Stenhouse holds on for win at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. raced to his second victory of the season — and second on a restrictor-plate track — Saturday night, winning the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Stenhouse picked up his first career NASCAR Cup Series win in May at Talladega. Just like last time, girlfriend Danica Patrick was there to greet him in victory lane — she had wrecked out shortly before and was the first person at his car window when he pulled in to celebrate.

“It validates what we did in Talladega,” Stenhouse said.

He earned this one for Roush Fenway Racing in a two-lap overtime sprint when leader David Ragan tried to block the field and lost momentum. Stenhouse squirted by and held on for the victory. He did it in a new car, too, because he wasn’t giving back the Ford he drove at Talladega.

“I kept my Talladega car and told them to build a new one,” he said. “I have been coming here since 2008. I actually came in 2006 one time with Bobby Hamilton Jr., and it is cool to put it in victory lane and get our second win this year.”

Clint Bowyer was second for the second consecutive week.

“This bridesmaid thing sucks,” Bowyer said. “But second is better than third.”

Bowyer gave Ford Performance a 1-2 finish for the manufacturer and engine builder Doug Yates.

Paul Menard was third, followed by Michael McDowell, Ryan Newman and Ragan.

Brendan Gaughan, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones and Chris Buescher rounded out the top 10. Many of the top contenders were knocked out in accidents, including Patrick.

The race had been billed as the final at Daytona for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is retiring at the end of the season. But he opens the door wider and wider every time he speaks about racing in the future, and winning the pole for Saturday night made him eligible for an exhibition race next February.

It set the stage for what felt like an Earnhardt kind of night, but he was forced into the wall riding in traffic early in the second stage, and it seemed to end the feel-good story.

But Earnhardt worked his way back inside the top 10 and was sixth and pushing hard, demanding on his radio to know who was in front of Kevin Harvick, when he hooked Harvick to trigger a multicar crash. Harvick said he got a flat tire right before the contact.

Earnhardt’s night was over, and he headed to the garage and a 32nd-place finish.

Xfinity Series: William Byron, 19, won his second consecutive series race by leading a 1-2 finish at Daytona for JR Motorsports. Byron got his first career Xfinity victory last weekend at Iowa.

Byron beat Elliott Sadler to the finish line; Dakoda Armstrong was third.

“This is so cool to win in Daytona,” Byron said. “We’ve had a great last three weeks. We’re bringing faster cars, executing better, and as a team we’re getting more and more confident.”