The 2024 Daytona 500 had all the makings of a memorable race.
The last two times a rain-delayed 500 fell on a Monday we were left with the indelible images of an exploding jet dryer and the harrowing scene of Ryan Newman’s car being struck in the roof at speed.
As darkness fell on The Great American Race, we had the Big One and were preparing for another superspeedway classic as the cars approached the white — or was it yellow — flag. Compounding the confusion was FOX’s decision to promptly exit coverage for…TMZ Investigates.
The immediate moments and reaction on social media were seemed to run the gamut. Did NASCAR make the right call to end the Daytona 500? This week Wyatt Watson and Stephen Stumpf hash things out in this week’s 2-Headed Monster.
NASCAR Didn’t Do Itself Any Favors with the Ending
For the record, I personally had no issues with how the Daytona 500 finish played out. But when millions of fans are tuned in to watch the finish of NASCAR’s marquee event, you can’t see Monday’s finish, stick your head in the sand, plug up your ears and pretend that everything’s great.
The reality is that the Daytona 500 finished under caution for the fourth time in five years, and the only reason it wasn’t a perfect five-for-five was because the field wrecked in the tri-oval upon taking the checkered flag in 2022.
Finishing under caution aside, most of the confusion about the finish came from the fact that FOX didn’t have a definitive replay on hand that determined the moment of caution and the winner. The fans were left anxiously waiting for any indication of a final result, and Alex Bowman‘s onboard camera showing the No. 48 seemingly in front when the speedway’s caution lights turned on only served to amplify the confusion.
Below is the screenshot that — according to NASCAR — determined the moment of caution. The frame clearly showed William Byron ahead of Bowman.
The moment of caution also gives insight to what race control was looking at.
Both Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric had spun, but the caution wasn’t thrown until Cindric’s No. 2 car was pointed toward the track and ready to reenter the racing groove. In this case, I don’t fault NASCAR for throwing the caution when they did.
What I do fault them for is the inconsistency.
Just one season ago in this very race, Daniel Suarez spun off of turn 4 as the field was approaching two laps to go. Suarez wasn’t…
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