See where your favorite driver will pit for Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Daytona International Speedway.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 26, 2020) — NASCAR announced today a multiyear Official Partnership with Oura Health, the technology company behind the smart ring that provides users with biometrics and analysis into their sleep and overall health to improve performance and monitor for potential illness. Through the partnership, Oura becomes an Official Health Technology Partner of NASCAR.
After rigorous vetting by NASCAR, Oura emerged as an accurate and efficient solution to advance the organization’s approach to health and wellness. As part of the agreement, NASCAR Cup Series drivers and key operational employees across the sanctioning body will be provided with an Oura Ring, which delivers personalized readiness, activity and sleep insights to provide a holistic picture of a person’s health.
By monitoring changes in an individual’s temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) and respiratory rate, Oura Rings can also potentially detect abnormal fluctuations in asymptomatic carriers as well as previously healthy individuals who are experiencing the onset of a disease. Oura Rings have been used in TemPredict, a study at University of California, San Francisco, and in a separate study at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI) West Virginia University — contributing to a growing body of research on illness detection, symptom profiles, and recovery.
“In today’s challenging environment Oura Rings provide an edge to keep our athletes and employees safe,” said John Bobo, Vice President, Racing Operations. “Oura’s advanced technology will work glove in hand with NASCAR’s safety protocols. What impressed us was the quality of data that Oura collects, and how high performing athletes and individuals can use that to improve their performance. We also look forward to a long-term partnership and what we can learn from Oura in the years ahead.”
Building on significant advancements in research, and its long-standing Oura Teams product, Oura has developed the Health Risk Management (HRM) platform to help support NASCAR’s safety protocols. This platform assigns a unique Risk Score to participating athletes and staff members. The score indicates the likelihood that an individual is experiencing symptoms that correlate with illness. In the event someone is experiencing symptoms, Oura will send an alert directly to the individual and inform them of the recommended next steps, such as taking a COVID-19 test, seeking further medical attention or isolating themselves from others.
“We are thrilled to join NASCAR in its effort to provide employees and athletes with the most accurate data and insights to help improve their overall health and assist in detecting the early onset of illness,” said Harpreet Singh Rai, CEO, Oura Health. “Our goal is to help NASCAR and its industry make more informed decisions as they enter the Playoffs, with an eye towards the future and the performance benefits our technology can provide.”
To protect the privacy of participants, the HRM platform is designed to be 100% voluntary and opt-in only. Drivers and league personnel can ask to be removed from the program at any time. All biometric data collected will remain private. Additionally, the Oura Ring does not track user location.
Fittings for the initial phase of the Oura Ring deployment in NASCAR are scheduled to begin in the coming week, with the goal of all participating NASCAR Cup Series drivers and employees being outfitted by the first round of the Playoffs.
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season has been an unusual one, and a pivotal moment arrives this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The historic 2.5-mile track hosts the regular-season finale for the first time with Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Daytona will also hold a race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series before the weekend culminates in the track’s annual 400-miler, moved from its usual Independence Day slot. The 16-driver field for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will be determined after the event. Three spots are still up for grabs.
Here’s all the info for taking in the Cup Series’ 26th points-paying race of the season:
RELATED: How to follow the races | Daytona weekend schedule
TRACK DETAILS
Daytona International Speedway, the “World Center of Racing,” is a 2.5-mile superspeedway that opened for racing in 1959. The 3,800-foot frontstretch has a tri-oval bend at the start-finish line that’s banked at 18 degrees. The backstretch measures 3,000 feet, and the turns are banked at a 31-degree tilt.
Bob Welborn is listed as the track’s first Cup Series winner on Feb. 20, 1959, claiming a 100-mile Daytona 500 qualifying race, which for years counted as an official event. The first Daytona 500 crown-jewel race was held two days later with NASCAR Hall of Famer Lee Petty taking the laurels in a photo finish over Johnny Beauchamp.
