Photo: James Gilbert
While all eyes are on Cape Canaveral for Monday's Artemis I rocket launch, NASCAR's season finale drew a big crowd just up the road from the launch pad in Daytona.
NASA may have to deal with similar weather conditions as the racers did for Sunday's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.A more than three-hour rain delay was scripted into the drama to see who would get the last two playoff births. Austin Dillon prevailed in securing a spot on winning his first race of the year and eliminating Martin Truex Jr.
Following a huge accident between 13 cars in Turn 1 on lap 125 and a 3 hours and 20 minutes rain delay, the race was resumed with Dillon leading. However, the restart saw 2022 Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric get by Dillon. Cindric remained in the lead until Dillon played bumper car by tapping the No. 2 Team Penske Ford from behind, putting Cindric onto the apron and forcing him to make a dramatic save to avoid damage.
Surprisingly, Cindric was not upset with Dillion's move as he knew what a stake for the Richard Childress Racing team was. Teammate Tyler Reddick rode Dillon's tail for the final two laps but was happy to let his teammate win the meaningful race. Landon Cassill finished in third, just .014 seconds behind the winner.
The Turn 1 pileup was certainly caused by a sudden downpour as cars were unable to slow in time on the wet track before driving into one another. Ryan Blaney moved up into the playoff despite slamming his No. 12 Team Penske Ford into the back of Denny Hamlin's Toyota on Lap 31. He finished three points ahead of Truex Jr., who finished the race in 8th Place.
The event had some drama early on when NASCAR penalized six Cup Series teams for multiple pre-race inspection issues on Friday, resulting in each team having to ban one crew member from the race. Stewart Haas Racing lost two crew members for violations on two cars, while Richard Childress Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Petty GMS Motorsports, and Live Fast Motorsports penalized one crew member.
Following a huge accident between 13 cars in Turn 1 on lap 125 and a 3 hours and 20 minutes rain delay, the race was resumed with Dillon leading. However, the restart saw 2022 Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric get by Dillon. Cindric remained in the lead until Dillon played bumper car by tapping the No. 2 Team Penske Ford from behind, putting Cindric onto the apron and forcing him to make a dramatic save to avoid damage.
Surprisingly, Cindric was not upset with Dillion's move as he knew what a stake for the Richard Childress Racing team was. Teammate Tyler Reddick rode Dillon's tail for the final two laps but was happy to let his teammate win the meaningful race. Landon Cassill finished in third, just .014 seconds behind the winner.
The Turn 1 pileup was certainly caused by a sudden downpour as cars were unable to slow in time on the wet track before driving into one another. Ryan Blaney moved up into the playoff despite slamming his No. 12 Team Penske Ford into the back of Denny Hamlin's Toyota on Lap 31. He finished three points ahead of Truex Jr., who finished the race in 8th Place.
The event had some drama early on when NASCAR penalized six Cup Series teams for multiple pre-race inspection issues on Friday, resulting in each team having to ban one crew member from the race. Stewart Haas Racing lost two crew members for violations on two cars, while Richard Childress Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Petty GMS Motorsports, and Live Fast Motorsports penalized one crew member.
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