The ICL King of Daytona Season 3 keeps delivering chaos in the draft — and Round 5 with the ICL O’Reilly Auto Parts cars might have been the cleanest example yet of why this championship is so hard to win. With points stacked across multiple divisions at Daytona International Speedway, every finish is a double-edged sword: one great run can launch you up the board, and one rough night can bury you. This time, the spotlight belonged to Justin Johnson30, who timed the final move perfectly and walked away with a win that detonated the standings.
The finish was the kind you only get at Daytona. The race ended three-wide at the line, with Brayden E Carter leading the field to the checkers, Johnson charging on the outside, and Doug Welch making a big run on the inside. Carter threw the block to cover Welch’s lane, but that opened the door for Johnson to sneak around the outside and steal the win at the stripe. It was a massive points moment too — 12 points for the win, and a statement that Johnson isn’t just in this season… he’s a real threat to take over the entire series.
Carter’s second-place finish was still huge for the championship, even if it came up just short of the trophy. After being a constant presence near the top all season, Carter banked another big points haul and kept the pressure on the leader. Welch, meanwhile, grabbed third and did exactly what title leaders are supposed to do at Daytona: limit damage and keep scoring. That matters because King of Daytona doesn’t reward “one night heroes” — it rewards the drivers who stack points week after week, even when the win slips away by inches.
Beyond the podium, the top five brought more proof that this season is deep. Collin Lassiter powered to fourth and Jimmy Gikas rounded out the top five, both earning the kind of points that can quietly turn into standings momentum once the next divisions arrive. And if you want the speed marker of the night, Johnson backed up the win with raw pace too, laying down the fastest lap of the race at 47.995 — the quickest number on the board in a night where track position and timing meant everything.
The biggest standings storyline is the move Johnson made with this result. After coming into the round outside the core title conversation, Johnson’s victory launched him forward in a major way — the biggest jump in the standings, climbing 28 spots and putting himself inside the top group with real breathing room behind him. Up front, Welch remains the season points leader at 40, but the battle behind him is tightening: Carter is now second with 32, and Dennis Holley sits third with 23. With multiple divisions still remaining, the math is starting to look spicy — one more big swing round and this whole championship can flip again.
That’s what makes this stretch of the series so exciting. Welch has been the model of consistency and still holds the advantage, but Carter has stayed close enough to strike, Holley is sitting in a perfect “lurker” position, and now Johnson has injected a fresh dose of volatility into the hunt. Daytona’s draft doesn’t care about the points standings — but the standings definitely care about the draft.
RESULTS (Round 5):
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Justin Johnson30, 2) Brayden E Carter, 3) Doug Welch, 4) Collin Lassiter, 5) Jimmy Gikas, 6) Kevin Lee15, 7) Edward Owens, 8) Joshua Guydesen, 9) Kaleb Smith2, 10) Tyler Gentry2
STANDINGS (Top 10):
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Doug Welch – 40, 2) Brayden E Carter – 32, 3) Dennis Holley – 23, 4) Kaleb Smith2 – 20, 5) Warren Watkins – 15, 6) Justin Johnson30 – 14, 7) Benedict Ringer – 14, 8) Winston Deel – 12, 9) Kevin L Haase – 12, 10) Tim Lancaster – 12
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