Saturday’s event will mark the 147th official Cup Series race at the 2.5-mile track, which replaced speed trials and a beach-road course on the shores of the Atlantic. The track has scheduled its summertime event to be held under the lights since 1998.
STAGE LENGTHS
Stage 1 is set to end at Lap 50, Stage 2 at Lap 100, with the full distance scheduled for 160 laps (400 miles).
STARTING LINEUP
For the third weekend this year, the starting lineup and pit-stall selection are determined by three weighted performance metrics. The competition-based formula replaces the grouped random-draw element that was used during the bulk of the 2020 regular season. Competition officials announced July 21 all three national series would continue to race without practice or qualifying through the end of the year.
The formula uses three performance metrics, which will be weighted and averaged to determine the lineup and pit selection order:
- Finishing position from the previous race (weighted 50%)
- Ranking in team owner points standings (35%)
- Fastest lap from the previous race (15%)
The competition-based formula also brings back the awarding of the Busch Pole Award in the NASCAR Cup Series.
RELATED: Official lineup | Pit stall selections
RULES PACKAGE
A revised 2020 NASCAR rules package for superspeedways will be in effect, with engine restrictions designed for a target horsepower around 510 with a smaller throttle body. Changes were made to reduce the closing rate of cars making dramatic aerodynamic gains. The cars will not be equipped with aero ducts. Other aerodynamic measures — including a 9-inch rear spoiler plus wicker and a two-inch splitter overhang — will be used. Officials added other superspeedway safety measures May 1 before the series’ most recent race at sister track Talladega Superspeedway.
No choose rule will be in effect for restarts this weekend. The choose procedure — implemented for most national-series races in an Aug. 6 announcement — does not apply to superspeedways or road courses.
GOODYEAR TIRES
Teams in both the Cup and Xfinity Series will compete on the same Goodyear Eagle Superspeedway Radials that were used during Daytona’s Speedweeks in February. The tire setup first debuted in the Cup Series in July 2019, when the tire construction was last updated. The last refinement to the tread compound came in July 2017, when both left- and right-side tires were modified to increase grip.
“Having mechanical grip in the tires gives the cars the needed stability with the tight-style racing we see at Daytona,” said Greg Stucker, director of Goodyear’s racing operations. “We build in mechanical grip with the tread compounds we choose. We fine-tuned that choice for Daytona in 2017 and then followed up with a test the day after the 2019 Daytona 500, which led us to updating the constructions of the tires in this set-up as well. Those constructions added a little more stagger to this set-up, which also enhances the handling of the cars through the corners.”
Cup Series teams will have seven sets of tires allotted for their Saturday night race. Xfinity Series teams will be allotted four sets of tires their 100-lap, 250-mile race Friday night.
STATS TO KNOW
— Three playoff berths remain for the claiming in the regular-season finale. Clint Bowyer sits 14th on the provisional playoff grid with enough of a points cushion to clinch, barring a catastrophe and other unlikely fates aligning for his pursuers. Matt DiBenedetto ranks 15th, just five points ahead of William Byron in 16th and nine points ahead of Jimmie Johnson, who lurks just outside the provisional field. The possibility also remains for an eligible driver well outside the playoff bubble to clinch a spot with a last-minute Daytona victory.
— Martin Truex Jr.’s consistency knows few bounds as his most recent finishes, dating to Kansas Speedway on July 23, read like this: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2. It’s the longest streak of top-three finishes without a win in Cup Series history. Truex aims to end another streak Saturday — 0-for-61 for his Cup Series career in superspeedway races,. the longest drought among active drivers.
— Toyota has won three of the last four Cup Series races at Daytona, including two consecutive Daytona 500 wins from Denny Hamlin. Chevrolet’s most recent Daytona win came as a rain-shortened upset in this race last year by Justin Haley and Spire Motorsports. Ford last won at Daytona with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2017, during his time with Roush Fenway Racing.
— Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney has the hot hand at the series’ big ovals, finishing first or second in the last three superspeedway events. That streak includes a pair of Talladega wins and a runner-up result in the season-opening Daytona 500.
— Starting position hasn’t had a huge impact on determining a Daytona winner in recent years. The starting positions of the last five Daytona victors: 14th, 29th, 10th, 34th, 21st. The last time a driver won from the pole position came in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s triumph in the summer of 2015.
— The last driver to sweep Daytona’s two annual events was Jimmie Johnson, who went 2-for-2 in 2013. Before that, the most recent driver to seal a Daytona season sweep was Bobby Allison in 1982.
Source: Racing Insights, NASCAR statistics
LIVE COVERAGE
Daytona’s weekend schedule begins with Friday night’s Xfinity Series race, the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
On Saturday, the NASCAR Cup Series holds the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
In other national-series events, the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series visits World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway for a Sunday start (noon ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The ARCA Menards Series also returns to the 1.25-mile Gateway track for a Saturday evening show (6:15 p.m. ET on NBC TrackPass Gold and MRN).
RELATED: Ways to follow the races
For a more interactive experience, steer over to NASCAR.com or the NASCAR app to check out an enhanced Race Center, live Lap-by-Lap coverage, the customizable live leaderboard with Scanner and the return of Drive (featuring in-car cameras).
Be sure to set your lineup in Fantasy Live and make your picks in the NASCAR Finish Line App.
ACTIVE DAYTONA WINNERS
Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson (three wins); Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth (two wins); Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (one win).
Kevin Harvick sped his way to the Busch Pole Award for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App) following a sterling performance in the second race of a Dover doubleheader.
The lineup was determined using NASCAR’s new competition-based formula, which takes into account finishing position from the previous race (weighted 50%), ranking in team owner points (35%) and the fastest lap from the previous race (15%) — and Harvick placed first in all categories.
RELATED: Learn more about the new lineup formula | Regular Season champ gear
Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, will join him on the front row after a strong weekend at Dover that included runner-up finishes in both NASCAR Cup Series races.
In the majority of national series events since NASCAR’s May return, starting lineups have been set by random draws. The new structure draws on performance from both individual races and season-long results, rather than leaving a range of starting spots up to chance.
An example of how the math works: Harvick finished first in the last race (1 x 0.5), is first in owner points (1 x 0.35) and his fastest lap in Sunday’s race at Dover ranked first in the field (1 x 0.15). His metric total is a perfect 1.00. Truex Jr., meanwhile, had a metric total of 3.9 to claim second; he finished second Sunday to Harvick (2 x 0.5), is fourth in owner points (4 x 0.35) and scored the 10th-fastest lap of the race (10 x 0.15).
Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, widely considered two of the best superspeedway racers in the garage, will line up third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Jimmie Johnson — in the thick of the playoff hunt — will both start inside the top 10 at sixth and seventh, respectively.
See the full starting lineup for Saturday’s race below.
| Starting spot | Driver | Car # | Team |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 22 | Team Penske |
| 4 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | Team Penske |
| 5 | Aric Almirola | 10 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 6 | William Byron | 24 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 7 | Jimmie Johnson | 48 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 8 | Alex Bowman | 88 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 9 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | Team Penske |
| 10 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 11 | Kyle Busch | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 12 | Austin Dillon | 3 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 13 | Kurt Busch | 1 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | 14 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 15 | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 | Wood Brothers Racing |
| 16 | Cole Custer | 41 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | 17 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 18 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 19 | Matt Kenseth | 42 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 20 | Erik Jones | 20 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 21 | Bubba Wallace | 43 | Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 22 | Ryan Newman | 6 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 23 | Christopher Bell | 95 | Leavine Family Racing |
| 24 | John Hunter Nemechek | 38 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 25 | Corey LaJoie | 32 | GoFas Racing |
| 26 | Michael McDowell | 34 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 27 | Chase Elliott | 9 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 28 | Ryan Preece | 37 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 29 | Ty Dillon | 13 | Germain Racing |
| 30 | Daniel Suarez | 96 | Gaunt Brothers Racing |
| 31 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 32 | Brennan Poole | 15 | Premium Motorsports |
| 33 | JJ Yeley | 27 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 34 | Quin Houff | 00 | StarCom Racing |
| 35 | Timmy Hill | 66 | Motorsports Business Management |
| 36 | Ross Chastain | 77 | Spire Motorsports |
| 37 | Joey Gase | 53 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 38 | James Davison | 51 | Petty Ware Racing |
| 39 | Josh Bilicki | 7 | Tommy Baldwin Racing |
| 40 | Brendan Gaughan | 62 | BeardMotorsports |
Cole Custer soaked in his first experience with NASCAR’s Next Gen model for the 2022 Cup Series in a two-day test held Monday and Tuesday at Dover International Speedway.
