All week long, NASCAR was holding the caution flag a little longer than normal. That was especially true with incidents on the backstretch. ARCA, Truck Series, O'Reilly Series - all of them had moments where race control swallowed the whistle, so to speak, and it paid off.

Race leader Justin Allgaier got caught up in a crash at the 2026 Daytona 500 that wound up wrecking about 20 cars. Here's what happened.

Justin Allgaier made an errant move at the front of the field near the end of Stage 2, which triggered a massive 17-car melee in the 2026 Daytona 500.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Denny Hamlin has a plan for improving racing at Daytona International Speedway, and it involves going faster. He has already spoken to NASCAR executives about it, too. Hamlin shared his idea for fixing the Daytona 500,

Nine cars finished within three-tenths of a second in a dramatic final lap at Daytona International Speedway, but William Byron falls short of historic three-peat.

Chase Elliott held the lead off Turn 4 in the 2026 Daytona 500, but could not fend off Tyler Reddick for the win.

Tyler Reddick won the Daytona 500 in a car owned by Michael Jordan. Jordan joined Reddick in victory lane at Daytona International Speedway.

Denny Hamlin is driving in the 2026 Daytona 500 less than two months after his father, Dennis Hamlin, died from injuries sustained in a house fire.