For the second year in a row, Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron opened up the NASCAR Cup Series season with a Daytona 500 victory, making him just the fifth driver to win the "Great American Race" in back-to-back years.
But unlike last year, Byron does not leave Daytona International Speedway as the leader of the Cup Series standings. Instead, it is Team Penske's Ryan Blaney who is the points leader.
That is because NASCAR awarded points four other times at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval before Sunday's 201-lap main event actually concluded.
William Byron not the NASCAR points leader after Daytona 500 win
The top 10 finishers in each of Thursday night's two Duel at Daytona qualifying races were awarded points, from 10 points to the winner down to one point to the 10th place finish. And of course, the top 10 drivers in each of the first two stages during Sunday's race were also awarded points on the same scale.
Byron scored nine points with a second place finish in the first Duel race but only managed one stage point with a 10th place finish in stage one. Add those 10 points to the 40 he earned for winning the Daytona 500, and you get 50.
Blaney scored 30 points with his seventh place finish on Sunday, but he was able to rack up 21 more beforehand. He scored three points with his eighth place finish in the second Duel race, eight more with his third place finish in the Daytona 500's first stage, and 10 more for winning its second, giving him 51 for the entire race weekend.
Ironically, Blaney finished in seventh place in the 2018 Daytona 500 and also left the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval as the points leader.
Race number two on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Ambetter Health 400, which is set to be shown live on Fox from Atlanta Motor Speedway starting at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 23. This race is also a superspeedway race, and it featured a three-wide photo finish last year. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!