An intense race at Daytona decided the final two spots in the NASCAR Cup playoff grid. The points battle was decided before the end of Stage 1, with Tyler Reddick locking himself in after Alex Bowman wrecked out of the race. Reddick also crashed, but he was able to continue on with his wounded No. 45 car.

Bowman had to sweat for the rest of the race as the 20 drivers facing a must-win tried to position themselves for a dramatic victory in the regular season finale.

There were several of those cars in a perfect spot to do just that, but in the end, Ryan Blaney prevailed in a stunning four-wide photo finish, surrounding by drivers facing a must-win. As a result, Bowman secured the 16th and final playoff spot.