Blaney does it again at Daytona, Reddick claims the final Playoff spot

The regular-season finale has arrived for the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero 400. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson come in fighting for the regular-season championship while one last playoff spot was up for grabs as well as the possibility of a wildcard winner.

Earlier in the day, the Xfinity Series finished up a race that started the night before but had to move to Saturday afternoon due to weather. The race ended in a fantastic three-wide photo finish that gave Justin Haley his first win of the season over his teammates AJ Allmendinger and Jeb Burton. Haley also participated in the Cup race later that evening.

William Byron and Denny Hamlin will lead the field to the green flag after Kyle Larson was sent to the rear from the start. Hamlin and Byron were the big front runners as Ross Chastain had to pit on lap 19 due to a flat tire after brushing the wall. Austin Dillon, the 2018 Daytona 500 winner, took the lead on lap 20. Coming back around, Chase Elliott takes the lead and the competition caution waves. Under caution, pit stops were mainly fuel only for most competitors. Chase Elliott, after having to drop to fourth to get the garbage off of the front of his car, would go on to win stage one.

Some leaders didn’t pit, so this will cause them to have to hold back to save fuel during the stage. Cody Ware took fuel only and was the first off pit road, restarting ninth. Martin Truex Jr took the lead on lap 57 with Corey Lajoie in second. A caution came out on lap 78 involving Aric Almirola and Alex Bowman, from a check-up from the inside line. Coming to a close in Stage Two, Joey Logano was leading the way with Tyler Reddick running in second. He and his teammate, Austin Dillon, were running in the top 10. Austin Dillon made a huge charge, finishing second in stage two, but it was Joey Logano taking Stage Two in the Coke Zero Sugar 400. William Byron took two tires and was first off pit road.

Denny Hamlin jumped to the lead on the restart with 55 to go as things begin to get more intense. More passes began to be made as Kevin Harvick took the lead with 51 to go and Hamlin in second. Under 40 to go, the Fords went down pit road for green-flag pit stops as Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace battled for the lead. With 15 laps to go, the #53 of Garrett Smithley went spinning, also involving teammates Joey Gase and Cody Ware. A lot of drivers went fuel only on the restart while Chase Elliott took four tires. Austin Dillon was too fast entering pit road and also had an electrical issue, debating on pitting or not. Logano and Blaney led the field to the restart with 15 to go. A big wreck happens a lap later when Martin Truex Jr turns into William Byron, collecting Landon Cassill, Anthony Alfredo, Daniel Suarez and huge implications for Tyler Reddick as he had big damage from the wreck. This also would bring out the red flag.

This results in a 10 lap shootout at the restart as Logano settled into the lead with his teammate in second, Ryan Blaney. As Matt DiBenedetto battled for the lead, Elliott threw a huge block that turns the #9 and causes a massive pileup. This sends the race into Overtime with Chris Buescher leading at the restart. On the final lap, Ryan Blaney was leading as a wreck occurred in a similar situation as the Daytona 500 when Suarez and Harvick got together in turn three, causing a massive pileup. The race ends under caution and Ryan Blaney gets his third win of 2021, including back-to-back wins. Tyler Reddick ends up getting the final spot in the playoffs over his teammate, Austin Dillon.