The race was largely clean for the first three-quarters of its distance, but chaos reigned after lap 150 that wiped out most of the contenders.
An accident on pit road with 42 to go saw Tyler Reddick ramp Jimmie Johnson and end the seven-time champion’s hopes, while the Big One broke out with 10 laps left after a bump from Paul Menard sent Matt DiBenedetto spinning into the pack entering turn three.
Twenty-one cars were eventually involved, including the likes of Ryan Blaney, rookie Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr. and 2016 Daytona 500 runner-up Martin Triex Jr., among others.
After a 25-minute red flag for cleanup from that melee, racing resumed with six laps left, but the field didn’t even make it a full revolution before Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tried to shoot to the middle and go three-wide, but ended up making contact with Kyle Larson.
Stenhouse spun at the entrance to turn three after that and a seven-car wreck ensued, with Brad Keselowski and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman among those collected in the second major melee of the evening.
That incident led to a restart with two to go in regulation, when teamwork between Busch and Hamlin was officially called off over the radio and the duo squared off for the win on the front row when the green flag waved.
Hamlin edged out ahead of Busch, while behind them, Clint Bowyer attempted to hang Michael McDowell in the middle lane as they battled for third. Bowyer ended up spinning off McDowell’s front bumper, triggering the third multi-car crash in as many restart attempts.
Among those wadded up in that crash, which led to the overtime finish, were polesitter William Byron, Jamie McMurray and semi-retired Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan.
Once the race went green for the final time, Busch let Hamlin down in front of him going off to turn one, then laid back a little bit and tried to get a shove from Joey Logano in an effort to challenge his teammate for the win.
However, Busch couldn’t get enough momentum to pull alongside Hamlin and had to settle for second, a disappointing result despite it being his best-ever Daytona 500 finish.
After the race, Busch explained his thought process behind letting Hamlin in line on the final restart.
“First and foremost, the goal was to try to make sure that we at least got a JGR car to victory lane,” noted Busch. “They (the No. 11 team) didn’t want to do it on the previous restart, but then since he got the lead, he wanted to do it again.
“It is what it is. At least we got a JGR car in victory lane,” Busch added. “That’s the big picture. That’s what matters, and we move on.”
Erik Jones rallied from a fuel pressure issue in the closing stages to complete the all-Gibbs podium, the first time one team has swept the top-three spots in the Daytona 500 since Hendrick Motorsports did so with Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven in 1997.
Jones was trailed to the finish line by Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell.
Ty Dillon, Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece were sixth through eighth, respectively, with Johnson rallying back to finish ninth. Ross Chastain completed the top 10 for Jay Robinson’s Premium Motorsports.
DiBenedetto, who led a race-high 49 laps in his first race for Leavine Family Racing, was scored 28th in the final rundown after being eliminated in the Big One with 10 to go.
