The Coke Zero 400 delivered a dramatic finish as Ryan Blaney picks up his second win of the season in 4-wide fashion last night in Daytona.

It was the regular season finale for the Cup Series, and bubble drivers delivered some compelling storylines all night.

In the end, the final two spots were clinched and the field of 16 is set for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Who got in? Who had to hold their breath until the final seconds? Who is turning the page to 2026? Let’s take a look.

RECAP

After qualifying was cancelled on Friday, Ryan Blaney was the benefit of the metric system and was awarded the pole for Saturday night’s race.

Alex Bowman, a driver who needed a clean night, started on the inside of row one.

It was a chaotic stage one as on lap 12, Casey Mears has issues in turn 4 and spins to bring out the first caution.

Seven laps later, playoff bubble driver Tyler Reddick makes contact with Todd Gilliland and makes contact with the inside wall, raising some concerns for the points battle.

On lap 27, a bigger wreck occurs collecting multiple key drivers in the night’s storylines.

Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch made contact while battling near third position, spinning in front of the pack and taking out a few other drivers including Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, and more.

Alex Bowman, trying to protect the final spot in the playoffs, sustains heavy damage and is unable to continue the race. He would watch the rest of the race from his hauler.

After an 8 and a half minute red flag, it was a two lap shootout for the end of stage 1.

Kyle Larson picks up the extra playoff point by reaching the line first and Chevrolet teammate Ross Chastain finishes second.

Stage two was little calmer in the first half, as there were multiple lead changes under green flag conditions.

Carson Hocevar brought his car to a stop after some earlier issues bring out the caution on lap 83.

After finishing second in stage 1, Ross Chastain beats Joey Logano back to the line with help from Christopher Bell to secure the stage 2 win.

With eleven laps remaining, race leader Joey Logano spins and sets up the pack for a very important late-race restart.

This is where the playoff bubble drivers took the gloves off and started going for it.

Ryan Preece is leading with four to go, but eventually gets shuffled out of the pack after the momentum from the inside and outside lane pass the no. 60. This would end Preece’s chance at making the playoffs.

As three drivers who need to win to make the postseason, Daniel Suarez, Cole Custer, and Justin Haley are racing each other on the final lap, Ryan Blaney sneaks up from 13th to 1st and challenges for the lead.

As they cross the line, Blaney nabs the win by 0.049 seconds, marking it as the closest known top four finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Blaney’s win marks the 6th straight race he has finished inside the top 10.

Suarez, Haley, and Custer are sent home in devastation as they will miss the playoffs.

Alex Bowman is able to breathe a sigh of relief. Since there is no new winner, Bowman points his way in and grabs the last playoff spot.

THE PLAYOFFS

The 2025 NASCAR playoffs begin Sunday, August 31st at Darlington Raceway on USA at 6PM EST.

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