Once again, Daytona lays bare NASCAR's flaws

02/18/2025 02:11 PM

Sunday night could have gone better for NASCAR.

William Byron became the fifth driver in Cup Series history to earn back-to-back wins in the Daytona 500, and the first since Denny Hamlin in 2019 and 2020. He also became the youngest driver to win multiple Daytona 500s. However, the fan base still seems reluctant to embrace the 27-year-old, with reactions ranging from suggesting he was lucky and didn't do anything to merit the win all race, to insulting his personality.

The race, which went to overtime, finished under green, but the conversation is centered on why it didn't end under caution because of the crash on the backstretch. It wouldn't have been a race weekend without frustrations over inconsistency.

Ryan Preece flipped over on the backstretch. Again. And again, the criticisms of the race car aren't hard to find. Neither are the suggestions on social media about how to keep them grounded.

Kyle Busch was mad at the officiating. Joey Logano was publicly shamed for being at the center of one of the biggest wrecks of the night. And while the pack made for a fantastic visual going three-wide, the truth was that there was still fuel saving going on and drivers were not running full throttle. Furthermore, the package is the complete opposite of the racing seen on Friday and Saturday nights when the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series fields could race – as drivers had the ability to make moves and not be held hostage in the air bubble.

None of those are inspiring headlines or conversations after the sport's biggest race of the season. There were plenty of chances for a different narrative.

NASCAR started 2025 with its most popular driver, Chase Elliott, winning the Clash at Bowman Gray two weeks ago. A race that was widely celebrated because of its host venue. And Daytona was shaping up to have potential.

Helio Castroneves was in the starting field. Despite his residency in the infield care center throughout the week, his presence garnered plenty of attention, and his excitement for the opportunity and experience was contagious. Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson both qualified on speed for the Daytona 500, which was the best-case scenario after the early hoopla of neither having the Open Exemption Provisional that Castroneves was using. (And yes, both Truex and Johnson are eligible to apply for it, as they've since learned.)

The Earnhardt family fielded a car in the Daytona 500. It was one of the biggest stories going into Sunday afternoon, as JR Motorsports made its Cup Series debut. The ties between the Earnhardt family and Daytona are deep, making the accomplishment mean much more. It also didn't hurt that Dale Earnhardt Jr., one of NASCAR's most popular drivers, was involved, and where he goes and what he says is watched and listened to by many. It was a big deal to them to be in the Cup Series and for others to follow the journey as it happened.

Even as the race unfolded – take away the fuel mileage aspect for a moment – there was a chance NASCAR would get a compelling winner. It’s not that Byron isn't one, but he had been there and done that, and fans weren't looking for a sequel after seeing the original just 12 months ago.

Hamlin, with a new crew chief, was half a lap from a fourth Daytona 500 win. As a polarizing driver, this would have resonated one way or another. Historically, the feat would have made Hamlin the third driver in history to have four or more wins in the Daytona 500 with Richard Petty (7) and Cale Yarborough (4).

Bubba Wallace had a fast race car. Johnson was in the mix. Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, and Elliott were looking for their first Daytona 500 wins. Corey LaJoie and Rick Ware Racing would have been the ultimate David versus Goliath story.

Instead, everything else is being discussed. The momentum from the Clash was launched off the airborne front end of Preece's car and out of the picture.

That joke works because Preece has since changed his social media profile picture to a Photoshopped image of him wearing an astronaut suit. It shouldn't be funny, but it is.

Something has to change, and a good place to start with the aero package. It's not working. The drivers don't like it, and neither do viewers. There is a problem when words like "luck" and "random" are two words being attached to the Daytona 500.

The drivers must be the stars, and they can't put on a show without the right tools. Not being able to make runs, pull out of line, and go from the front to the back and back to the front again is a problem. NASCAR is much more attractive when a driver's skill set can be seen and celebrated. It's felt like quite a while since that's been seen on the superspeedway tracks.

It's been a letdown for a few seasons but it always feels worse coming out of Daytona, especially when there was so much there to make for a good weekend. Instead, here we are again with upset drivers, which means upset fans.

One would think something has to give soon, right? But we just keep going in circles.