Ryan Blaney won for the second consecutive week when the race Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway ended under caution in overtime with a typical fiery finish.
(Logan Riely/Getty Images)
Tyler Reddick took the 16th and final spot in the playoffs with a seventh-place finish. Reddick needed only to beat Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon and hope for a repeat winner to earn his first nascar” target=”_blank”>playoff< before the race. Scott is the only Black driver to win a race at NASCAR’s top level.
Scott passed Richard Petty with 25 laps remaining at Speedway Park in Jacksonville on Dec. 1, 1963. But Buck Baker, who actually finished second, was declared the winner of the Jacksonville 200 and received the trophy in victory lane.
Race officials discovered hours later that Scott was the actual winner and had lapped the entire field twice. But he was not credited with the victory for another two years, and his family has long pushed for a proper celebration.
NASCAR obliged on the eve of what would have been Scott’s 100th birthday.
OLYMPIC FLARE
Olympic bronze medalist Noah Lyles served as the race’s grand marshal and demanded more from the crowd.
Lyles, the 200-meter favorite who settled for third in Tokyo, asked fans for a louder response after his first attempt drew a lackluster effort. “That’s what I’m talking about,” he said before giving the command for drivers to start their engines.
Lyles was wearing his medal before the race and mingling with driver Bubba Wallace on the grid. Wallace got an up-close look at the medal.
Lyles made headlines in Japan for his emotional breakdown following the 200-meter final. The American sprinter was in tears after a difficult year in which he went on and off antidepressants and struggled when his brother failed to make the Olympic team with him. Like gymnast Simone Biles and tennis star Naomi Osaka, Lyles was unapologetic as he broached the subject of mental health.
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UP NEXT
The playoffs begin next Sunday at Darlington Raceway, which recently repaved a section in Turn 2 that could change the way the track races. Kevin Harvick is the defending race winner and Martin Truex Jr. won at the South Carolina track in May.
