Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Chip Ganassi Chevrolet is among six cars that will start at the rear for Sunday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway (1 p.m. ET; NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Larson had been slated to start 13th.

RELATED: Daytona starting lineup

Joining Larson at the rear for unapproved adjustments will be the No. 77 Chevrolet of Justin Haley (34th), the No. 53 Chevrolet of Joey Gase (40th) and the No. 62 Chevrolet of Brendan Gaughan (39th). Update on Sunday: The No. 95 Toyota of Matt DiBenedetto (25th) will also move to the rear for unapproved adjustments.

Additionally, William Byron will start at the rear in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for going to a backup car after his vehicle sustained damage from Brad Keselowski during practice at Daytona. Byron was slated to start 12th.

RELATED: Byron says Keselowski’s move was ‘unnecessary’

 

Posted on by Staff Report

For the second time in his career, Kevin Harvick has landed the coveted cover athlete role for the latest NASCAR video game. This time around, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver is joined by boss and fellow NASCAR champion Tony Stewart on the cover of NASCAR Heat 4.

Prior to the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, 704Games unveiled the new look and announced that the newest edition in the NASCAR Heat franchise is available for pre-order now at NASCARHeat.com. The game will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC.

“It’s an incredible honor to represent the Stewart-Haas racing team on the NASCAR Heat 4 cover alongside Tony,” said Harvick, who was last on the cover in 2005. “We have the best fans in the world, many of whom are very passionate about the NASCAR Heat franchise.”

RELATED: Pre-order your copy today

NASCAR Heat 4 sports a brand new look and feel for race fans, complete with stunning visual and audio enhancements, an upgraded user interface and the introduction of new tire models for various track types, making for an even more realistic racing experience on 38 virtual tracks across the country.

The fourth installment of the NASCAR Heat game also boasts a deeper career mode where players can operate and manage their own team and, for the first time, start in any of the four series included in the game.

The career mode will again include the Xtreme Dirt Tour, and dirt racing enthusiast Stewart will be the highest rated driver in the series, with his own team, Smoke Racing. Players will have the chance to join his team and race in his No. 14 custom Late Model paint scheme as they progress.

RELATED: Complete eNASCAR coverage

“My passion for dirt racing is well documented, so to play such a big part in that experience in NASCAR Heat 4 is exciting,” said Stewart. “The whole Stewart-Haas team is appreciative of the opportunity to be on the cover, and I can’t wait for fans to get a hold of the game and join my team.”

NASCAR Heat 4 is available to pre-order today for $49.99 (Standard Edition) & $69.99 (Gold Edition) at NASCARHeat.com and other retail websites.

Posted on by Nick Giffen

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

NASCAR heads to Daytona International Speedway for its annual Independence Day weekend tradition, the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Sunday afternoon’s race features the second race run under the new superspeedway rules package.

The first, at Talladega, produced fantastic racing similar to traditional restrictor plate races of the past.

I expect the same for Daytona, where the draft should play a large role, keeping cars packed tightly together. These racing conditions always lead to fear of the “Big One” where multiple cars — sometimes numbering in the double digits — are taken out in one major accident.

The draft and the potential for calamity make longshot value quite relevant at Daytona.

Ignore practice times when handicapping a superspeedway race — the draft renders practice irrelevant. Instead, look for drivers who have good superspeedway history and may be undervalued by the market.

RELATED: Updated odds for Daytona | Full schedule for Daytona

Only one driver can win, but multiple longshots have chances at top-three, top-five and top-10 finishes.

Let’s get into the best futures bets for tonight’s Coke Zero Sugar 400.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+2000) to Win

William Hill is offering a generous price on Stenhouse, a two-time superspeedway winner. Stenhouse is an incredibly aggressive driver who likes to lead these types of races. Stenhouse led twice at Daytona and three times at Talladega this year, confirming his drive to be out front.

In 2019, outside of superspeedways, Stenhouse has been strong at the races where the draft matters most — 1.5-mile tracks at night or with low tire wear. Now we’re at a race where the draft plays the ultimate role.

