Sunday's Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup Series race ended in a massive crash involving over 20 vehicles, including six former NASCAR champions. And miraculously, the two drivers who inadvertently triggered the pile-up ended up coming in first and second place.
The wreck occurred with eight laps to go at the Daytona International Speedway, when Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman bumped into his teammate, underdog William Byron. As a result, Byron's No. 24 car drifted into RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski, which set off a chaotic chain of events that led to a total of 23 cars—more than half of the 40 vehicles in the race—being involved in the crash.
Somehow, both Byron and Bowman were able to escape the melee, coming in first and second place, respectively. However, defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney was among those caught up in the crash, along with fellow former champions Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Martin Truex Jr.
William Byron wins the Daytona 500! #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/bmofJSB6k3
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 20, 2024
After the race, Bowman told reporters that he was surprised to learn that he had been the one to trigger the crash.
"I can’t even see far enough to see that Byron hitting Keselowski is what started it,” Bowman said, according to the Associated Press. "I knew I had William in a spot that I didn’t want to have him in. But we’re all just sort of sandwiched up there."
"I was lifting to try to get off him once he was aimed the wrong place," he explained. "But we’re all just shoving each other. That’s what speedway racing has kind of become. If it my fault, I didn’t mean to crash anybody by any means."
"Some of those situations where you get to be that ping-pong guy between two cars, you’re a little bit along for the ride,” Bowman continued.
Yet, Bowman narrowly missed his window to overtake Byron for first place. He had a chance to pass the 26-year-old on the final lap before NASCAR issued a final caution due to another wreck and froze the field. Byron was then declared winner by just a few feet.
“I’d rather be second than crash,” he added. “I would have liked to just race for it… It’s awesome to see us get a 1–2 finish, but being this close to winning the Daytona 500, it certainly hurts. But 30th probably hurts worse.”
