The 2020 Daytona 500, the 62nd running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 16–17, 2020. It was contested over 209 laps—extended from 200 laps due to an overtime finish, on the asphalt superspeedway. It was the first race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The race was started by President of the United States Donald Trump, who served as Grand Marshal, and the opening lap was paced by the official Presidential state car. WWE professional wrestler Sheamus drove the pace car for the opening laps, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., two-time winner of the Daytona 500, waved the green flag to officially start the race.
The race was scheduled for February 16, but persistent rain showers caused the race to be suspended on lap 20 and postponed until 4 p.m. the following day, the second time the race has had to be postponed due to rain. The first time was in 2012. This was the final Daytona 500 starts for Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, Brendan Gaughan, Leavine Family Racing, Premium Motorsports, and Germain Racing.
Most of the race was cleanly run until lap 185, when The Big One struck, triggering a massive crash involving at least 20 cars on the backstretch. The race was red-flagged as a result. Denny Hamlin won the race by 0.014 seconds over Ryan Blaney on the second restart in overtime after Blaney accidentally spun Ryan Newman into the outside wall coming to the finish line. Newman was hit by Corey Lajoie around the window net and had to be cut from his car. Chris Buescher, David Ragan, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five. Newman was immediately rushed to a local hospital after the crash. Two hours later, it was announced he was seriously injured in the crash, but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Newman was released from the hospital on Wednesday, February 19, and would return to racing at the 2020 The Real Heroes 400.Ryan Newman transported to hospital after crash at end of Daytona 500, Sporting News, February 18, 2020 In the days that followed, many news outlets credit Newman's miraculous survival of his crash to the safety features implemented by NASCAR following the death of Dale Earnhardt at the end of the 2001 Daytona 500.
Report Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida that is one of six superspeedways, the others being Auto Club Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, and Talladega Superspeedway.
Background
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.
Entry list (W) denotes past 500 winner. (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 1 Kurt Busch (W) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon (W) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick (W) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 6 Ryan Newman (W) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin (W) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 16 Justin Haley (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano (W) Team Penske Ford 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 David Ragan Rick Ware Racing Ford 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49 Chad Finchum (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 51 Joey Gase (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 52 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 54 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Ford 77 Ross Chastain (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 96 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing ToyotaOfficial entry list
Practice First practice (February 8) Ty Dillon was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 44.206 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 44.206 203.592 2 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 44.293 203.192 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 44.404 202.684Official first practice results
Second practice (February 8) Bubba Wallace was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 45.878 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 45.878 196.172 2 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 45.893 196.108 3 38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 45.909 196.040Official second practice results
Qualifying
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 46.253 seconds and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 147 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 46.253 288 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.305 39 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.319 448 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.419 511 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.528 618 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.662 710 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 46.732 824 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.767 995 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 46.818 1020 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.859 1122 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 46.867 124 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 46.869 1314 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 46.906 1441 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 46.921 156 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.950 1621 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 46.952 1737 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 46.969 188 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.983 1917 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.984 2042 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 46.987 2119 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.994 221 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 47.052 232 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 47.054 2434 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.070 2538 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.076 2636 David Ragan Rick Ware Racing Ford 47.151 2712 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 47.205 2877 Ross Chastain (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 47.262 293 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 47.273 3013 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 47.353 3116 Justin Haley (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 47.364 3243 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47.491 3362 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 47.633 3427 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 48.037 3566 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Ford 48.225 3696 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 48.523 3732 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 48.605 3800 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 48.943 3954 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 49.102 4015 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 49.510 4149 Chad Finchum (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 49.515 4251 Joey Gase (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 50.068 4352 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 0.000Official qualifying results
Bluegreen Vacations Duel
The Bluegreen Vacations Duels are a pair of NASCAR Cup Series races held in conjunction with the Daytona 500 annually in February at Daytona International Speedway. They consist of two races 60 laps and 150 miles (240 km) in length, which serve as heat races that set the lineup for the Daytona 500. The first race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in odd-numbered positions on pole qualifying day, while the second race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in even-numbered positions. The Duels set the lineup for positions 3–38, while positions 39 and 40 are filled by the two "Open" (teams without a charter) cars that set the fastest times in qualifying, but did not lock in a spot in the Duels.
For championship purposes, each Duel is a full Championship Stage, except there is no playoff point awarded. The top ten drivers receive championship points.
Duel 1
Duel 1 results Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 6 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 60 102 4 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 93 8 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 60 84 12 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 60 75 17 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 60 66 15 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 60 57 11 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 48 1 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 60 39 5 95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 60 210 10 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 60 111 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 012 13 38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 60 013 2 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 014 14 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 60 015 7 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 016 9 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 60 017 16 16 Justin Haley (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 60 018 18 27 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 59 019 20 00 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 58 020 21 49 Chad Finchum (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 57 021 22 51 Joey Gase (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 57 022 19 96 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 28 0Official race results
Duel 2
Duel 2 results Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 4 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 102 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 93 10 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 60 84 6 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 75 7 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 66 5 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 57 8 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 60 48 11 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 60 39 14 77 Ross Chastain (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 60 010 9 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 60 111 15 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 60 012 12 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 60 013 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 014 13 36 David Ragan Rick Ware Racing Ford 60 015 1 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 016 17 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Ford 60 017 16 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 60 018 20 15 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 59 019 18 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 59 020 21 52 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 58 021 19 54 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 41 0Official race results
Starting lineup