DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ryan Blaney won a four-wide race across the Daytona International Speedway finish line Saturday night in NASCAR's regular-season finale — a victory that denied a long-shot driver a spot in the playoffs and gave Alex Bowman postseason life.

Blaney was 13th with two laps to go but muscled his Team Penske Ford to the front and surged slightly ahead as he led the pack to the checkered flag. He beat Daniel Suarez by 0.031 seconds, Justin Haley by 0.036 seconds and Cole Custer by 0.049 seconds.

Erik Jones was fifth and Chris Buescher sixth. Any of the drivers behind Blaney would have been first-time winners this season and claimed the final spot in the 16-driver playoff field.

But Blaney — a former series champion already locked into the field — denied them of the Cind

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