Joey Logano was in command at the Daytona Coke Zero Sugar 400, leading the race, when suddenly everything entangled. With about 13 laps remaining, he got loose coming out of Turn 4 and spun down the frontstretch, ending up stuck in the infield grass. Though Team Penske had locked the race up with Logano leading, it was actually Ryan Blaney, running around 13th with two laps to go, who seized the moment. Logano ultimately managed to finish 27th, and he credited the driver behind him for the grass tour he had to take towards the end.

What actually happened was that Logano was leading the pack, but on Turn 4, Erik Jones seemingly bumped him from behind, causing him to lose balance and go left towards the grass. NASCAR threw a caution after he got stuck. This resemblance to the 2024 Daytona 500 finish is uncanny, as Logano was caught in a late race wreck in that race, too. But this time, Logano had plenty to say after the race, including his title-defending journey from here onwards.

Logano brushes off Daytona wreck as playoffs loom

Joey Logano’s Daytona run ended in familiar heartbreak, and his words afterward carried the weight of both disappointment and resilience. “Yeah, sounds like a speedway, doesn’t it?” Logano quipped, in an X video, summing up the cruel randomness of superspeedway racing. He emphasized how strong the No. 22 team had been, noting, “Just another great car, another well-executed race. Always sure we were up there the whole time. Even when we lost our track position, we figured out ways to get up there.” For him, the spin under Erik Jones’s push wasn’t about a lack of execution, but rather the risks that come with fighting for playoff survival in the final laps at Daytona.

Pressed about the incident with Jones, Logano explained where he went wrong, but also framed it as hard racing. “The car was loose, and Eric was running hard, just trying to make the playoffs. His run came at the wrong time, and he tried pushing me as we slid out.” Later, he added, “The timing was a little bit too soon… He wasn’t going to lift and bail out of that. It was a hard race at the end. I really can’t get too upset to understand it.” His No. 22 Mustang slid into the infield grass and got beached, triggering a caution flag. In the chaos, he made contact with Chris Buescher in the No. 17 car while he was losing control and sliding in the low lane, further complicating the race’s climax.

Beyond Daytona, the Penske driver heads into the 2025 playoffs on firm ground. Logano sits inside the top 10 in the points standings, buoyed by a consistent regular season that included a win, double-digit top-10 finishes, and nearly 400 laps led across 26 starts. “I feel like our team’s in a good spot. I feel like we executed the races really well in the last five or six. The team’s been there, done that. We know how to do it, so I look forward to the playoffs. I always do, and I feel like we’re in a good spot to get after it again,” he said with confidence.

While Daytona dealt him a bitter blow, Logano’s broader 2025 campaign reinforces that he remains one of the most experienced threats in the field, a three-time champion who knows that the real season starts now.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t just Joey Logano who saw victory slip away at Daytona; there was another driver who nearly had it, too.

Ryan Preece’s near-miss at Daytona

Ryan Preece was also on the brink of his first Cup Series win, only to get tangled between Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott as Alex Bowman surged past.

In the closing laps of the 2025 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, Preece found himself perfectly positioned to secure a breakthrough victory. However, Larson and Elliott, both driving for Hendrick Motorsports, split Preece’s line, effectively blocking his path and allowing Bowman to take the lead. Preece voiced his frustration: “The problem is that the #9 [Chase Elliott] and #5 [Kyle Larson] were worried about their teammate that would have been bumped out [Bowman]. So, sh—y situation. Thought we were going to win that one. We did everything right today, and it just didn’t work out.”

Reflecting on the 2025 race, Preece remarked, “It just seems to be another week where we didn’t win, but [it] wasn’t for a lack of trying.”

Preece’s near-victory at Daytona was crucial for his playoff aspirations. A win would have secured his spot in the postseason, but instead, he finished 14th, just short of the necessary points. His performance at Daytona highlighted the razor-thin margins that often separate success from disappointment in NASCAR.

And Daytona once again proved how unpredictable superspeedway racing can be, with Logano’s late spin and Preece’s heartbreak reshaping the outcome in a matter of laps, while Blaney turned chaos into triumph.