Five to Watch: Daytona summer race

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series makes a quick turn down south after Chicagoland, heading to the World Center of Racing with Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Daytona International Speedway. Coming off a wild Chicago race and looking to an always-exciting Daytona, here are five story lines to watch this weekend:

TEAM PENSKE TRIO: The Team Penske Fords showed speed during practice and qualifying at Chicagoland and during parts of the race, too. Ryan Blaney led 19 laps around Chicago, while Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano picked up two top 10s for the team. Daytona should be no different, if not better. Team Penske has won two of the last three restrictor-plate events; Blaney was out front for a race-high 118 laps in the 2018 Daytona 500; and Keselowski won the summer Daytona race in 2016.

ARIC ALMIROLA: Two loose wheels plagued an otherwise career day for Aric Almirola, who led a race-high 70 laps at Chicagoland before his day was derailed on pit road. Daytona is the perfect spot for the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing driver to bounce back; he won the summer Daytona race in 2014 and has an average finish of 10.5 in his last four trips there.

DENNY HAMLIN: Still searching for his first win of 2018 and coming off a quiet-but-solid seventh place at Chicagoland, Denny Hamlin as a race winner prediction at wildcard Daytona is as good as it gets. The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver won the 2016 Daytona 500, has led laps in six of his last seven Daytona races and has recorded six top-six results in his last nine races. For an unpredictable Daytona, those kind of numbers bode well for the No. 11.

RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won two of the four restrictor-plate races last season and is the reigning race winner of the Daytona summer event. The No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing group is struggling a bit more this season for speed -- Stenhouse only houses three top 10s thus far -- but a fifth-place showing at Talladega in May shows that the team's plate game may yield strong results for the No. 17.

SURPRISE WINNER: What's a Five to Watch at Daytona without mentioning the unpredictable winner element? Daytona is considered a wildcard race and for smaller teams, it's a chance to score some points -- or perhaps even find Victory Lane. Look for drivers like Chris Buescher, David Ragan or Bubba Wallace -- who impressed in his first Daytona 500 in February with a runner-up finish -- to make a splash in the top group of cars.