Ricky Stenhouse. Jr has outlasted the rest to win a wild Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.
It is only his second race win of his career, coming off the back of another restrictor plate race at Talladega in early May.
In a race that featured numerous big wrecks that eliminated the hopes of some of NASCAR’s most popular drivers, and those who are in the thick of the championship chase, it came down to a late green-white-chequered finish that had some of NASCAR’s least likely names at the front.
The final re-start had David Ragan heading the field to green, but Stenhouse Jr. made his move on the back stretch and he beat Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard to the chequered flag. Ragan finished in sixth behind Michael McDowell and Ryan Newman.
“We won the Firecracker 400, that’s awesome,” said Stenhouse.
“This validates what we did at Talladega.
“We have been working hard at Roush Fenway and this pushes us further along. Ford has been dominant.
“My dad has taught me for a long time that you just have to keep working hard. Sometimes when things aren’t going right you just have to keep working hard. You can’t give up.”
The driver with the most expectation to do well was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who started off the pole. He cut a tyre early and lost two laps. However, with numerous cautions and wave-arounds, he was back on the lead lap to only be eliminated in a wreck triggered by a puncture to Kevin Harvick.
The same multicar crash also took out Martin Truex Jr.
A similar incident occurred early with Kyle Busch who after side-by-side contact with Michael McDowell then had a tyre let go. Thi crashended the hopes of Joey Logano as well.
The biggest incident occurred when points leader Kyle Larson cut-up in front of Stenhouse and was sent into the air. As Larson’s car went into the air Stenhouse travelled underneath it, before the roof flaps brought it back down.
The crash also took out strong contenders in Ryan Blaney, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch in the process.
The racing throughout was intense with Brad Keselowski winning the bonus Stage 1, while Kenseth took the points in Stage 2.
VIDEO: Race Recap
VIDEO: Stenhouse Jr. speaks after winning
| Cla | # | Driver | Maketurer | Laps | Laps Led |
| 1 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 163 | 17 |
| 2 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 163 | 4 |
| 3 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 163 | |
| 4 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 163 | |
| 5 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 163 | |
| 6 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 163 | 4 |
| 7 | 75 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 163 | |
| 8 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 163 | |
| 9 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 163 | 9 |
| 10 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 163 | |
| 11 | 23 | Corey Lajoie | Toyota | 163 | |
| 12 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 163 | 4 |
| 13 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 163 | |
| 14 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 163 | |
| 15 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Ford | 163 | |
| 16 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 163 | 7 |
| 17 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 163 | 11 |
| 18 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 163 | 12 |
| 19 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 163 | |
| 20 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 163 | |
| 21 | 7 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | 163 | |
| 22 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 162 | 4 |
| 23 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 160 | 2 |
| 24 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 157 | 16 |
| 25 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 154 | |
| 26 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 154 | 9 |
| 27 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 154 | 21 |
| 28 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 153 | |
| 29 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 153 | |
| 30 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | 147 | |
| 31 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 113 | 35 |
| 32 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 106 | 2 |
| 33 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 105 | 7 |
| 34 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 73 | |
| 35 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 71 | |
| 36 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 70 | |
| 37 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 57 | |
| 38 | 15 | DJ Kennington | Chevrolet | 14 | |
| 39 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 9 | |
| 40 | 83 | Ryan Sieg | Toyota | 7 |
STANDINGS
| Pos | Driver | Pts | Behind |
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 667 | Leader |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 649 | -18 |
| 3 | Kyle Busch | 559 | -108 |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | 557 | -110 |
| 5 | Brad Keselowski | 535 | -132 |
| 6 | Chase Elliott | 524 | -143 |
| 7 | Jimmie Johnson | 516 | -151 |
| 8 | Jamie Mcmurray | 504 | -163 |
| 9 | Denny Hamlin | 498 | -169 |
| 10 | Clint Bowyer | 469 | -198 |
| 11 | Matt Kenseth | 445 | -222 |
| 12 | Joey Logano | 442 | -225 |
| 13 | Ryan Blaney | 435 | -232 |
| 14 | Kurt Busch | 408 | -259 |
| 15 | Ryan Newman | 399 | -268 |
| 16 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 395 | -272 |
| 17 | Erik Jones | 386 | -281 |
| 18 | Daniel Suarez | 354 | -313 |
| 19 | Trevor Bayne | 351 | -316 |
| 20 | Kasey Kahne | 328 | -339 |
| 21 | Austin Dillon | 323 | -344 |
| 22 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 307 | -360 |
| 23 | Ty Dillon | 297 | -370 |
| 24 | Paul Menard | 293 | -374 |
| 25 | Michael Mcdowell | 261 | -406 |
| 26 | Chris Buescher | 250 | -417 |
| 27 | AJ Allmendinger | 242 | -425 |
| 28 | David Ragan | 229 | -438 |
| 29 | Danica Patrick | 208 | -459 |
| 30 | Aric Almirola | 188 | -479 |
| 31 | Matt Dibenedetto | 184 | -483 |
| 32 | Cole Whitt | 184 | -483 |
| 33 | Landon Cassill | 178 | -489 |
| 34 | Corey Lajoie | 124 | -543 |
| 35 | Gray Gaulding | 82 | -585 |
| 36 | Reed Sorenson | 79 | -588 |
| 37 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 66 | -601 |
| 38 | Michael Waltrip | 29 | -638 |
| 39 | Derrike Cope | 26 | -641 |
| 40 | Billy Johnson | 15 | -652 |
| 41 | Boris Said | 8 | -659 |
| 42 | Alon Day | 5 | -662 |
| 43 | Kevin O’Connell | 4 | -663 |
| 44 | Cody Ware | 4 | -663 |
| 45 | Tommy Regan | 3 | -664 |
| 46 | D.J. Kennington | 2 | -665 |
| 47 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 | -667 |
| 48 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | 0 | -667 |
| 49 | Elliott Sadler | 0 | -667 |
| 50 | Ross Chastain | 0 | -667 |
| 51 | Joey Gase | 0 | -667 |
| 52 | Regan Smith | 0 | -667 |
| 53 | JJ Yeley | 0 | -667 |
| 54 | Ryan Sieg | 0 | -667 |
| 55 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -667 |
| 56 | Carl Long | 0 | -667 |
| 57 | Josh Bilicki | 0 | -667 |
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