Ricky Stenhouse Jr. triumphs in double overtime in longest Daytona 500 in history
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19
By Homero De la Fuente, CNN
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pulled out a double overtime victory Sunday in the longest Daytona 500 race ever in the open to the 75th NASCAR season.
“This is unbelievable. This is the site of my last win back in 2017,” Stenhouse Jr. said after the race in Daytona Beach, Florida. “We worked really hard. We had a couple shots last year to get a win and fell short. It was a tough season, but hey, we got it done.”
A crash with three laps to go resulted in a caution that sent the race into overtime, and eventually extended it to a Daytona 500 record of 212 laps raced. The race was scheduled for 200 laps.
After the first overtime restart, a wreck involving at least 10 cars resulted in the race being forced to go to a second overtime.
In the final lap of double overtime, Stenhouse Jr. held a slight lead over Joey Logano before a multiple car wreck, which included racer Kyle Larson’s car, led to a caution flag. NASCAR officials determined Stenhouse Jr. was the leader at the time of the caution flag, and Logano finished second.
Stenhouse Jr.’s victory is the third of his career and first since July 1, 2017. Prior to Sunday, the 35-year-old’s best finish at the “Great American Race” was seventh place.
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