DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Denny Hamlin completed a sweep of the first two stages in the 63rd Daytona 500 Sunday night by topping stage two in a photo finish over Kevin Harvick.
Hamlin, who is seeking his fourth Daytona 500 win and third straight, edged the 2007 Daytona 500 winner by .042 seconds at the 2.5-mile Daytona Int’l Speedway on lap 130 to earn 10 more points.
It’s Hamlin’s third straight stage win in The Great American Race, going back to the 2020 edition.
While Hamlin won the stage, he was nearly overhauled by Bubba Wallace, who drives for the 23XI Racing team that Hamlin co-owns alongside NBA legend Michael Jordan.
Wallace made a move for the lead and ducked out of line from behind Hamlin, taking the top spot on lap 129, but ended up third behind Hamlin and Harvick at the green-checkered flag.
Harvick was disappointed not to come away with the stage win, but tipped he has a plan for the finish.
“The push needs to be a little bit harder and a little bit sooner,” said Harvick. “We want to keep ourselves up toward the front.”
Behind the top three, the Chevrolets of Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon were fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by two Fords in Joey Logano and Michael McDowell.
Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski filled out the point-scoring positions in the top 10.
Only one caution slowed the pace in the second stage, coming immediately after a round of green-flag pit stops, when Christopher Bell spun off turn two with a flat left-rear tire.
Bell, who led 32 laps in stage two, collected Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Larson in the process.
Of note, Hamlin jumped to fifth in career Daytona 500 laps led at the end of the second stage, bypassing both three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon and 1988 winner Bobby Allison on that list.