It’s reasonable to bet Stenhouse down to +1500 to win.

Aric Almirola (+2200) to Win

Both of Almirola’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins came at superspeedways. He won the 2014 edition of this race, and was leading last year’s Daytona 500 coming to the checkered flag before contact with Austin Dillon.

Almirola hasn’t had quite the season he had last year, finishing in a worse position in nine of his 17 races, while currently residing 11th in the point standings.

However, Almirola led 27 laps at Talladega but finished only ninth as the Chevrolet team strategy placed its cars in a better position to dominate the end of the race.

I’d bet him down to +1600.

Erik Jones (+3000) to Win

Jones currently sits outside of the playoff picture at 17th in the point standings. I believe his subpar performance is driving his long odds at MGM properties.

However, Jones is a fantastic superspeedway racer with a win-or-go-home record in these races. He’s either crashed out or finished inside the top nine in every superspeedway race of his Cup career except one.

Not only are his playoff hopes on the line, but his future at Joe Gibbs Racing is in doubt. This race might just be the antidote Jones needs in a year of uncertainty and struggle.

There’s value here down to +2500.

Other Futures Bets

Here are other futures bets I like for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. I will add to these as more lines become available.

  • Corey LaJoie top-10 finish (+700)
Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR.com will live stream “Racers Odds” on Saturday night prior to the Daytona night race, a show produced by the Performance Racing Network and the Vegas Stats & Information Network that gives last-minute gaming and odds analysis.

Hosts Jeff Hammond and John Roberts go live at 5:30 p.m. ET; fans can watch at NASCAR.com/liveevents.

MORE: Updated odds for Daytona | Bookmark the page now 

Special guests will help break down the night’s key betting story lines in the run-up to the green flag just after 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Want more? Visit NASCAR.com throughout the day for expert betting analysis from The Action Network, updated Las Vegas odds movement and last-minute Fantasy Live advice.

Posted on by Zack Albert

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR competition officials disqualified the Kaulig Racing No. 10 Chevrolet in the early Saturday morning hours at Daytona International Speedway, throwing out AJ Allmendinger’s third-place finish in Friday’s Xfinity Series event after the car failed post-race inspection.

Xfinity Series Managing Director Wayne Auton said a post-race vacuum check revealed a discrepancy in the engine of the Kaulig No. 10 entry. The team was relegated to last place in the 38-car field for Saturday’s Circle K Firecracker 250.

RELATED: Chastain gives Kaulig Racing first win | Race results

“Whenever you go, especially to restrictor-plate style races, the teams are very much aware that everything’s got to be sealed up tight,” Auton said. “It could compromise the ability of the restrictor plate to do its job.”

The infraction dialed back what initially appeared to be a 1-2-3 finish for the Matt Kaulig-owned team to a 1-2 result for race winner Ross Chastain and runner-up Justin Haley. Allmendinger was making his first NASCAR national series start of the season.

Auton said officials customarily check the first- and second-place cars in post-race inspection, then a third car at random. The first two passed the vacuum test and all other areas of the inspection.

Auton did not indicate whether additional penalties would be forthcoming.

“They are being DQ-ed and we’re going to go on to Kentucky next week,” Auton said.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Joey Logano will start from the front as the lineup was set by the rule book for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway (1 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Does he merit a spot in your Fantasy Live lineup? We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration.

PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the game works | Tips to set your lineup

RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Daytona:
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Ryan Blaney
3. Alex Bowman
4. Ryan Newman
5. Austin Dillon
Garage: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

MORE: Kyle Larson among five cars to the rear

RELATED: Odds for Daytona | 10-lap averages | Weekend preview

Analysis: I am treating this race as a bit of a reset for the final eight so that means the top drivers who I want to conserve uses with — Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski — are off limits. I don’t want to be caught burning a use from a race that could see some wrecks.

