On lap 200, Team Penske's Austin Cindric led the field in Sunday evening's 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. But he only saw the white flag, not the checkered flag, as a result of the preceding caution flag which set up the two-lap overtime sprint.
A multi-car crash on the back straightaway of the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval on lap 201 of 201 ultimately knocked the No. 2 Ford out of contention. Last year, he was in contention for the win as well before being taken out on the frontstretch on the final lap.
Cindric did not win the "Great American Race" in his first attempt in 2021, but he won it in 2022 when he was officially a Cup Series rookie. In 2025, he led 13 times for 59 laps, both more than anybody else in the field.
And had he hung on to win, he would have become the first driver to win the Daytona 500 twice in his first five attempts.
Instead, it was Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron, who entered the last lap in ninth place and was seventh as the wreck unfolded, who became just the fifth driver ever to win the Daytona 500 in back-to-back years.
Richard Petty, who won the race a record seven times during his legendary NASCAR Cup Series career, won the race twice in his first six tries, doing so in his fifth and sixth attempts back in 1964 and 1966.
Cindric and Team Penske are always strong in superspeedway races and should have an opportunity to match Petty's mark next year.
The next race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is also a superspeedway race, that being this coming Sunday's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Fox is set to provide live coverage starting at 3:00 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!