Starting from 12th place Car 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota won the O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 At DAYTONA, his 1st win in 38 NASCAR Cup Series races. This is his 1st win & 1st Top 10 finish in 2021. This is his 1st win & 1st Top 10 finish in 1 races at the DAYTONA Road Course. This is Joe Gibbs Racing’s 186th NASCAR Cup Series victory. This is crew chief Adam Stevens’ 29th win in the NASCAR Cup Series. This is the 3rd time in NASCAR Cup Series history the first two races of the season were won by 1st time winners; joining 1949 and 1950. This is Joe Gibbs Racing 2nd win of the weekend & Toyota swept the weekend on the Daytona Road Course. 2nd Place Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford, started from 11th place posted his 2nd Top 10 finish in 2 races at the DAYTONA Road Course. It is his 1st Top 10 finish in 2021. 3rd Place Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota, started from 4th place posted his 2nd Top 10 finish in 2 races at the DAYTONA Road Course. It is his 2nd Top 10 finish in 2021.
4th Place Car 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet, started from 17th place followed by 5th place Car 2 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Ford, started from 15th place. 6th Place Car 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford, started from 5th place followed by 7th place Car 16 * AJ Allmendinger(i) Hyperice Chevrolet, started from 34th place, 8th Place Car 34 Michael McDowell FR8 Auctions Ford, started from 2nd place followed by 9th place Car 37 * Ryan Preece Kroger/Coca-Cola Chevrolet, started from 6th place. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet, in 10th place, started from 36th place. Anthony Alfredo (22nd) was the highest finishing rookie.
The race had 8 Cautions for 12 Laps: 1st Caution on lap 3 for Debris On Backstretch. 2nd Caution on lap 13 for Debris Turn 12. 3rd Caution on lap 18 for Stage 1 Conclusion. 4th Caution on lap 28 for #12, 42 Crash in Turn 6. 5th Caution on lap 36 for Stage 2 Conclusion. 6th Caution on lap 57 for Weather. 7th Caution on lap 60 for #8 Crash in Turn 3. 8th Caution on lap 62 for #7, 9 Crash in Turn 5.
The race had 12 Lead Changes among 7 drivers; C. Elliott 1-12; C. Bell 13; C. Elliott 14-28; *. Allmendinger(i) 29-30; D. Hamlin 31-35; D. Suarez 36-37; K. Busch 38; C. Bell 39-40; C. Elliott 41-57; J. Logano 58-61; K. Busch 62; J. Logano 63-68; C. Bell 69-70.
Stages:
Stage 1 Top 10: 9, 22, 11, 2, 1, 5, 19, 3, 4, 17
Stage 2 Top 10: 11, 1, 22, 20, 19, 9, 24, 41, 16, 18
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 2
Race Results for the O?Reilly Auto Parts 253 At DAYTONA – Sunday, February 21, 2021. DAYTONA Road Course – Daytona Beach, FL – 3.61 – Mile Paved Total Race Length – 70 Laps – 252.7 Miles
Finish Start Car Team Laps Status
| 1. 12. Car 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 70 Running |
| 2. 11. Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 70 Running |
| 3. 4. Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 70 Running |
| 4. 17. Car 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 5. 15. Car 2 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Ford 70 Running |
| 6. 5. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford 70 Running |
| 7. 34. Car 16 * AJ Allmendinger(i) Hyperice Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 8. 2. Car 34 Michael McDowell FR8 Auctions Ford 70 Running |
| 9. 6. Car 37 * Ryan Preece Kroger/Coca-Cola Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 10. 36. Car 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 11. 30. Car 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 70 Running |
| 12. 19. Car 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 70 Running |
| 13. 13. Car 41 Cole Custer Dixie Vodka Ford 70 Running |
| 14. 37. Car 43 Erik Jones Petty’s Garage Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 15. 27. Car 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Libman Ford 70 Running |
| 16. 35. Car 99 Daniel Suarez iFly Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 17. 26. Car 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 70 Running |
| 18. 16. Car 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Cottonelle Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 19. 38. Car 96 * Ty Dillon(i) Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota 70 Running |
| 20. 33. Car 6 Ryan Newman Castrol Ford 70 Running |
| 21. 1. Car 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 22. 31. Car 38 Anthony Alfredo # The Pete Store Ford 70 Running |
| 23. 39. Car 15 James Davison Signing Day Sports Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 24. 20. Car 77 Justin Haley(i) AirMedCare Network Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 25. 21. Car 51 Cody Ware(i) Nurtec ODT Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 26. 10. Car 23 Bubba Wallace DoorDash Toyota 70 Running |
| 27. 25. Car 53 Garrett Smithley(i) Clix Wipers Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 28. 28. Car 78 Scott Heckert MotorsportGames.com Ford 70 Running |
| 29. 40. Car 66 * Timmy Hill(i) CRASHClaimsR.US Toyota 70 Running |
| 30. 8. Car 5 Kyle Larson Nations Guard Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 31. 7. Car 7 Corey LaJoie Netflix Chevrolet 70 Running |
| 32. 18. Car 14 Chase Briscoe # Ford Performance Racing School Ford 70 Running |
| 33. 22. Car 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 69 Running |
| 34. 3. Car 3 Austin Dillon Dow Mobility Service Chevrolet 69 Running |
| 35. 14. Car 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 69 Running |
| 36. 23. Car 52 Josh Bilicki Jacob Companies Ford 68 Brakes |
| 37. 32. Car 21 Matt DiBenedetto Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 65 Running |
| 38. 24. Car 8 Tyler Reddick CatRentalStore.com Chevrolet 58 Accident |
| 39. 9. Car 42 Ross Chastain McDonald’s Chevrolet 26 Accident |
| 40. 29. Car 00 Quin Houff Mane ‘n Tail Chevrolet 3 Engine |
Race Comments: Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 43 (Engine change – Daytona 500), No. 77 (Multiple inspection failures), No. 53 (Unapproved adjustments). Failed to Qualify: None. Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 59 Mins, 32 Secs. Average Speed: 84.452 MPH Margin of Victory: 2.119 Seconds. Caution Flags: 8 for 12 laps. Lead Changes: 12 among 7 drivers. Busch Pole Award: Chase Elliott, #9. Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Anthony Alfredo, #38.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: February 28, 2021 – Homestead-Miami Speedway
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