© Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn
William Byron became only the fifth NASCAR driver to ever win the Daytona 500 in back-to-back years on Sunday night, surviving a pair of chaotic late crashes to come out on top. But despite the feat, Byron is not the topic of discussion following the series’ biggest race.
Instead that honor, if you want to call it, falls to reigning series champion Joey Logano and fellow former Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse after a late coming together that caused half the field to crash, all but ending their chances of winning NASCAR’s biggest race.
The incident occurred with 15 laps remaining in the race when Logano, who was running in fifth place behind Stenhouse, attempted to switch lanes and make a pass. Stenhouse appeared to notice the move late and block it. Logano briefly lifted off the gas the two made contact. But rather than move back up the track, Stenhouse again attempted to throw a block. This time, Logano was unable to lift as he was receiving a push from fellow Ford driver Noah Gragson, and instead he turned Stenhouse, wrecking themselves and several others.
Joey Logano And Ricky Stenhouse Don’t See Eye To Eye On Daytona 500 Crash
After the incident, Logano and Stenhouse, as well as several others, struggled to come to an agreement about who bore fault for the crash.
“It just seemed like the No. 47 had a bit of an indecisive moment,” Logano said. “That’s what gets you in trouble at times is when you’ve got to pick one (lane) … We had a late block. I lifted,” Logano said. “Looked like he was gonna go back up. I went to go back in there, and then he came back down and started lifting again. And then at that point, the checkup was so big, and all the cars behind you and shoving you into it, and at that point, you’re along for the ride.”
Ricky Stenhouse on the Joey Logano contact that triggered the crash pic.twitter.com/Cz7HlC5veS
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) February 17, 2025
Stenhouse was less committal in his answer, but said that he believed Logano was forcing the issue when he didn’t need to.
“I felt like, in my perspective, he was filling a gap, that was pretty small,” he said. “I don’t know that for sure, I haven’t seen the replay. So I’d have to go back and watch it.”
Meanwhile, Logano’s longtime rival Kyle Busch, who also got caught up in the incident, sided with Stenhouse.
“Looked like the fastest car got in a hurry to get to the wreck,” he said of Logano. “We still got 20 laps to go and he’s trying to go through the middle and make a hole that isn’t there and just created chaos.”
Former series champion turned FOX broadcast Kevin Harvick had a different view of things.
“Joey lifts out of the gas, and I think that in-car camera out of Joey’s, the hole is closed right there, opens briefly and Logano is just, he’s there and Stenhouse is not giving an inch. It caught a lot of cars up in this at the end,” Harvick said.
Ultimately, the blame is irrelevant. The result doesn’t change. But with a full season ahead of them, the drivers will have to get on the same page at some point.