Toyota Just Won the Daytona 500 for the First Time Ever
Toyota not only claimed its first Daytona 500 victory, but swept the podium with a 1-2-3 finish.
Denny Hamlin beat Martin Truex Jr. in the closest finish in race history, with Hamlin edging out Truex Jr. by a mere 0.010 seconds for a photo finish. Coming down to the final stretch, Matt Kenseth led in the final laps after the last caution flag of the day but fell to 14th after his car got loose from a bump by Hamlin near the finish line. As a result, Hamlin gave Toyota its first Daytona 500 win while team owner Joe Gibbs claimed his first victory at the event in 23 years.
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Helping sweep the podium for Toyota was Kyle Busch with a third place finish. Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Watch a video of the epic finish below.
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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Maximum effort!
Well done Toyota.