NASCAR Daytona results: Ryan Blaney winner Saturday

• Ryan Blaney overcame early season struggles, including multiple DNFs, to secure his first win since June.
• This victory marks Blaney’s 16th NASCAR Cup Series win and gives him momentum heading into the playoffs.

Ryan Blaney, who struggled with bad luck throughout the year, finished the regular season with a win in the NASCAR Daytona race on Aug. 23.

Blaney had multiple DNFs this season before winning at Nashville in June.

He came from 13th place in Daytona with just two laps to go in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 and moved ahead of the leader and Penske teammate Cole Custer.

Blaney then held off a hard-charging Daniel Suarez to the finish line to claim his 16th NASCAR Cup victory and have momentum heading into next week’s first round of the playoffs at Darlington.

Justin Haley finished third, Custer was fourth and Erik Jones was fifth.

Even with his struggles at times in the regular season, Blaney posted 14 top-10 finishes, including seventh in the Daytona 500 at the start of the season.

Blaney, who led for 27 laps, entered the race in fifth place in the playoff points standings.

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Who won NASCAR Daytona race? Race winner for Coke Zero Sugar 400

Here are the unofficial results for the NASCAR Daytona race at Daytona International:

1. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
2. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
3. Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
4. Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
5. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
6. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
7. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
8. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
9. Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
10. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
11. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
12. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
13. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
14. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
15. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
16. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
17. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
18. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
19. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
20. Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
21. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
22. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
23. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
24. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
25. Denny Hamlin, No. 11, 23XI Racing Toyota
26. AJ Allmendinger, No. 1 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
27. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
28. Joey Gase, No. 44, NY Racing Team Chevrolet
29. Casey Mears, No. 66, Garage 66 Ford
30. Austin Hill, No. No. 33, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
31. Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
32. BJ McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
33. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
34. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet
36. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
37. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
38. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
39. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
40. Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota