It’s been a brutal Daytona race week for Anthony Alfredo – one that went from triumphant to disastrous in record time. The Fast Pasta driver raced his way into the Daytona 500 with a hard-earned 18th-place finish in Duel 2, only for the celebration to evaporate within hours. After inspection, NASCAR announced he was officially disqualified from the Great American Race due to two violations found on the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet. And just when it seemed like things couldn’t get any worse… they absolutely did. Alfredo’s Daytona spiral was only beginning.

Alfredo’s nightmare week gets even worse

Anthony Alfredo’s Daytona luck somehow managed to go from bad to catastrophic. After losing his Daytona 500 spot overnight due to a post-Duel disqualification, his United Rentals 300 race ended before it even began. At the drop of the green flag, the field stacked up immediately, creating a chain reaction that sent Brennan Poole and Jeremy Clements spinning through the infield.

Mason Maggio absorbed heavy front-end damage, and Alfredo (along with Luke Fenhaus, Natalie Decker, Patrick Emerling, Lavar Scott, and Josh Williams) was collected in the mess with nowhere to go. The caution waved before the field even got moving, and Alfredo’s race was effectively over on Lap 1.

What makes the NOAP Daytona race crash sting even more is how hard teams worked just to get him into this race. Viking Motorsports and Alpha Prime Racing struck a last-minute deal on Friday to put Alfredo in the No. 4 Chevrolet for the season-opening O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at Daytona.

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It was a lifeline after he failed to qualify into the United Rentals 300 Daytona race on speed, with the No. 96 Chevrolet slotted 41st once 2025 owner points were factored in. The agreement ensured Alfredo, and primary sponsor Dude Wipes, could still compete, score driver points, and salvage his season after Thursday’s Daytona 500 heartbreak. “Heartbroken is an understatement,” he tweeted along with a heartfelt video after his disqualification news, just a day earlier.

While he hoped for an improved run in the NOAP Daytona race, his shot at redemption lasted all of a few seconds instead.

For a driver who showed so much speed entering Speedweeks, Alfredo’s Daytona story has turned into a brutal sequence of gut punches. And with the season just beginning, he’ll be hoping this stretch of bad luck ends just as quickly as it arrived.

A much-needed reminder of what really matters

After one of the most emotionally brutal weeks of his career, Anthony Alfredo leaned on the one place where luck can’t fail him – home. Just days removed from a Daytona heartbreak that spiraled from a Daytona 500 DQ to a DNQ to getting swept into a wreck at the start of the United Rentals 300, Alfredo paused the chaos to post a Valentine’s Day message to his wife, Emily. The photo, Emily holding their newborn daughter, was a grounding contrast to the unpredictability of racing.

“Happy Valentine’s Day to the one that makes my whole world go round. If it weren’t for you I don’t know where I’d be. I love you Emily,” the X post caption read. And if Alfredo needed a reminder that he’s not alone, NASCAR fans delivered. Support poured into his comments:

“All of NASCAR fans are gutted for you and the situation you have been put through. Chin up my guy,” wrote one fan. “Beautiful, that’s all that matters,” added another. One more echoed the sentiment shared by many: “This is way better than any race! God’s got a plan!”

Alfredo and Emily’s story has become one that fans have grown to love. The pair married on January 6, 2024, in Concord, North Carolina. In 2025, they celebrated their first anniversary, shortly before welcoming their daughter, Everleigh Grace Alfredo, on November 25, 2025. Through constant career swings, Alfredo’s family has been his anchor. Now, more than ever, it shows.

As Daytona delivers blow after blow to his racing season, Alfredo’s reminder is clear: racing may break your heart, but family puts it back together. And that might be the strength he needs heading into the rest of 2026.