After 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick was involved in an early incident in Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman appeared to be sitting pretty in the provisional NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture, with a clear opportunity to make up at least 29 points on the driver of the No. 45 Toyota to clinch a spot no matter who won the regular season finale.
But Reddick continued on, and only a few laps later, Bowman himself was taken out in a much bigger wreck. Reddick was then locked in on points, and Bowman needed to sweat out the rest of the race and hope that somebody from below the cut line did not manage to win and knock him out of the postseason.
Team Penske's Joey Logano was the odds-on favorite for much of the third and final stage. But given the fact that Logano seems to be the strongest at Daytona every year and still hasn't won there in over a decade, it was not at all surprising to see him go for a late spin, knocking him out of contention.
Now, all of a sudden, the front of the field was chock full of drivers in must-win situations.
Until Ryan Blaney, one of Logano's teammates, came to Bowman's rescue.
Blaney actually started from pole and matched Logano for the most laps led (27 of 160) around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, but he seemingly came out of nowhere on the final lap and held off a pack of hungry drivers who absolutely had to win to get into the postseason.
He drove from 13th to first place over the course of laps 159 and 160.
You never disappoint, @DAYTONA. pic.twitter.com/y1XIUT52q8
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 24, 2025
Blaney finished 0.031 seconds ahead of Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez, 0.036 seconds ahead of Spire Motorsports' Justin Haley, and 0.049 seconds ahead of Haas Factory Team's Cole Custer.
The top four were separated by 0.049 seconds, the closest known top four finish in NASCAR Cup Series history https://t.co/P7FVynCutA
— NASCAR Insights (@NASCARInsights) August 24, 2025
Then behind that record-breaking four-wide group were Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones and RFK Racing's Chris Buescher, though Buescher was later corrected to seventh place behind Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson.
Had any one of those five drivers won, Bowman would have been the lone Hendrick Motorsports driver left on the outside of the postseason field.
Speaking to Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass after the race, he described the three-hour wait to determine his fate as "s--tty" and said that he owes the driver of the No. 12 Ford "seven million beers" for giving him the opportunity to battle for a championship, rather than a meaningless P17 finish in the point standings after 10 more weeks of riding around.
What does Alex Bowman owe Ryan Blaney with Blaney winning the race that allowed Bowman to earn the final playoff berth? Here's the Bowman response: @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/6YVqBZYLES
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 24, 2025
Late in the race, Bowman's three teammates, Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Chase Elliott, were running close to one another on the high line.
But after a bold move from Larson didn't pay off and Hendrick Motorsports found themselves out of contention for the win, it took an unlikely hero in Blaney to save Bowman's season, giving him his seventh playoff berth in eight seasons with Rick Hendrick's team.
The playoffs are scheduled to get underway on Sunday, August 31 with the Cook Out Southern 500. Live coverage from Darlington Raceway is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. ET on USA Network. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!