DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A substantial multi-vehicle collision, often referred to as the “Big One,” transpired earlier than customary at the Daytona 500 on Sunday. This 20-car pile-up, occurring just beyond the race’s midpoint, implicated three-time victor Denny Hamlin and numerous other prominent competitors.
Justin Allgaier maintained the lead in a vehicle sponsored by two-time race champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. when Hamlin sought to overtake him on the exterior lane at Daytona International Speedway. Allgaier deployed a belated defensive block, pressing Hamlin against the wall and thereby sparking the substantial collision with seven laps still to run in the second segment of NASCAR’s opening event.
Hamlin, aspiring to be the third driver to secure four Daytona 500 victories, skidded uncontrollably onto the infield grass. Michael McDowell, a past race victor, alongside Alex Bowman, Shane van Gisbergen, Ross Chastain, Erik Jones, and John Hunter Nemechek, were also among the drivers implicated in the incident.
Bubba Wallace, a two-time runner-up in the Daytona 500, skillfully navigated the debris field without harm, subsequently seizing the lead and claiming the stage victory under a caution period. Wallace competes for 23XI Racing, a team co-owned by Hamlin and basketball legend Michael Jordan, a Pro Basketball Hall of Famer.
The commencement of the race was advanced by sixty minutes, an adjustment made with the aim of circumventing late-day rainfall predicted for the vicinity.
Kyle Busch, piloting the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, spearheaded the competitors to the green flag, aspiring to conquer “The Great American Race” for the inaugural time in his twenty-first endeavor. He currently holds the event’s most protracted active streak without a victory.
William Byron is striving to become the inaugural driver in history to triumph in the Daytona 500 for three successive years. Nevertheless, Byron was forced to deploy a reserve vehicle after a qualifying mishap and found himself in the pit lane during the initial circuits on Sunday subsequent to B.J. McLeod’s uncontrolled spin directly ahead of him, which caused Byron to strike the outer barrier.
Byron claimed victory in the previous year’s competition during an extended period after race leader Hamlin was spun on the concluding circuit, triggering a multicar collision. Byron ultimately surpassed eight vehicles on the final lap to revisit the winner’s circle.
Four other individuals — Richard Petty in 1975, Cale Yarborough in 1985, Sterling Marlin in 1996, and Hamlin in 2021 — were unsuccessful in their endeavors for a hat-trick of wins at NASCAR’s iconic competition.
The lineup features seven additional past victors of the Daytona 500, particularly triple champion Hamlin and seven-time NASCAR titleholder Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin is attempting to rebound after a devastating defeat in the 2025 championship decider and the December passing of his father. Johnson, concurrently, is once more piloting the No. 84 Toyota for his squad, Legacy Motor Club.
McLeod, who secured a place in the event when Anthony Alfredo was ruled ineligible subsequent to an examination after Thursday’s preliminary heats, rotated uncontrollably five circuits into the competition and required a tow to the repair bay. Casey Mears, who obtained one of the limited available positions in his qualification round, incurred vehicle harm when McLeod experienced a loss of command.