DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - After being collected in early chaos not of his own doing, all Alex Bowman could do was nervously watch as cars traded the lead lap after lap at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night.
It was far from ideal. But all's well that ended well at the World Center of Racing.
Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson, with teammate Chase Elliott on his bumper, made a charge toward the front in the closing laps and though he couldn't quite get there, finishing sixth, repeat winner Ryan Blaney punched Bowman's ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs anyway. A new winner would have left Bowman on the outside looking in.
"That was stressful, for sure," Bowman said. "I think the (almost) the whole top 10 there at the end would've knocked us out.
"I'm glad to make it in. This team certainly deserves it."
Elliott came home 10th to finish off a strong regular season in which he finished fourth in the regular season standings. A pair of Hendrick Motorsports teammates - Larson and regular season champ William Byron - enter the postseason atop the standings 26 points to the good. Elliott has a seven-point cushion while Bowman will begin his playoff pursuit five markers below the cutline.
Bowman's hopes of controlling his own destiny were dashed early through no fault of his own. With eight laps remaining in the first stage, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Busch sandwiched Joey Logano's No. 22 car, sending the two careening into each other and setting off a massive crash in their wake. Riding in the middle lane, Bowman had nowhere to go as Busch's car slid back up the track, collecting several cars. Unfortunately, Bowman and the No. 48 were unable to continue, finishing 35th.
When the race went back green, Kyle Larson lined up in third for a two-lap shootout to the end of the opening segment. Coming down the backstretch with one to go, Blaney dove to cover the bottom lane, leaving the top open for Larson who powered past on the outside, scoring a stage win and a bonus playoff point. It also marked the 17th stage win of the year for Hendrick Motorsports.
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The early intensity continued well into stage two. A few opening laps of single-file riding devolved back into three-wide racing until a caution with 13 laps remaining sent teams in different directions. All three remaining Hendrick Motorsports cars chose to stay out. Byron took advantage, coming home fourth and scoring seven stage points.
While Byron had already locked up a regular season Cup Series championship on the driver's side last week at Richmond Raceway, the No. 24 team cinched up the regular season owners points title during the early going on Saturday.
The first race of the playoffs will be held at Darlington Raceway next Sunday. The race is set for a 6 p.m. start and will air on USA Network.
Here's a look at the final results from Daytona:
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Who won the NASCAR race today?
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99
- Justin Haley, No. 7
- Cole Custer, No. 41
- Erik Jones, No. 5
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
- Chris Buescher, No. 17
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54
- Josh Berry, No. 21
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
- Todd Gilliland, No. 34
- Michael McDowell, No. 71
- Christopher Bell, No. 20
- Ryan Preece, No. 60
- Ross Chastain, No. 1
- Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6
- William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet
- Cody Ware, No. 51
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45
- Ty Dillon, No. 10
- Chase Briscoe, No. 19
- Austin Dillon, No. 3
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11
- AJ Allmendinger, No. 16
- Joey Logano, No. 22
- Joey Gase, No. 44
- Casey Mears, No. 66
- Austin Hill, No. 33
- Zane Smith, No. 38
- BJ McLeod, No. 78
- Kyle Busch, No. 8
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23
- Noah Gragson, No. 4
- Austin Cindric, No. 2
- Riley Herbst, No. 35
Who made the NASCAR playoffs?
| Driver | Points | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| t-1. Kyle Larson | 2,032 | +26 |
| t-1. William Byron | 2,032 | +26 |
| 3. Denny Hamlin | 2,029 | +23 |
| 4. Ryan Blaney | 2,026 | +20 |
| 5. Christopher Bell | 2,023 | +17 |
| 6. Shane van Gisbergen | 2,022 | +16 |
| 7. Chase Elliott | 2,013 | +7 |
| 8. Chase Briscoe | 2,010 | +4 |
| t-9. Bubba Wallace | 2,008 | +2 |
| t-9. Austin Cindric | 2,008 | +2 |
| t-11. Joey Logano | 2,007 | +1 |
| t-11. Ross Chastain | 2,007 | +1 |
| ------------- | ---- | |
| t-13. Josh Berry | 2,006 | -1 |
| t-13. Tyler Reddick | 2,006 | -1 |
| 15. Austin Dillon | 2,005 | -2 |
| 16. Alex Bowman | 2,002 | -5 |