Saturday night marks the final race in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series regular season. Seventeen drivers will vie for the final playoff spot when the green flag drops for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock, NBC Sports App).
As Daytona International Speedway levels the battlefield, any of the drivers listed below can clinch their way into the 2023 postseason. Here are some notes on the drivers going for the 16th playoff position, courtesy of Racing Insights.
RELATED: Cup standings | Clinching scenarios at Daytona
✅ DRIVER ABOVE ELIMINATION LINE
BUBBA WALLACE
Points above: 32
Trending: Cold
Daytona outlook — Hit or Miss: Wallace is one of the top superspeedway racers at the Cup level. His first career win came at Talladega in the fall of 2021 and he’s finished runner-up twice in the Daytona 500 (2018, 2022). But his results have been on and off recently, wrecking out in both this year’s Daytona 500 and at Talladega in the spring.
☣️ ON THE BUBBLE
TY GIBBS
Points below: 32
Trending: OK
Daytona outlook — Cold: Gibbs’ top-five run at Watkins Glen kept him within striking distance of the 16th playoff spot. The math checks out for him to still point his way in but given Wallace’s prowess at superspeedways, Gibbs will need to manage his way to the front as soon as possible.
DANIEL SUÁREZ
Points below: 43
Trending: Hit or Miss
Daytona outlook — Cold Until 2023: Suárez has scored a top-10 finish in three of the four superspeedway races this season with the most recent being a runner-up finish in the rain-shortened night event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
🚩 MUST-WIN SITUATION
AJ ALLMENDINGER
Trending: Watkins Glen Snapped Cold Streak
Daytona outlook — Hot: In what may come as a surprise, Allmendinger has five consecutive top-10 finishes at Daytona. He finished sixth in this year’s running of the Daytona 500 and he’s got a teammate known for getting it done on superspeedways.
ALEX BOWMAN
Trending: Mostly Cold
Daytona outlook — Hit or Miss: Hendrick Motorsports knows how to qualify at the front of the field at Daytona but it’s the consistent results that have yet to show on the 2.5-mile oval. However, Bowman placed fifth in this year’s Daytona 500, which is his best result at the track.
CHASE ELLIOTT
Trending: Hit or Miss
Daytona outlook — Cooling off: Like Bowman, Elliott has a good chance to start toward the front of the field Saturday night. He owns two career runner-up finishes at Daytona and won two races at superspeedways last season.
AUSTIN CINDRIC
Trending: Cold
Daytona outlook — Hit or Miss: Cindric won the Daytona 500 to begin his rookie campaign but has yet to find Victory Lane in the Cup Series since. He’s also finished outside the top 10 in the last four superspeedway races.
JUSTIN HALEY
Trending: Cold
Daytona outlook — Cold: It’s surprising that Haley has yet to produce the superspeedway results at the Cup level that he did in Xfinity but that can all change Saturday night. Haley snagged the Daytona summer trophy in 2019.
RYAN PREECE
Trending: Cold
Daytona outlook — Hit or Miss: Having a skilled superspeedway teammate in Aric Almirola always helps but Preece has yet to produce steady results on this discipline with five straight finishes of 24th or worse at superspeedways.
ARIC ALMIROLA
Trending: Cold
Daytona outlook — Mostly Cold: Almirola knows how to run up front at superspeedways. He was less than half a lap from winning the Daytona 500 in 2018 and scored his first career Cup win at Daytona in 2014. If he can stay out of trouble, don’t be surprised if Almirola is the one to steal the final playoff spot Saturday night.
COREY LAJOIE
Trending: Cold
Daytona outlook — Cold: Mark down LaJoie as another driver that can steal the final playoff spot if he keeps his No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet clean. He has four straight finishes of 14th or worse at Daytona but did finish fourth at Atlanta in the spring.
ERIK JONES
Trending: Hit or Miss
Daytona outlook — Cold: Around this time last year, the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club team found a spark that propelled them to a Southern 500 win but weren’t in the playoffs. Jones has won at Daytona before and if he can steal the final playoff spot Saturday night, it could have him shocking the NASCAR world once again when the playoffs begin at Darlington.
AUSTIN DILLON
Trending: Cold
Daytona outlook — Hit or Miss: Austin Dillon is the defending winner of the regular-season finale after escaping the Big One unscathed last season. He was among those at the front in the closing stages of February’s Daytona 500 so there’s a good chance Dillon can pull off back-to-back shockers.
MORE: Racing Insights predicts regular-season finale results