First impressions? The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate has them, but for now the more lasting takeaway is the physical toll of tacking on a pair of test days — goal: 500 miles — to a weekend doubleheader of 311-mile races.
RELATED: Next Gen photos (March 2-3)
“Right now, I’m wore the hell out,” Custer said with a laugh. “We’ve surpassed 1,000 miles in four days at Dover and it’s probably the toughest track for that physically.”
The Monday-Tuesday sessions at the Monster Mile marked the fifth on-track test for the proposed 2022 model and the first since the outbreak of COVID-19 scrubbed a March 16-17 session at Atlanta with Clint Bowyer, a teammate of Custer’s at Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s also the second test for the “P3” prototype, the third test car built as a collaboration with Richard Childress Racing and the team at the NASCAR Research & Development Center.
Custer said NASCAR and team officials tested a similar package to the current Cup Series setup for Dover. He indicated that the biggest difference he could sense was in the steering, which produced a lighter feel to the steering wheel with the rack-and-pinion system versus the current car’s steering box.
Custer also indicated a best lap time estimated at 23.8 seconds around the 1-mile track, a clocking that would translate to a speed of just better than 151 mph. That speed is slightly slower than the best lap of 154.746 mph that SHR teammate Kevin Harvick posted on the way to his seventh win of the season in Sunday’s Drydene 311.
Custer said that it was too soon to make a judgment about how the Next Gen model might perform with passing attempts in traffic.
“Now I feel like we have all the bugs worked out and you can go run competitive lap times, and now we’re just trying to figure out what makes it generally setup-wise what’s gonna make it go faster, what’s gonna make it gain lap time and what’s gonna be best for the long run,” Custer said during a Tuesday lunch break between test runs. “Right now we’re just trying to knock out big picture things setup-wise, but, overall, I feel like it’s too early to tell how it’s gonna work in traffic. We’re too early in the going I feel like right now, so that’s gonna come a little bit later on.
“There’s nothing that jumps out at me that’s totally bad or totally good, either. It’s just a matter of trying to figure out what’s gonna make it good setup-wise and what’s gonna make it go faster.”
John Probst, NASCAR Senior VP of Innovation and Racing Development, said the Dover test has checked off several goals for Next Gen development, including adding a new organization into the mix with SHR’s participation both days. Other objectives, Probst said, were testing durability on Dover’s high-load concrete layout, putting miles on final-production parts in the driveline and validating how the car would react to adjustments.
Probst acknowledged having to make the prudent decision to suspend testing after the arrival of the pandemic, which also delayed the car’s debut to 2022. But he said he was also encouraged by the timetable of next steps in the Next Gen car’s development, including giving manufacturer-specific bodies the R&D Center’s OK.
“Right now, the most important part of the project is getting all of the OEM bodies approved by the end of September,” Probst said. “That is a really big milestone for us, and we’re on track to hit it. In terms of on-track testing, we still want to get to a superspeedway, and we’re looking at something at Daytona after the season ends. There is also significant enough interest that we may look into doing other on-track tests.”
