid run at Daytona, but it wasn’t enough to protect his position as the runner-up in the regular season standings. Elliott fell to fourth, and that matters: NASCAR awards bonus points for the top-ten points finishers in the regular season.

That change in position cost Elliott three bonus points, which could become critical later in the championship fight to come.