By and large, I am going with drivers who have fared well at Daytona in the past, as well as drivers I could see being aggressive for stage points. Blaney has the most stage points in the past three Daytona races — he simply struggles to get the finishes. Newman, Dillon and Stenhouse should all be aggressive for stage points as they need to make up ground in the standings, and Dillon and Stenhouse have won at Daytona in the past three years. I have five uses left on Hamlin and frankly, I’m not sure I’ll use him that much down the stretch, so I’m plugging him in here to not leave a use on the table. Bowman gets the nod because I have the uses and he has been quietly solid at Daytona in the past three races here.

Strategies make the bonus picks pretty tough to predict, so I am going to select a driver across the board for all three — the Stage 1, Stage 2 and race win — figuring that I’ll get one of them right. Since I’m not playing Logano, I’ll use the bonus picks as a chance to get points out of the man who will lead the field to green — I already got the five for the “pole.”

Each week in this space, we’ll also highlight two Props Challenge items for players.

MORE: Need Props help? The Action Network has you covered | Play the Props Challenge today

1. Which driver scores more points: Michael McDowell or David Ragan? Ragan has a win in this race — in 2011, but McDowell has been one of the best drivers at Daytona over the past two years — three top 10s in the past four races. Ragan has three finishes of 25th or worse in his last five Daytona starts.

2. O/U 13.5 different drivers score stage points. I like the over here. Simply put, do you think four drivers will score stage points in Stage 2 that don’t earn stage points in Stage 1. I certainly do and the numbers in this race back that up. In this race last year, 15 different drivers scored stage points. In the 2017 edition, 17 different drivers earned stage points.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kaulig Racing found Victory Lane for the first time in Friday night’s Circle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

In a wild race that featured five multi-car wrecks, Ross Chastain led teammates Justin Haley and AJ Allmendinger across the finish line in a 1-2-3 finish. However, while Chastain’s and Haley’s cars passed post-race inspection, the No. 10 of Allmendinger did not. As a result, the No. 10 was officially scored in last place.

RELATED: Allmendinger disqualified | Race results

“Oh, my god, we did it — Daytona!” exulted Chastain, a watermelon farmer from Florida who continued his roller-coaster ride in NASCAR racing with his first Xfinity Series victory of the season and the second of his career. “I watched these races in July as a kid, and I never could come (to the track) because we were growing watermelons.

“The guys right here (from Kaulig Racing) gave me a car that could win at Daytona!”

Chastain took the lead from series leader Tyler Reddick on Lap 93 of 100 and pulled Haley with him. Allmendinger, who steered his way  through an 11-car incident on the backstretch on Lap 87, worked his way forward after a restart on Lap 91 and picked off Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell.

For Haley, the race was a redemption of sorts for last year’s event, when he crossed the start/finish line first but was demoted for passing below the double yellow line approaching the flag stand.

“After last year at Daytona, finishing second here is pretty cool,” Haley said immediately post-race. “To have a 1-2-3 finish is absolutely incredible for us.”

But the 1-2-3 finish was not meant to be as Allmendinger’s car was found to have a discrepancy in one area of the car where it did not hold a vacuum during the engine test portion of the post-race teardown. With Allmendinger officially scored in last place, that moved Bell up to third, Cindric to fourth and Stephen Leicht to fifth.

A race that was a win for Kaulig Racing took its toll on a number of heavyweight teams. Bell survived late contact with Michael Annett to run third. Reddick had to pit with a flat tire after losing the lead to Chastain on Lap 93. Four-time winner Cole Custer caught pieces of three different wrecks, the last of which (on Lap 87) totaled his No. 00 Ford.

“That was terrible,” Custer said. “It’s just speedway racing. I just have never been good at it, I guess. I always get caught up in the wrecks.”

In a race that started two hours late because of rain and was red-flagged for 17 minutes 45 seconds after the Lap 87 pileup, Justin Allgaier also had an evening full of contact. His last incident came on Lap 92, when he spun after contact from Allmendinger’s No. 10 Chevrolet. Allgaier finished 17th, a lap down.

