Ryan Blaney stormed from 13th place with two laps remaining to win NASCAR’s regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, edging Daniel Suarez by 0.031 seconds in a four-wide finish. Justin Haley and Cole Custer followed within five-hundredths of a second, while the first 19 cars crossed the line inside half a second. The victory, Blaney’s first since May and sixth straight top-10, denied a host of win-less contenders a last-minute postseason berth and instead handed the final place in the 16-driver playoff field to Alex Bowman, who had crashed out on lap 27. Tyler Reddick also advanced despite an early accident after entering the night with a 29-point cushion. Blaney, the 2024 series champion, lifted Team Penske out of an 11-race drought and moved to second in the regular-season standings behind William Byron. Penske now has all three of its drivers in the championship hunt as the playoffs begin next Sunday at Darlington Raceway. Hours before the green flag, Team Penske announced the death of Karl Kainhofer, its first employee and a mechanic on 10 Indianapolis 500 wins, at age 94. Blaney dedicated the Daytona triumph to Kainhofer’s memory, calling his contributions to the team “immeasurable.”