Daytona 500 2023 Results: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Wins in Double OT After Late Crash
It took two overtimes, multiple major late crashes and some serious drama, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the 2023 Daytona 500 winner.
Even the winning moment was cast into doubt after a late crash:
Not long before the wild finish, another crash delayed the proceedings:
When the literal smoke cleared and 12 overtime laps had been run, Stenhouse had his win, Joey Logano had finished second, Christopher Bell third, and Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.
It was Stenhouse's third career NASCAR Cup Series victory. He last won at the Daytona International Speedway in 2017.
"This whole offseason, Mike [Kelley, his new crew chief] preached how much we all believed in each other," Stenhouse told Jamie Little of Fox Sports after the race. "They left me a note on the car that said they believe in me and to go get the job done tonight. I made a few mistakes, but we were able to battle back."
Stenhouse was pretty relieved the race finished when it did.
"Man, we were out front when the caution came out," he said of the late drama. "We were out of fuel, so the fuel light was going crazy. I hope y'all had fun; that was a heck of a race."
The first stage was mostly clean, with Brad Keselowski emerging as the winner. The second stage also stayed almost drama-free until the late moments, when a Tyler Reddick slip ultimately impacted nine cars. Ross Chastain claimed Stage 2.
The Cup Series now heads to the Auto Club Speedway for the Pala Casino 500 on Feb. 26 at 3:30 p.m. ET on Fox.
