Austin Dillon has won a crash-strewn Daytona 500 having turned around then-leader Aric Almirola on the final lap.
Dillon took the lead for the first time at Turn 3 on the last of 207 laps in an overtime finish, while Almirola (#10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) was ultimately classified 11th.
Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) held first position for the final restart but Almirola took over the lead before the end of the lap, before being unloaded by Dillon.
The win came 20 years after Dale Earnhardt’s only Daytona 500 triumph, also in the #3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entry.
The two-lap dash to the finish was set up by a ‘big one’ on Lap 200, the scheduled final lap, when Kurt Busch (#41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) spun near the head of the pack having become unsettled with Ryan Blaney close behind.
Blaney snuck through in the #12 Team Penske Ford but several others weren’t so lucky, including Ricky Stenhouse Jnr (#17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford), pole-sitter Alex Bowman (#88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet), and 2017 Cup champion Martin Truex Jnr (#78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota).
Blaney and Hamlin had earlier exchanged the lead through the longest run of green flag racing, 64 laps from the start of Stage 3 to Lap 190, before a spin for William Byron (#24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) on Lap 191.
Kurt Busch joined them in the battle for the lead before his race-ending crash, his third spell at the head of the field.
The longest of those was the 11-lap run which helped him to win Stage 1.
That too ended in carnage when Stenhouse Jnr got loose trying to defend second position, and while he somehow managed to gather up his moment, Erik Jones lost control of his #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Jones’ spin took out four other cars, most notably the hapless Jimmie Johnson (#48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet), who leaves Daytona having crashed out of each of his three races (Clash, Duel, 500).
Darrell Wallace Jnr (#43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet) finished runner-up, ahead of Hamlin, Joey Logano (#22 Team Penske Ford), Chris Buescher (#37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet), and Paul Menard (#21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford).
Blaney took seventh, having lost ground when he was held up as Busch spun out, but did pick up solid bonus points for winning Stage 1.
Among other non-finishers were Clash winner Brad Keselowski (#2 Team Penske Ford), Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet), and the retiring Danica Patrick (#7 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet), who all went out together when Keselowski turned Elliott around on Lap 102.
Round 2 is the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend (February 23-25 local time).
Stenhouse Jnr’s save and the wreck behind
Final corners
.@austindillon3 wins the 60th #DAYTONA500 in a thriller! pic.twitter.com/cMXO0glmIl
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 18, 2018
Results: Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Make | Laps | Led | Status |
| 1 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 207 | 1 | Running |
| 2 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jnr | Chevrolet | 207 | 0 | Running |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 207 | 22 | Running |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 207 | 3 | Running |
| 5 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 207 | 0 | Running |
| 6 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 207 | 1 | Running |
| 7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 207 | 118 | Running |
| 8 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 207 | 0 | Running |
| 9 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 207 | 0 | Running |
| 10 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 207 | 1 | Running |
| 11 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 206 | 1 | Running |
| 12 | 51 | Justin Marks | Chevrolet | 206 | 1 | Running |
| 13 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 206 | 0 | Running |
| 14 | 92 | David Gilliland | Ford | 206 | 0 | Running |
| 15 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 206 | 0 | Running |
| 16 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 205 | 0 | Running |
| 17 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 205 | 13 | Running |
| 18 | 78 | Martin Truex Jnr | Toyota | 205 | 4 | Running |
| 19 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 204 | 0 | Running |
| 20 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 204 | 0 | Running |
| 21 | 00 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 204 | 0 | Running |
| 22 | 66 | Mark Thompson | Ford | 203 | 0 | Running |
| 23 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 203 | 0 | Running |
| 24 | 96 | DJ Kennington | Toyota | 201 | 0 | Running |
| 25 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 200 | 0 | Running |
| 26 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 198 | 16 | Crash |
| 27 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 198 | 0 | Crash |
| 28 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 198 | 0 | Crash |
| 29 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | Ford | 197 | 11 | Crash |
| 30 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 107 | 0 | Crash |
| 31 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 105 | 0 | Crash |
| 32 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 102 | 0 | Crash |
| 33 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 101 | 4 | Crash |
| 34 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 101 | 0 | Crash |
| 35 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 101 | 0 | Crash |
| 36 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 59 | 11 | Crash |
| 37 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 59 | 0 | Crash |
| 38 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 59 | 0 | Crash |
| 39 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 59 | 0 | Crash |
| 40 | 72 | Corey LaJoie | Chevrolet | 8 | 0 | Engine |
Standings
| Pos | Driver | Pts | Gap | Starts | Wins | Pl’off pts |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | 48 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2 | Austin Dillon | 42 | -6 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Paul Menard | 42 | -6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Joey Logano | 41 | -7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Darrell Wallace Jnr | 39 | -9 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Michael McDowell | 39 | -9 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Denny Hamlin | 35 | -13 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Aric Almirola | 33 | -15 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Chris Buescher | 32 | -16 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Martin Truex Jnr | 30 | -18 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Ryan Newman | 29 | -19 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Alex Bowman | 29 | -19 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Trevor Bayne | 28 | -20 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | AJ Allmendinger | 27 | -21 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | 22 | -26 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Jamie McMurray | 21 | -27 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Kurt Busch | 21 | -27 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Kyle Larson | 18 | -30 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Gray Gaulding | 17 | -31 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 16 | -32 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Mark Thompson | 15 | -33 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | 15 | -33 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | William Byron | 14 | -34 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DJ Kennington | 13 | -35 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Kyle Busch | 12 | -36 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Matt DiBenedetto | 10 | -38 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Kevin Harvick | 10 | -38 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Brendan Gaughan | 9 | -39 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | David Ragan | 7 | -41 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Chase Elliott | 7 | -41 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Brad Keselowski | 5 | -43 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Kasey Kahne | 3 | -45 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Danica Patrick | 2 | -46 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Erik Jones | 1 | -47 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Daniel Suarez | 1 | -47 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 | -47 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Ty Dillon | 1 | -47 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Corey LaJoie | 1 | -47 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Justin Marks | 0 | -48 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | David Gilliland | 0 | -48 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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