So far, Next Gen prototypes have been shaken down at a variety of tracks. On-track sessions began with Austin Dillon at .75-mile Richmond on Oct. 18-19 of last year, then continued with Joey Logano at 1-mile Phoenix (Dec. 9-10), Erik Jones at 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami (Jan. 15-16) and William Byron at 2-mile Auto Club Speedway (March 2-3).
Now add what Custer called a mostly issue-free test at the rigorous mile at Dover to that list.
“It’s just a matter of trying to go to all the different race tracks and figure out what the different bugs they have to work out at these different race tracks because every single one is gonna have their own kind of thing,” Custer said. “So just the more that they can go to different racetracks and test, the better it’s gonna be. I think at this point, you can go out there and run laps and you can probably put some cars out there together, but the next stage is gonna find out aero-wise what they do in traffic and what’s gonna make them better or worse.”
Six NASCAR Cup Series teams and three on the Xfinity Series side were fined Tuesday for lug-nut violations during each series’ weekend doubleheader at Dover International Speedway.
STANDINGS: Cup Series | Xfinity Series
The safety violations for having one unsecured lug nut apiece resulted in monetary fines for each team’s respective crew chief — $10,000 in the Cup Series and $5,000 in the Xfinity Series. Both series conducted a pair of races on the 1-mile Delaware track.
The following Cup Series teams (in numerical order) were fined:
- No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet for driver Austin Dillon (crew chief Justin Alexander)
- No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for driver Denny Hamlin (crew chief Chris Gabehart)
- No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for driver Erik Jones (crew chief Chris Gayle)
- No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford for driver Matt DiBenedetto (crew chief Greg Irwin)
- No. 22 Team Penske Ford for driver Joey Logano (crew chief Paul Wolfe)
- No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota for driver Christopher Bell (crew chief Jason Ratcliff)
Xfinity Series teams that drew fines were:
- No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for driver Riley Herbst (crew chief Dave Rogers)
- No. 22 Team Penske Ford for driver Austin Cindric (crew chief Brian Wilson)
- No. 44 Martins Motorsports Chevrolet for driver Tommy Joe Martins (crew chief Buddy Sisco)
DARLINGTON, S.C. (August 25, 2020) – Darlington Raceway (Darlington) and Cook Out expand their existing partnership to include the entitlement of the famed Southern 500® on Sunday, Sept. 6. The 2020 opening NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at the track Too Tough to Tame will officially be named the Cook Out Southern 500®.
“It takes a special authentic brand to match the heat of competition in the NASCAR Playoffs at the track Too Tough To Tame, so we are proud to welcome Cook Out to the 71st running of the Southern 500,” said Darlington President Kerry Tharp. “Cook Out is known for serving their fresh burgers, barbecue, hot dogs and shakes across the south for over 30 years, and we look forward to expanding our partnership for the Cook Out Southern 500.”
Cook Out, one of the fastest growing family-owned restaurant chains in the nation, is the Official Quick Service Restaurant of Darlington and holds exclusive promotional rights to the track Too Tough To Tame.
“The Cook Out team is thankful and thrilled to partner with NASCAR and Darlington Raceway on the historic Southern 500,” said Jeremy Reaves, CEO, Cook Out.
Cook Out will have a large presence with at-track signage for the upcoming Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR and the Cook Out Southern 500® at Darlington. The brand will have a trackside billboard, four track wall locations, starter’s stand and scoring pylon branding, frontstretch asphalt logo, and Turn 3 apron asphalt logo.
Since opening its first restaurant in Greensboro, N.C., in 1989, Cook Out has been known for its fresh burgers, barbecue, hot dogs and shakes and Coca-Cola as part of the “best combos in town.” The family-owned restaurant chain has since grown to over 250 locations across 10 states (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia).
