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After all the adversity and a long stretch of futility, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. can now call himself a Daytona 500 champion.
Stenhouse, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet, edged reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano Sunday at Daytona International Speedway in double overtime to etch himself among the legends of racing with a victory in NASCAR’s most famous race.
Stenhouse, who had been winless in the series since capturing the summer race at Daytona in 2017, notched his third career Cup victory 199 races after first celebrating at Daytona.
«I made a few mistakes but I was able to battle back,» Stenhouse said. «The whole team worked really hard this offseason.
«I hope you all had fun. That was a heck of a race.»
The 65th annual Daytona 500 ended under caution when a multi-car crash broke out after the white flag flew. Stenhouse, who was the leader at the start of the second overtime, put just enough distance between himself and Logano, in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, to be declared the winner by NASCAR as the yellow flag flew.
Christopher Bell finished third, Chris Buescher fourth and pole-sitter Alex Bowman fifth.
“Second is the worst, man. You’re so close,» Logano, who won the 2015 race said. «Congratulations to Ricky. There’s nothing like winning the Daytona 500. That’s why it stings so much finishing second
Stenhouse, 35, also gave single-car team JTG Daugherty Racing its biggest moment in racing. Tad Geschickter and his wife Jodi — the JTG in the name — joined with former NBA All-Star center Brad Daugherty to form the team in 2009, and prior to Sunday, the team had tasted victory just once — at Watkins Glen in 2014 with driver AJ Allmendinger.
Allmendinger, now driving for Kaulig Racing, was caught up in the final crash along with three former Cup Series champions: Kyle Larson (2021), Brad Keselowski (2012), Kyle Busch (2015, 2019). Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Travis Pastrana were also invovled in the incident that helped seal the deal for Stenhouse at Daytona.
In the first overtime, Austin Dillon, the 2018 Daytona 500 winner, spun out in his No. 3 Chevrolet when the front of the inside line got stacked up behind him. Dillon got bumped by William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, setting off a chain reaction, which collected 13 cars, including three other Daytona 500 winners — Hamlin (a three-time winner), Jimmie Johnson, who won it twice, and last year’s winner Austin Cindric — though Hamlin had minimal damage.
