Ryan Rallies: Blaney wins on late move

Ryan Blaney does a burnout after winning the 2025 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Nigel Kindrade Photography)

Coke Zero Sugar 400:

Ryan Blaney won the 2025 Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday night after surging from 13th to the lead over the last two laps. Blaney's Daytona win is the second his career at the famous high banks of Daytona (both wins coming in the Coke Zero Sugar 400) and his second win of the 2025 campaign. With his win and bad luck for competitors Blaney surged to second in the final point standings for the regular season - securing a few more precious playoff points.

Saturday night's race delivered. It was amazing from the drop of the green flag all the way to lap 160. It was tense, but not too chaotic with stupid cautions. Drivers battled side-by-side without just cruising saving fuel for much of the race. We still had attrition with a couple major cautions that had huge playoff implications. And it finished off without controversary, without any cautions, and with a mad dash to the checkered flag from a bunch of hungry drivers. I was pleasantly surprised with the race ending and was l left (momentarily) speechless with the finish.

I did not have high hopes going into the night. Superspeedway races in this generation of car have been hit or miss, and have at times just been downright embarrassing. But not Saturday. It was great and action packed; not once was I bored or concerned with how the race was playing out. It was the perfect encapsulation for the end of the regular season. The only "embarrassing" part of the night was those involved with causing the "Big One." I'll lay much of the blame on Bubba Wallace, but Logano and Larson could've cut some slack in that situation to prevent ruining the night for dozens of car. But even that wasn't too bad in the grand scheme of things with how drafting tracks have been lately - it was just over aggression early in the race. The other thing that left me happy was the finish. We had multiple drivers charging to get their first win, a win in 2025, and a playoff birth. All fighting hard; all making great moves; and all doing so without causing a major cluster. All of that, though, to be bested by one of the better drafting drivers of recent memory and a repeat winner in 2025, Ryan Blaney. It was perfect, methodical, and well executed driver by the 12 car in the closing laps. All in all, this race was a 10/10 for me, and I'm not sure how anyone, objectively, could say otherwise.

Next up NASCAR heads to Darlington Raceway for action from the Craftsman Truck Series and the Cup Series while the Xfinity Series heads across the country to race at Portland International Raceway. The Truck Series will kick off the weekend on Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. EST on FS1 with the Sober or Slammer 200. The Xfinity Series takes the green flag Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. EST on The CW with the Pacific Office Automation 147. The Cup Series headlines the weekend Sunday night at 6 p.m. EST on USA with the Cook Out Southern 500.

Darlington/Portland Picks:

Trucks = Corey Heim

Xfinity = Connor Zilisch

Cup = Kyle Larson