Kurt Busch Wins the Daytona 500 in an Absolute Thriller!

The Monster Energy era has officially kicked off for NASCAR with yesterday’s Daytona 500, the season’s most prestigious event.

With much of the field off the track due to a day packed with crashes and attrition, Kurt Busch fought his way to the front, overtaking Kyle Larson on the last lap to earn his first checkered Daytona 500 victory. Busch, driving the Ford Fusion of Stewart-Haas racing, led only one lap on the day, but it happened to be the one that mattered the most.

Several contenders ran out of fuel on the final lap, leading to quite a bit of shuffling as they raced toward the final flag, but Busch was not to be denied. Ryan Blaney would end up in second, while AJ Allmendinger rounded out the podium. The Monster Energy NASCAR series next heads north from Daytona to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.