It's hard to explain what happened on the final lap of the Daytona 500, but it was pure mayhem.

Carson Hocevar was leading at the white flag, but he got turned from the lead. The race stayed green, and Chase Elliott surged ahead with a push from Zane Smith.

But then came Tyler Reddick with a helpful push from teammate Riley Herbst, passing Elliott at the exit of Turn 4. The field fanned out four-wide with Riley Herbst colliding with Brad Keselowski, triggering a massive crash.

Reddick won the race, Stenhouse finished second, and Joey Logano crashed across the line to finish third.

“I never thought I’d be Daytona 500 champion,”said Reddick, immediately after the race in an emotional interview.

TYLER REDDICK WINS THE DAYTONA 500! pic.twitter.com/nOAjUM4Buu

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 15, 2026

Stages 1 and 2

Busch led the race from pole position, and he was aggressive in blocking all lanes as he tried to maintain. Nemechek moved ahead, just as the first caution of the race flew.

Something broke on the No. 78 of BJ McLeod, who snapped around at the back of the field. He collected Allgaier and Mears, but also William Byron whose attempt a historic three-peat just got a lot harder. He complained about the car 'wandering' a bit, even after repairs to the toe.

The entire field came down pit road with the exception of Busch. As the stage rolled on, Busch ended up in the middle of the pack and nearly spun at the exit of Turn 4. He slammed doors with Keselowski, and both of these veteran champions were able to carry on.

And since he did not pit with the rest of the field, Busch was among the first to head down pit road. Most of the field followed, but one group managed to save just enough, stretching the fuel to the very end of the stage.

Zane Smith was among them, winning Stage 1 over Cindric, Blaney, Hocevar, Buescher, Suarez, McDowell, Preece, Bowman, and Gragson. However, Gragson ran out during stage break, but got a helpful push from Berry back to the pits.

In Stage 2, it was much of the same as drivers hit their fuel numbers, but it was not nearly as smooth. Rookie Connor Zilisch made an appearance near the front of the field, but his car was very unstable. 

Moments later, he pushed up and his teammate Chastain got unsettled, leading to contact with Cody Ware and a multi-car crash.

Zilisch suffered damage, as did Briscoe and A. Dillon, who slammed into each other at pit entry and ended Bass Pro Shops' shot at a 500 win.

After that, Chevrolet drivers took turns leading, but it all ended with Allgaier took the lead in the JRM entry on Lap 124. Hamlin tried to get to his outside, and Allgaier came up, unaware he was there,

About 20 cars suffered damage in that crash, putting drivers like SVG, Allgaier, Bowman, Gilliland out of contention.

Stage 2 ended under caution with Wallace leading the way.

Stage 3

The final stage was a massive pack of 30 cars, three-wide, one second apart as they fuel-saved. Wallace and his fellow Toyotas led most of the time, and were among the first to pit with just 19 laps left in the race.

As the pit stop cycle wrapped up, Hamlin, Heim, and Bell collided in a small wreck on the frontstretch. NASCAR reluctantly threw the caution as storms were getting closer to the speedway.

McDowell was leading as he hadn't pitted, but he stayed out in an aggressive call to stretch the fuel. Reddick was second, Hocevar third, Byron fourth, and Keselowski fifth.

The race restarted with just four laps to go, and it was pure chaos. Hocevar took the white flag and finished just 19th as the 2026 Daytona 500 field had multiple wrecks on the final lap, with Reddick taking the win.

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