Shane van Gisbergen led six laps at Daytona.
Ryan Blaney took victory in the 160-lap Coke Zero Sugar 400, coming from 13th on the penultimate lap to take the chequered flag first.
Victory for the #12 Team Penske Ford Mustang meant Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, booked the final spot in the Playoffs.
The finish was a frenetic one with Blaney pipping Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, Spire Motorsports’ Justin Haley, and Haas Factory Team driver Cole Custer – three drivers who needed to win their way into the Playoffs.
“What a wild last couple of laps,” said Blaney.
“I was with Cole (Custer) and kind of asked him on the restart, if you go to the top I’m going with you.
“We just waited and waited and then the opportunity came and he made a good move to get to the top and we were really able to get good shoves from a couple of guys behind us.
“It just cleared the way for me when the #7 (Haley) and #41 (Custer) got racing and I was able to clear on top and was just able to hold out for the win.”
RYAN BLANEY WINS AT DAYTONA AFTER A WILD FINAL LAP! 😱 pic.twitter.com/4vs4N17mxM
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 24, 2025
The highlight of van Gisbergen’s race was a spell at the front of the field. In total, the #88 Camaro led six laps during Stage 2 before being shuffled out of line.
“I was going good,” said van Gisbergen over the radio during the stage break.
“I just made a bad decision off [turn] four.”
During the final stage, he and the team elected to run towards the back of the field.
In a bid to avoid any late chaos, van Gisbergen spent the closing stanza at the tail of the lead lap and dropped nearly 20 seconds to the pack.
Joey Logano spins late after leading for 23 laps!
📺 NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/AT6BF7xYgJ
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 24, 2025
Joey Logano in the #22 Team Penske Mustang spun out of the final turn with 13 laps to go to bring out the final caution of the race.
With Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez in a must-win position to get a Playoffs berth, van Gisbergen lined up behind the #99 Camaro to give him a much-needed push.
Ultimately, van Gisbergen wasn’t able to offer much help, but Suarez found his way to the front anyway to come up just shy of victory.
“It was a decent day,” van Gisbergen told MRN post-race.
“Kept the car straight, led some laps, and learnt a lot again.
“I felt good about it. Just a little bit too tight and bound up to push Daniel really well.
“I could help him a little bit, but not enough to get all the way through. He almost got there, but I wish I could have been a better teammate. I was trying.
“Ready for next week. We’ve got a cool couple of weeks coming up and hopefully get some good results.”
The NASCAR Cup Series begins the Playoffs with the Round of 16 at Darlington Raceway on September 1 (AEST).
Results: NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400, Daytona International Speedway
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Laps/Diff
Gap
1
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
160 laps
2
99
Daniel Suarez
Trackhouse Racing
0.031
0.031
3
7
Justin Haley
Spire Motorsports
0.036
0.005
4
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
0.049
0.013
5
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
0.091
0.042
6
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
0.105
0.014
7
17
Chris Buescher
RFK Racing
0.106
0.001
8
54
Ty Gibbs
Joe Gibbs Racing
0.16
0.054
9
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
0.178
0.018
10
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
0.201
0.023
11
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
0.238
0.037
12
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
0.256
0.018
13
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
0.286
0.030
14
60
Ryan Preece
RFK Racing
0.305
0.019
15
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
0.333
0.028
16
88
Shane Van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
0.366
0.033
17
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
0.420
0.054
18
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
0.448
0.028
19
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
0.450
0.002
20
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
0.524
0.074
21
45
Tyler Reddick
23XI Racing
0.551
0.027
22
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
0.636
0.085
23
19
Chase Briscoe
Joe Gibbs Racing
0.894
0.258
24
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
2.114
1.220
25
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
22.990
20.876
26
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
1 lap
27
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
1 lap
28
44
Joey Gase
NY Racing Team
3 laps
2 laps
29
66
Casey Mears
Garage 66
4 laps
1 lap
30
33
Austin Hill
Richard Childress Racing
5 laps
1 lap
31
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
6 laps
1 lap
32
78
BJ McLeod
Live Fast Motorsports
23 laps
17 laps
33
8
Kyle Busch
Richard Childress Racing
65 laps
42 laps
34
77
Carson Hocevar
Spire Motorsports
79 laps
14 laps
35
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
132 laps
53 laps
36
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
133 laps
1 lap
37
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
133 laps
38
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
133 laps
39
2
Austin Cindric
Team Penske
133 laps
40
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
133 laps