How Ryan Blaney charged from 13th to 1st in Daytona thriller

Moving through the field at Daytona in the current era of NASCAR is a difficult task. More often than not, the pack becomes gridlocked with two clearly defined lanes, and no one else has much of a chance to build a run. So, how then did Ryan Blaney come from 13th to win in just two laps?

He also wasn’t alone in this impressive charge to the front. Just look at Daniel Suarez, who finished a very close second, and came all the way back from 19th in just the final five miles (two laps) of the regular season finale.

HMS disrupts the draft

The field races to two laps to go

Photo by: Jonathan Bachman – Getty Images

The key to it all was Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott were lined up behind Ryan Preece in the outside lane, but they could not afford to stay there. If either Preece or Justin Haley (who led the insane lane) won, it would eliminate their teammate Alex Bowman from the playoffs.

So, as the field approached the tri-oval, they went to the outside of Preece and shuffled him back through the middle of the pack. This moment created a perfect opportunity for a third lane to suddenly form and surge forward. However, you still needed drivers bold enough to go out there.

As the new third lane dispatched Preece, Larson came back down the track to reform the second lane. Most of the cars behind him followed suit, but Cole Custer did not. He stayed out there, and he had a ton of momentum with Blaney tucked closely behind him.

Clearing the way for the No. 12

NASCAR Cup photo finish with Ryan Blaney winning

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

With Custer leading the way, they blew past William Byron (middle) and Ross Chastain (bottom), Christopher Bell (middle) and Michael McDowell (bottom), Elliott (middle) and Chris Buescher (bottom), and finally Larson (middle) and Haley (bottom). This did this in about 40 seconds, passing four double-wide rows on the far outside with not a single car moving up to kill their run.

In a sudden turn of events, Custer was leading at the white flag, and Blaney was directly behind him. The inside lane was still controlled by Haley, who surged back ahead through Turns 1 and 2. But he got too far out, and desperately tried to block Custer as the Haas Factory Team driver came back at him with a new run down the backstretch.

They both darted over to the other side of the track as Haley tried and failed to block Custer. As for Blaney, he was still flying and he now had Daniel Suarez giving him an almighty shove. Reaching 197mph at the entrance of Turn 3, he snatched the lead away. He cleared Haley, slicing down in front of him as Custer pulled alongside in the battle for the win.

The two Ford drivers were dead even and neither had a pusher, but at the exit of Turn 4, Blaney swung back up to get a sniff of the draft from Suarez before returning to the middle, maintaining control across the line as a group of desperate drivers split him in a thrilling four-wide finish for the ages.

Suarez crossed the line 0.031s behind Blaney, Haley was 0.036s back, Custer only 0.049s adrift, and Erik Jones in fifth was still within a tenth of the race win at 0.091s.

And if the written word doesn’t do it justice, then simply take a look at the video for yourself: