{"id":484163,"date":"2026-02-19T00:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T00:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/484163\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T00:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T00:47:11","slug":"best-daytona-500-radio-moments-from-nascar-cup-opener-radioactive-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/484163\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Daytona 500 Radio Moments From NASCAR Cup Opener: Radioactive Highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Daytona 500<\/a> was full of chaos and drama. From a 20-car wreck<\/a> to a daring move on the final lap<\/a> and a crash at the finish line<\/a>, this iteration of The Great American Race had everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s one thing to see it play out on the screen; it’s another to relive the action with a behind-the-scenes look from the drivers’ and teams’ perspectives with the audio detailing what they’re experiencing in real time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are the best in-car radio moments from the 2026 Daytona 500, won by Tyler Reddick and 23XI Racing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Stage 1<\/p>\n

B.J. McLeod<\/a> lost control and spun out, taking out William Byron<\/a> and other drivers during the first wreck of the race. Here was what Byron said in real time: “Wrecking, wrecking right in our lane. Right in our lane.”<\/p>\n

Justin Allgaier’s<\/a> team told him to: “Back it out. Back it out. Back it out,” as he tried to avoid damage. “Sorry, I should have bailed. I saw the smoke,” Allgaier said.<\/p>\n

Tyler Reddick<\/a> took damage to his right rear and let his spotter, Nick Pryne know. “I don’t know what the heck happened there,” Reddick said. “Something broke.”<\/p>\n

[INSIDE THE GARAGE: Tyler Reddick, 23XI Hope to Build on Historic Daytona 500 Win<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Stage 2<\/p>\n

The wreck in Stage 2 resulted in even more carnage. That was caught on audio, too. Ross Chastain<\/a> bumped Chase Briscoe<\/a> into the infield, and as Briscoe spun, Austin Dillon<\/a> T-boned his car.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I knew it,” Dillion said, lamenting. “I know [expletive] better. I shouldn’t have chose the bottom lane.”<\/p>\n

Bubba Wallace<\/a> ultimately came out of that wreck wide open to lead the race. “Wooooh,” his spotter Freddie Kraft said in exhalation as Wallace avoided the wreck.<\/p>\n

Connor Zilisch<\/a>, who was also involved in that crash, was confused: “Where are we going?” he asked as his No. 88 car was towed to the garage. “I have no idea! I don’t even know where the [expletive] they’re taking us!”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zilisch went four laps down and asked, “Are we done?”<\/p>\n

“No, we’re not done,” Randall Burnett, his crew chief, replied. “They [expletive] us on that deal. There’s only a little small hole in the nose.”<\/p>\n

[NASCAR SECOND THOUGHTS: Examining 6 Debatable Decisions at Daytona<\/a>]<\/p>\n

The Big One <\/p>\n

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n

Later in Stage 2, Justin Allgaier held the lead, and Denny Hamlin<\/a> tried to pass him on the outside. There wasn’t enough room and a domino effect caused a 20-car wreck.<\/p>\n

Riley Herbst<\/a> in the No. 35 car saw the chaos ahead of him: “Holy, hell!” he exclaimed.<\/p>\n

“We hit everything,” Alex Bowman<\/a> said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“My wheel is so far to the right,” Austin Cindric<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

Allgaier got towed off the track in his car, and did not have a smooth ride. “They’re going to shake this thing to death if they tow me like this. I don’t know what’s going on, but this is awful.”<\/p>\n

Stage 3<\/p>\n

Brad Keselowski<\/a> in the No. 6 car wanted to make a move with the Fords grouped together, but Noah Gragson<\/a> wasn’t having it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Tell Brad to [expletive] off,” Gragson told his team “We’re not going to go anywhere. There’s three Toyotas roadblocking us.”<\/p>\n

Final Lap <\/p>\n

(Photo by Jeff Robinson\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) <\/p>\n

Any pent-up excitement was saved for the final lap.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Michael McDowell<\/a> led at the white flag, but went out at a wreck early into that lap. Chase Elliott<\/a> took the lead, but Tyler Reddick had the final say.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“[No.] 45’s got a small run on the bottom,” Elliott’s spotter, Trey Poole, said as Reddick made his move.<\/p>\n

Reddick eventually got ahead of Elliott and won the Daytona 500.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“YESSSSS!!!” Reddick exclaimed.<\/p>\n

“Sorry, guys,” Elliott apologized.<\/p>\n

“Hey, guys? Did we win this? I’m sure we did, I just want to make sure,” Reddick said. “Anyone? Haha.”<\/p>\n

“Yessir, you got them buddy,” his spotter, Nick Payne, said. “I love you, great job.”<\/p>\n

“Oh my god!” Reddick said. “Great job guys!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 Daytona 500 was full of chaos and drama. From a 20-car wreck to a daring move…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[3931,21621,10226,16600,2331,49,48,10662,4387,9398,187630,19546,3932,49432,22870,634,8354,99102,55760,8994,82,9272,4382],"class_list":{"0":"post-484163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-alex-bowman","9":"tag-austin-cindric","10":"tag-austin-dillon","11":"tag-brad-keselowski","12":"tag-bubba-wallace","13":"tag-ca","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-chase-briscoe","16":"tag-chase-elliott","17":"tag-connor-zilisch","18":"tag-cup-daytona-500-02-15-2026","19":"tag-daytona-500","20":"tag-denny-hamlin","21":"tag-justin-allgaier","22":"tag-michael-mcdowell","23":"tag-nascar","24":"tag-nascar-cup-series","25":"tag-noah-gragson","26":"tag-riley-herbst","27":"tag-ross-chastain","28":"tag-sports","29":"tag-tyler-reddick","30":"tag-william-byron"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}