As expected, the closing laps of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona descended into chaos with playoff berths hanging in the balance. Erik Jones and Justin Haley led the field to the final restart, with Kyle Larson lined up behind Jones and Chris Buescher behind Haley. With five laps to go, Larson nudged Jones loose, sending him up the track. Jones saved the car but dropped out of contention.
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Two laps to go, Larson, running behind Ryan Preece, swung high and dragged Chase Elliott and a line of cars with him, leaving Preece hung out in the middle. The move stalled, and the top lane faded, clearing a path for Cole Custer to surge forward with Ryan Blaney locked to his bumper. Custer seized the lead at the white flag, but Blaney carried momentum in the middle groove, holding off Haley and Daniel Suárez in a four-wide charge to the finish.
Alongside Suárez, both Buescher and Haley, as well as Custer, had chances to steal the regular-season finale, but none could seal the deal in front of the speed shown by Blaney’s No. 12 Ford in the final lap. Another lap may have tipped the scales their way, but with 160 laps, all three fell short.
Buescher, who rallied from 24th on the grid to finish seventh, reflected on the near miss in his post-race comments, saying, “Just be mad about it for a while. Not trying to pout, just I’m proud of this team. Our Mustang was so good. It handled great. It pushed so well.
“I thought we were in a really good spot when we got side by side with (Joey Logano), and when he got tagged or turned or whatever, we checked up and lost our momentum and lost all kinds of spots before the caution came out.”
“After that, got back going and tried to find our teammate there, but we were both boxed in in a different lane and ultimately couldn’t find each other. It was a great night. We certainly had a shot and had the speed again, so want to be excited about that, and I am, but man, it’s just another one of those we had the ability to win this race, had the speed, had the handling, and no champagne to celebrate,” he added disappointedly.
Haley, who crossed the line third behind Blaney and Suárez, admitted the final laps unraveled after Larson forced the field three-wide. While the Spire Motorsports driver pushed too far out front, he tried to save it, but ultimately fell short. “It hurts, especially with the year the #7 car has had,” Haley said.
Despite a difficult season, Haley praised his team’s resilience. He noted that he tried to let the race play out, but credited Spire Motorsports, the strength of the Chevy, and the Hendrick engine shop for giving him a fast car. It stung to come up short, but he still called it a good night for the No. 7 team.
