The NASCAR Cup Series regular season wrapped up at Daytona International Speedway with all the usual drama, chaos, and close racing that fans have come to expect.
With the final two playoff spots on the line, weather once again played a part, cancelling qualifying and forcing NASCAR to use its performance metric to set the grid for the 400-mile, 160-lap race under the Florida lights.
That meant Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman shared the front row, with Shane van Gisbergen rolling off 16th in his Trackhouse Chevrolet. Teammates Daniel Suárez and Ross Chastain started 11th and 18th, respectively.
William Byron was penalised for an unapproved adjustment and was forced to start from the rear and serve a stop-and-go penalty once the race went green.
Early Shuffling and Trouble in the Pack
Blaney jumped out to lead the opening laps, while Bowman quickly faded from the front. Van Gisbergen dropped to the tail end of the field early after getting pinned on the inside lane, but worked his way back up through the middle line. Austin Hill was an early mover, charging from 34th up to 13th within the first 20 laps.
The first caution came when Casey Mears blew a tyre and spun, and moments later, Tyler Reddick and Todd Gilliland tangled in Turn 4.
Things escalated further when a multi-car crash off Turn 4 involving Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and several others, including Hamlin, Bowman, and Austin Cindric. The incident left Bowman out of the race and brought out the red flag.
Van Gisbergen kept his nose clean and briefly moved into the top 15 by staying out during pit stops, though he slipped back to 20th by the end of Stage 1. Kyle Larson picked up the stage win ahead of Chastain and Blaney.
Stage 2 saw van Gisbergen begin to work his way forward from 31st. Picking smart lanes and avoiding the worst of the mid-pack chaos, the Kiwi climbed into the top five before hitting the lead for the first time on Lap 68.
For multiple laps, SVG held steady out front, swapping places with teammate Chastain and showing composure in the draft. Eventually, worn tyres caught up with him, and he faded back through the order, reporting that he “had nothing left” to fight with.
He pitted under caution for fresh tyres and rejoined in 23rd, before recovering to finish the stage in 20th as Chastain claimed the Stage 2 win.
With the playoff cut looming, the closing 60 laps were always going to be frantic. Van Gisbergen restarted the final stage in 10th, but found himself shuffled back into the pack as pit strategies cycled through.
He survived another string of cautions, including Logano spinning out of the lead and narrowly managed to avoid BJ McLeod when he scraped the wall in the closing laps but had to lift to avoid making contact. Unfortunately, this meant SVG lost momentum and draft and fell way off the pack.
The final restart with eight laps to go produced the kind of three-wide, high-speed chess that Daytona is famous for. Ryan Preece, Justin Haley, Christopher Bell and others all took turns out front before it came down to the last-lap sprint.
Cole Custer briefly seized the advantage, but Haley and Blaney pounced, with Blaney pulling clear off Turn 4 to snatch the win.
Suárez crossed the line in second and was left visibly deflated, finishing just short of a spot in the playoffs. Haley, Custer and Jones rounded out the top five. Buescher and Custer spun across the line in the final scramble.
Van Gisbergen brought his Trackhouse Camaro home in 16th, capping another clean and competitive run. Notably, he not only led laps but showed the ability to carve through the draft, moving from as far back as 31st to the front of the field.
It continues a clear trend for the Kiwi – each oval start showing improvement, no matter the track type. His patience, ability to adapt to pack racing, and avoidance of trouble made for another promising outing as he builds experience in the Cup Series.
To top it off, with Riley Herbst missing the cut, Van Gisbergen advances as the only rookie in the playoffs, securing the 2025 Cup Series Rookie of the Year title, although this is yet to be officially announced by NASCAR.
The NASCAR Playoffs now begin, with Darlington Raceway hosting the opening 500-mile race. The Cook Out Southern 500 gets underway Monday, 10:30 am NZT (September 1), where the championship fight truly begins.
Header Image: NASCAR
