NASCAR Monday Mash-Up: Byron goes back-to-back at Daytona 500

So we had quite a week of NASCAR action. Close races, big wrecks, and William Byron walks away as a two-time, back-to-back Daytona 500 champion. Between Wednesday and Sunday, there was a lot going on in the stock car racing world.

There were rain delays and cancelations early in the week. Then we saw Chase Briscoe become the first Toyota driver to earn the Daytona 500 pole. Erik Jones lost out on a Duel race win due to a late caution before the line.

Then there was all of the mess we saw in ARCA and the Truck Series. Parker Kligerman got disqualified after the biggest win of his career, once again under caution on the last lap like the Duel race Jones lost. Let’s try to narrow it down to 10 topics and recap the week before Atlanta.

Truex, Johnson, Allgaier/Earnhardt qualify for Daytona 500

To start off the week, Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson both qualified for the Daytona 500 on Wednesday. They were the two fastest open cars in a field of nine.

Then a day later, Justin Allgaier locked into the race. He put JR Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the Great American Race for the first time ever. Johnson was P3, Allgaier P9. Truex was a DNF.

Duel race, Truck Series race end under caution

Now here is an important thing to note. Both the second Duel race and the Truck Series race ended due to a caution. A final lap wreck caused the yellow to come out before the white flag in both instances.

That led to Austin Cindric beating Erik Jones, who had believed he won the race, awkwardly waiting on the start/finish line. Parker Kligerman beat Corey Heim due to the same situation more or less in the Truck Series.

Parker Kligerman has biggest win ever taken away

In his biggest win and performance of his career, Parker Kligerman had his Daytona Truck Series win taken away. His Henderson Motorsports truck failed postrace inspection for rear heights.

Kligerman held his chin up and the team will appeal the decision. For now, Corey Heim is the winner. Despite the DQ, Kligerman delivered a great Xfinity Series race for The CW as a broadcaster the day after.

Butterbean Queen introduces himself to the nation

In the ARCA Menards Series, fans were forced to watch almost 10 cautions in an 80-lap race. It was not the most fun viewing experience ever. The field is probably 20 cars too large, to be honest.

However, it was worth it in the end. Brenden “Butterbean” Queen won the race and delivered an epic interview. He yelled about his mullet, Waffle House, and chocolate milk to a national FOX audience. It was awesome.

Jesse Love puts on a masterclass in Xfinity Series

Later on in the Xfinity Series race, Jesse Love was fantastic. Austin Hill looked to be on his way to a fourth straight win in this race, but his car had mechanical issues.

When Hill went out, Love stepped up. After seeing his performance, blocking so many times and never losing his car, I won’t be shocked if we see Love in his first Daytona 500 next season.

Fuel saving leads to lackluster Daytona 500

Once again we got a lot of fuel saving in this race. Stage 1, mostly due to the rain delay, had some great racing in it as drivers competed for stage points. The same could be said for the last 40 laps of the race itself.

But something has to be done about fuel saving. You don’t want to make tires softer because that would encourage more wrecks on these tracks. Perhaps adjusting the length of stages could promote better racing.

Ryan Preece issues warning to NASCAR over flips

Twice in the last four Daytona races, Ryan Preece has found himself upside down. This time around he only flipped once, but claimed it was a much worse hit than in 2023 overall.

Preece has been involved in a few of the most violent wrecks of the Next Gen era. Talladega and Daytona 2023 and now the Daytona 500 this year. He had a warning for NASCAR about safety, and he’s right.

Kyle Busch throws jabs at Logano and NASCAR

One driver who went home upset as usual from the Daytona 500 was Kyle Busch. His quest for the Harley J. Earl will have to wait another year at least.

After Busch was out of the race, he ripped into Logano and NASCAR for various reasons. Rowdy took issue with how NASCAR officiated the new DVP rule.

NASCAR doesn’t throw the caution to end the race

Surprisingly when cars began to wreck in overtime on the last lap of the Daytona 500, NASCAR swallowed the whistle. Previously in the week, they were quick to fire off the yellow lights and flags.

This time, NASCAR explained they were able to get safety crews to wrecked cars quickly and allow the leaders to race to the line. No one expected it, not fans or drivers, really.

William Byron cements legacy with second Daytona 500

Despite the controversies, William Byron will forever be a Daytona 500 champion, two times. He joins a list of 12 other drivers to have multiple wins in the Great American race.

Byron has 14 career wins, 105 top-10s, and 13 poles in just 253 Cup Series starts. With two Daytona 500s, and an Xfinity Series championship, Byron has already built a stellar resume at the age of 27.