To learn more about Cook Out and find the nearest location, visit cookout.com.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 25, 2020) — NASCAR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim France today announced a key addition to the highest level of NASCAR’s leadership team, appointing NASCAR President Steve Phelps to the Board of Directors.
Steve Phelps becomes the fifth member of NASCAR’s Board of Directors, joining France; Lesa France Kennedy, Executive Vice Chair; Mike Helton, Senior Advisor to NASCAR; and Gary Crotty, Chief Legal Officer.
“Steve’s unwavering leadership and dedication to growing our sport through even the most challenging times has been remarkable,” said Jim France. “Steve understands every part of our business and has demonstrated a consistently confident and steady presence in the face of adversity. He will be a valued and trusted addition to the Board of Directors as we work to build a stronger NASCAR for our fans and our sport.”
“I am incredibly honored to be appointed to the Board of Directors,” said Phelps. “As a lifelong fan of the sport, I feel a great sense of pride and duty in our work to position the sport for long-term success. I am grateful for the leadership and example set by the France family and am genuinely humbled by their continued trust in me.”
Phelps has served as NASCAR President since 2018 and has been with the sanctioning body in various roles, including Chief Operating Officer, since 2005. He is only the fifth person to hold the position of NASCAR President. During his tenure as President, Phelps has pioneered important growth initiatives, oversaw the landmark merger and integration with ISC, instituted a Premier Partner model for the NASCAR Cup Series, and spearheaded a number of innovative changes to enhance the competition on track.
When Erik Jones’ 2021 racing plans slipped deeper into uncertainty this month, he received a text from an unlikely but empathetic peer in Joey Logano.
Jones provided an update on his status in a Tuesday teleconference with reporters, sharing that Logano was among those to reach out in a show of support after the news that he would part ways with Joe Gibbs Racing after the season. That initial conversation after the weekend doubleheader at Michigan led to a lunch invitation, part of Jones’ emphasis on talking to as many people as possible for insights on his next career move.
RELATED: Key figures in Silly Season | Jones’ potential landing spots
Jones said he hasn’t been especially close with Logano through the years. (Jones has been immersed in the Toyota system, with Logano aligned with Team Penske and Ford.) But they share a bond as a former driver and soon-to-be-former driver of JGR’s No. 20, with Logano joining Penske in 2013 and amassing 23 wins and a NASCAR Cup Series championship in the years since.
“In this situation for me, I’m just talking to as many people as I can, just trying to get different sides of and seeing what they know and what they went through and how they would do it, and just getting a lot of different opinions,” Jones said. “Joey and I met for lunch that week, and it was a good chat. We sat there for an hour, hour and a half, and kind of talked about what he went through at JGR, and obviously he got moved on from JGR as well around the same age that I was and had to find a different opportunity, so it was really interesting to hear what he went through and then what changed for him.
“Obviously, he went from not being 100 percent competitive where he wanted to be at JGR to being obviously a champion after he left, so I kind of wanted to know what switched for him and what really clicked for him after he left. It was just interesting. It was an enlightening conversation. I thought I learned a lot from him and what he went through.”
Without delving into specific targets, Jones said he was involved in ongoing talks with multiple teams about his options for 2021. His immediate goal for closing out his JGR tenure on a strong note centers on this Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Daytona International Speedway, where Jones’ path to the Cup Series Playoffs hinges on a virtual must-win situation in the regular-season finale.
Jones says he’s been splitting his focus between this season’s aspirations and finding next season’s security, “burning up the phone” since learning Aug. 6 that he would not return to the No. 20 Toyota.
“Just trying to work on opportunities and find out what’s out there for next year because I didn’t have really an inkling that I was going to be in that spot,” Jones says, who had mentioned during the Michigan weekend that he was blindsided by the move. He added Tuesday that he wasn’t bitter about the decision, that he understood the business aspects of the sport. “So I guess that’s probably more of what I’ve been focused on right now, which is unfortunate because I want to be focused on racing 100 percent and be able to do what I need to do there to go and be competitive each and every week — and I’ve been putting in the time on that as well, but it definitely seems like it’s been split more to the side of me trying to work on opportunities for next year.