But the big winner was Chastain, who lost his Xfinity ride with Chip Ganassi Racing when his sponsored folded in the offseason. Opting in midseason to run for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship, Chastain lost a victory on a disqualification at Iowa, only to win at World Wide Technology Raceway in the next event.

NASCAR.com staff contributed to this report

Posted on by Staff Report

The No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Ryan Newman failed pre-qualifying technical inspection twice for Sunday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway (1 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

As a result, NASCAR officials ejected engineer Travis Peterson on Friday afternoon for the remainder of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend.

RELATED: Coke Zero Sugar 400 starting lineup | Daytona weekend schedule

The No. 15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet of Quinn Houff also failed technical inspection twice and lost car chief John Colbert.

Both teams will also lose 15 minutes of practice time at the next championship points event.

NASCAR officials treated this as a pre-qualifying technical inspection, meaning both cars will not be forced to drop to the rear of the field before the green flag. Newman is set to start 18th, while Houff will take off from the 32nd starting spot on Saturday night.

NASCAR set the race lineup per the Rule Book (owner points) after qualifying was canceled because of inclement weather.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Perhaps the most visible hallmark of the first half of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has been the quality of racing at 1.5-mile intermediate speedways, an assertion bore out by statistics and emphasized by NASCAR president Steve Phelps during a meeting with reporters at the sanctioning body’s headquarters Friday.

“I think we’ve had an extraordinary year,” Phelps said. “I think the racing product has been exceptional. The good news is that it’s not just me. It’s the interaction we have with our fans, listening to our fans, whether you’re talking about our fan council, radio shows that I listen to frequently — by and large the fans are incredibly excited by what they’re seeing.

“I would suggest that the data — green-flag passes, green-flag passes for the lead — are up significantly year-over-year. That’s exactly what we were hoping was going to happen.”

RELATED: Full Daytona schedule 

NASCAR’s loop data metrics have tracked an increase in passing, including a 57% increase in green-flag passes for the lead when compared to last season.

For the 2019 season, NASCAR made significant changes to the aerodynamic and horsepower configurations of the current Cup race car, adding downforce and drag and reducing power to 550 hp at the larger speedways. The new engine architecture, which incorporates tapered spacers at all tracks, not only was designed to improve the on-track product but also to make the sport more attractive to potential new OEMs.

According to Phelps, NASCAR is on schedule to roll out its new Generation-7 Cup car for 2021, again with an eye toward enhanced competition as well as manageable costs.

“The majority of the garage is on board with the 2021 start,” Phelps said. “Are there some that ’22 might work better for? There might be. We have to figure out how we get full alignment on what that’s going to be, and that’s what we’re working on. …

“In my opinion, the importance of this car can’t be overstated. It will allow teams to be profitable. That’s what it comes down to. I think it’s as simple as that. The great news is that the fan will be the beneficiary as well, because I think the car will have better body styling that the fans I think will really enjoy.

RELATED: Fans will be thrilled by Gen-7 car

“If we’re going to do this thing the right way — which we are — the racing, which is already fantastic, should get even better. So I think the entire industry wins.”

Concurrent with the expected introduction of the 2021 race car will be a Cup schedule that continues to evolve. Already announced, the 2020 schedule features significant changes from the 2019 slate of races, with date changes for the second Daytona event and for Indianapolis, for example, and both Pocono races taking place on the same weekend.

Phelps said, however, that he doesn’t expect the number of races on the 36-event schedule to be reduced for 2021, but a different mix of race tracks for the Cup series is under discussion, given a consistent fondness for short tracks and a growing appreciation for road courses among the fan base.

“How deep those schedule changes go, I’m unsure at this point,” Phelps said. “We are working with all the stakeholders, and I’m confident that we’re going to come to a schedule that our fans are going to like. …

“There are lots of models that are being developed. Asking NBC what their ideal schedule is, we’ve done that. Asking FOX what their ideal schedule is, we’ve done that. Asking the OEMs where they want to be, asking the teams where they want to be, it all goes into a large data bank, and then we’re starting to craft what these models would look like that we think would be in the best interest of where fans want to race and have full grandstands.”