Ryan Blaney wins at Daytona ahead of a massive last-lap crash
Ryan Blaney won his third race of 2021 at Daytona on Saturday night as a massive crash happened behind him.
Blaney took the lead on a two-lap restart to end the race and had a big lead over Kevin Harvick when Harvick got turned by Daniel Suarez to trigger a huge crash on the backstretch on the final lap. It was a similar ending to the Daytona 500 in February when Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski crashed while racing for the win and Michael McDowell scored the upset victory.
Take a look at the incident that brought out the caution on the final lap of the #CokeZeroSugar400. pic.twitter.com/zA7a6LVpKm
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 29, 2021
The final restart was set up by a crash exiting turn 4 when Chase Elliott blocked Matt DiBenedetto's pass for the lead. That crash also collected a bunch of cars.
Tyler Reddick held on to the 16th and final playoff spot despite being in the crash triggered by Elliott's block. He beat his teammate Austin Dillon for the final spot because a driver without a win didn't win Saturday night's race.
Chris Buescher finished second but was disqualified after the race because his car failed post-race inspection. Had Buescher won, NASCAR would have been in the awkward position of celebrating his win to get into the playoffs over Reddick before rescinding it after inspection.
The playoff field is set
Saturday's race was the final race of the regular season ahead of the 10-race playoffs. Kyle Larson was in the crash on the final lap and finished 21st but won the regular season title over Denny Hamlin. He will unofficially start the playoffs with more than twice the playoff points of any other driver.
1. Kyle Larson, 2,052 points
2. Ryan Blaney, 2,024
3. Martin Truex Jr., 2,024
4. Kyle Busch, 2,022
5. Chase Elliott, 2,021
6. Alex Bowman, 2,015
7. Denny Hamlin, 2,015
8. William Byron, 2,014
9. Joey Logano, 2,013
10. Brad Keselowski, 2,008
11. Kurt Busch, 2,008
12. Christopher Bell, 2,005
13. Michael McDowell, 2,005
14. Aric Almirola, 2,005
15. Tyler Reddick, 2,003
16. Kevin Harvick, 2,002
The playoffs will be three rounds of three races and a final winner-take-all finale in Phoenix. Four drivers will be eliminated after every round and four will race for the title at Phoenix. Larson is the heavy favorite to be one of the four drivers at Phoenix after his speed during the regular season.
The postseason begins next Sunday night at Darlington in the Southern 500.
Rules changes don't ultimately matter much
NASCAR changed the car rules for Daytona and Talladega after the massive last-lap crash in the 500 and Joey Logano's car going airborne at Talladega in the spring. Logano's car landed so hard on its roof that the rollcage bent inwards toward his head.
Cars were slowed down slightly and aerodynamic tweaks were made to try to keep them from catching each other so quickly in the draft. While drivers noted in the early laps that the racing felt different to them, it likely didn't look visually different to the average fan. And the changes didn't prevent any cars from getting wrecked either.
Take another look at the wreck that changed the complexion of the #CokeZeroSugar400. pic.twitter.com/103eiIaNRn
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 29, 2021
The penultimate wreck of the race involved 11 cars and the final crash involved nine. Those two crashes followed an eight-car crash that necessitated an almost 15-minute red flag in the third stage. Saturday night's race was the eighth race Cup Series race at either track that ended with a two-lap race to the finish and/or had a crash on the final lap.
Massive crashes are simply part of the game at Daytona and Talladega. And while NASCAR is to be applauded for making Cup Series cars safer whenever possible, Ryan Newman's crash at the 2020 Daytona 500 and Logano's crash at Talladega are evident that the sanctioning body is walking a fine line between entertainment and ensuring that every driver leaves every race at the two tracks able to race again.
Race results
1. Ryan Blaney
2. Chris Buescher [DQed, officially finishes last]
3. Bubba Wallace
4. Ryan Newman
5. Ryan Preece
6. Justin Haley
7. Tyler Reddick
8. Alex Bowman
9. Chase Elliott
10. BJ McLeod
11. Josh Bilicki
12. Erik Jones
13. Kurt Busch
14. Denny Hamlin
15. Aric Almirola
16. Kevin Harvick
17. Corey LaJoie
18. Austin Dillon
19. Ross Chastain
20. Daniel Suarez
21. Kyle Larson
22. Chase Briscoe
23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
24. Joey Logano
25. Cole Custer
26. Matt DiBenedetto
27. Anthony Alfredo
28. David Starr
29. Cody Ware
30. Martin Truex Jr.
31. Garrett Smithley
32. Joey Gase
33. Christopher Bell
34. Brad Keselowski
35. Kyle Busch
26. Kaz Grala
37. Landon Cassill
38. William Byron
39. Quin Houff
40. Michael McDowell