DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The NASCAR season begins in earnest on Sunday with the Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on Fox), but the Cup Series has already delivered a bizarre moment.
Erik Jones crossed the start-finish line barely ahead of Austin Cindric to end the second Duel race as other drivers in the field crashed behind them. He then parked on the frontstretch and began to celebrate his first Duel win.
However, this celebration only lasted a few moments. NASCAR announced that the finish was under review because the tower had thrown the caution before Jones crossed the finish line.
Instead of grabbing the checkered flag and doing an interview with Fox Sports, Jones had to stand by and wait for the disappointing news that he did not actually win. The replay showed that Cindric was in the lead at the time the caution lights came on.
Take a look at the photo used by NASCAR at the time of caution to determine @AustinCindric as the winner of Duel 2. pic.twitter.com/PIwV81GOgd
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 14, 2025
"It's a bummer," Jones said after hearing that he wasn't the winner. "It's the rule. If the yellow is out, the race is over and it's unfortunate but either way, I feel like the Advent Camry was really fast.
"It was fun running up front, fun leading some laps, fun contending for the win. I did everything I could. It just didn't work out and hopefully, we can be in that same spot again on Sunday."
Why did the caution come out as the drivers headed to the start-finish line for the final time? According to NASCAR, the Tower thought there were significant enough hits from several cars. Officials wanted to slow the field down as quickly as possible.
Jones was not the only driver initially left confused by the bizarre sequence of events. Cindric knew that he was ahead of Jones at one point, but he didn't know for sure if he had won his first Duel after three consecutive runner-ups.
He even parked down on pit road after the race, which forced the Fox Sports crew to run across the infield so they could interview him. Once Cindric heard the news that he had won, he stood on pit road with a stunned look on his face while teammate Joey Logano just laughed.
Not so fast. Austin Cindric wins Duel No. 2 at Daytona! pic.twitter.com/kwaWtNW0Vn
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 14, 2025
"I knew it was going to be super close at the line," the Team Penske driver said. "Obviously, it was, but, yeah, then to have the poor guy go to the start-finish line and celebrate and all that."
The bizarre moments did not end with drivers in the wrong spots at the end of the race. Cindric also ran into unexpected issues when he headed to the start-finish line to get the checkered flag.
He couldn't find the person who traditionally hands the winning driver the flag. Cindric wandered around with his arms in the air before he decided to just throw his hat into the stands.
"Yeah, it wasn't exactly expected," Cindric said about the finish during a post-race press conference. "I did go up to get the checkered flag, and the flagman was gone.
"So I didn't get the flag, which was a bummer because I was going to give it to (crew chief Brian Wilson) for his birthday present, but I don't get to do that."
The Duel races at Daytona delivered some unexpected moments and a finish that could be considered controversial. This only sets up what should be a wild season once the races count toward playoff eligibility.