“I still have a season to finish out with JGR and what I want to do there and still owe them the rest of the season. I’m still under contract with them, but I need to find an opportunity for next year. I still want to be racing in the Cup Series, so I’ve been trying to hustle and trying to find opportunities.”
Matt DiBenedetto’s hopes to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the first time looked nearly airtight not many weeks ago. Those chances started seeping after last weekend’s two races at Dover International Speedway, leaving his bid in limbo for the regular-season finale.
At least on paper, the post-race words of DiBenedetto — one of the Cup Series’ most reliably cheery drivers — struck a glum tone heading into Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Daytona International Speedway. The 16-driver postseason field will be determined after the 400-miler, and the track’s tendency toward multicar wrecks threatens to sway the playoff picture’s complexion. DiBenedetto’s finishes of 20th and 17th at Dover did not provide much of a points buffer to offset any potential Daytona pitfalls.
MORE: Cup Series standings | Daytona weekend schedule
“I am going to sit and hope and pray all week that we can just come out of there clean and make the playoffs,” said DiBenedetto, who holds just a nine-point edge over the playoff cut. “We shouldn’t be this close to the bubble. It is frustrating. A couple weeks messed us up. Getting wiped out at Texas and Kansas really hurt us points-wise, and then we come here and really hurt ourselves here. It has been a tough go of circumstances and going to Daytona is going to make it quite an uncomfortable week.”
The 29-year-old driver, in his first season with the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 team, once held a 68-point advantage above the provisional postseason cutoff after a third-place finish at Kentucky Speedway on July 12. That edge fluctuated slightly in the events that immediately followed, but still stood at 57 points just four races ago at the conclusion of the weekend doubleheader at Michigan International Speedway.
In the weeks that followed Michigan, DiBenedetto’s cushion dipped sharply to 44 points after the Daytona Road Course, 27 points after the Dover opener and to the current nine-point gap once Dover concluded.
“There have been a lot of variables and we are competing to make the playoffs, which has been good, but if we miss it knowing that the tracks the second half of the year that are in the playoffs would be beneficial for us, if we miss them I will be a pretty grumpy individual the rest of the year,” DiBenedetto said. “It is what it is. We have worked hard to be in that position. I hope we make it. I don’t want to be negative at all, but it is hard after coming out of this weekend and getting a huge deficit in points and a ton of points chopped from us because we ran so bad in both races. It is just frustrating, and we will have to go to Daytona and do the best job we can and know we have really good teammates and the Fords are fast and try to come out of there clean. I would be very excited the rest of the season.”
DiBenedetto’s Dover fade coincided with a modest revival for Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Jimmie Johnson, who made gains in both the results column and in gathering stage points at the 1-mile track. DiBenedetto sits just five points ahead of Byron (provisionally the final driver in) and nine points ahead of Johnson (provisionally first out).
MORE: Johnson, Byron rise at Dover
Momentum, however, can radically swing on Daytona’s high banks, where opportunities abound for a potential latecomer to the playoff dance. DiBenedetto says he believes the high stakes will produce more aggressive racing and that luck would likely play a role in the outcome.
As for luck, DiBenedetto says it’s a factor that’s difficult to manufacture yourself.
“No, not really. I haven’t figured that out. If you know, please let me know,” DiBenedetto said. “This would be a good week to figure it out. But yeah, I have crashed in the back, the middle, running second multiple times. On the bottom, the middle, the top. You name it and I have been minding my own business and gotten wiped out. So, sometimes it doesn’t really matter how smart you race and what you do and all the things you do right, even if you are running first or second. It just is a lot that is out of your hands at those places. I am not trying to be negative Nancy about it, but I am just frustrated that we are even in this position that we are on the bubble and this close.”