As the race reached its crunch point, Daniel Suarez went off on lap 198 and ended up in the infield grass to bring out a caution and send the race into a first period of two-lap overtime.
Stenhouse grabbed the lead for the first time in the race with a shove from Kyle Larson in the first overtime, but a clash involving Austin Dillon and William Byron sent the race into a second two-lap overtime.
As second overtime began, Logano nipped in front of Stenhouse but a big push from Christopher Bell sent Stenhouse back ahead of Logano, just as Travis Pastrana and Aric Almirola wrecked to bring out another caution.
But since Stenhouse had already taken the white flag, the race was over and he was declared the winner.
“When [Kyle Busch] went to the bottom there I was able to push [Logano] and [Larson],” Stenhouse said of the first overtime. “We had a huge run. I was hoping we were going to get to the white [flag] there, and we didn’t, so I knew I was going to take the top.
“I was hoping [Logano] was going to follow, and he did. He was able to push us out. I went to the bottom, [Busch] and [Logano] got a huge run. Larson split me in the middle, but another fellow dirt racer with Bell gave me a good shot down the little short chute into [Turn] 1, and we were out front when the caution came out.
“We were out of fuel so the fuel light was going crazy. I hope y’all had fun. That was a heck of a race.”
It’s Stenhouse’s first NASCAR Cup win since 2017, also taken at Daytona in the mid-season race, and the third of his career. All three of his wins have come on superspeedways.
It’s also the first win for the JTG Daugherty Racing squad since 2014, when A.J. Allmendinger triumphed at Watkins Glen.
The race also set a record for length, going 212 laps or 530 miles due to the overtime periods.
With Logano having to settle for second behind Stenhouse, Bell took third having pushed Stenhouse into the victory.
Chris Buescher took fourth place with polesitter Alex Bowman surviving the late carnage to round out the top five. Allmendinger claimed sixth place ahead of Daniel Suarez, with Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain and Riley Herbst completing the top 10.
Having been involved in the final crash in overtime, Pastrana dropped to 11th – while only 17 of the 40 starters ended on the lead lap due to numerous wrecks.
NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 – race results
| 1 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Chevrolet | 212 | 3:38’52.921 | 10 | 48 | |||
| 2 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 212 | 3:38’53.590 | 0.669 | 0.669 | 12 | 42 | |
| 3 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Toyota | 212 | 3:38’53.591 | 0.670 | 0.001 | 20 | 35 | |
| 4 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 212 | 3:38’55.659 | 2.738 | 2.068 | 32 | 43 | |
| 5 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 212 | 3:38’58.392 | 5.471 | 2.733 | 12 | 41 | |
| 6 | 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 212 | 3:38’58.955 | 6.034 | 0.563 | 1 | 34 | |
| 7 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Chevrolet | 212 | 3:38’59.316 | 6.395 | 0.361 | 3 | 30 | |
| 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 212 | 3:38’59.737 | 6.816 | 0.421 | 1 | 29 | |
| 9 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 212 | 3:39’01.223 | 8.302 | 1.486 | 6 | 38 | |
| 10 | 15 | Riley Herbst | Ford | 212 | 3:39’02.941 | 10.020 | 1.718 | |||
| 11 | 67 | Travis Pastrana | Toyota | 212 | 3:39’05.460 | 12.539 | 2.519 | 2 | 26 | |
| 12 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 212 | 3:39’05.461 | 12.540 | 0.001 | 1 | 32 | |
| 13 | 36 | Zane Smith | Ford | 212 | 3:39’08.981 | 16.060 | 3.520 | |||
| 14 | 51 | Cody Ware | Ford | 212 | 3:39’09.317 | 16.396 | 0.336 | 23 | ||
| 15 | 7 | Corey Lajoie | Chevrolet | 212 | 3:39’16.694 | 23.773 | 7.377 | 22 | ||
| 16 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 212 | 3:39’16.695 | 23.774 | 0.001 | 13 | 28 | |
| 17 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 212 | 3:39’46.185 | 53.264 | 29.490 | 6 | 20 | |
| 18 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 211 | 3:37’57.910 | 1 Lap | 1 Lap | 6 | Accident | 19 |
| 19 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Chevrolet | 211 | 3:37’57.947 | 1 Lap | 0.037 | 6 | Accident | 18 |
| 20 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Toyota | 211 | 3:37’58.053 | 1 Lap | 0.106 | 5 | Accident | 17 |
| 21 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 211 | 3:37’58.268 | 1 Lap | 0.215 | 16 | Accident | 19 |
| 22 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 211 | 3:37’58.275 | 1 Lap | 0.007 | 42 | Accident | 25 |
| 23 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Ford | 210 | 3:38’08.243 | 2 Laps | 1 Lap | Accident | 20 | |
| 24 | 42 | Noah Gragson | Chevrolet | 210 | 3:39’05.570 | 2 Laps | 57.327 | 13 | ||
| 25 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Toyota | 210 | 3:39’17.861 | 2 Laps | 12.291 | 17 | ||
| 26 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Ford | 210 | 3:39’20.585 | 2 Laps | 2.724 | 9 | 11 | |
| 27 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Ford | 208 | 3:37’16.756 | 4 Laps | 2 Laps | Accident | 11 | |
| 28 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 208 | 3:39’39.854 | 4 Laps | 2’23.098 | 15 | ||
| 29 | 50 | Conor Daly | Chevrolet | 206 | 3:39’21.762 | 6 Laps | 2 Laps | |||
| 30 | 78 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 204 | 3:39’28.706 | 8 Laps | 2 Laps | 7 | ||
| 31 | 84 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 203 | 3:20’58.059 | 9 Laps | 1 Lap | Accident | 10 | |
| 32 | 31 | Justin Haley | Chevrolet | 203 | 3:21’46.803 | 9 Laps | 48.744 | Accident | 5 | |
| 33 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 202 | 3:19’50.532 | 10 Laps | 1 Lap | Accident | 4 | |
| 34 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 202 | 3:19’50.623 | 10 Laps | 0.091 | Accident | 7 | |
| 35 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Ford | 182 | 2:56’04.048 | 30 Laps | 20 Laps | 5 | Accident | 2 |
| 36 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Ford | 181 | 2:51’57.248 | 31 Laps | 1 Lap | 4 | Accident | 10 |
| 37 | 43 | Erik Jones | Chevrolet | 118 | 1:41’16.699 | 94 Laps | 63 Laps | Accident | 1 | |
| 38 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 118 | 1:41’38.230 | 94 Laps | 21.531 | Accident | 1 | |
| 39 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Toyota | 117 | 1:39’55.468 | 95 Laps | 1 Lap | Accident | 1 | |
| 40 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 26 | 20’36.377 | 186 Laps | 91 Laps |