Daytona calamity reared its head late in Stage 1 Saturday night as a multicar incident broke out entering the tri-oval on Lap 27.
Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Busch collided together racing three-wide tight down the frontstretch after a push from the No. 5 Chevrolet of Kyle Larson knocked Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota to the left, turning him into the No. 22 Ford and No. 8 Chevrolet.
Twelve cars were involved in the wreck, most notably Alex Bowman, who entered the regular-season finale as the last driver in the playoffs at 60 points above the elimination line entering the race. Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Noah Gragson were also among those involved.
Bowman and Tyler Reddick entered the 160-lap event as the two drivers above the elimination line without a victory. Reddick was caught up in a two-car tango off Turn 4 at Lap 18 with Todd Gilliland that caused front-end damage to the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota.
Bowman started in the second spot, but lost significant momentum early on in the low groove and had faded to 30th place by Lap 6. He had worked the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet back up to 10th at the time of the incident.
“I mean, honestly, I don’t think any of us expected the bottom lane to fall apart like it did in the beginning of the race and us to lose all our track position. That was pretty surprising,” Bowman said. “Just couldn’t get going, and we chipped away at getting our track position back and got up — I don’t know where we were, 10th or backside of the top 10, somewhere around there — right when we crashed. When they crashed in front of us, there wasn’t anything we could have done different to get through that all.
“I mean, I hate it for everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. They work really hard. The last 10 or 11 weeks has been really fun to be a part of. We’ve been really strong, and that’s been cool.”
Reddick continued in the race on the lead lap, but Bowman’s night came to an end shortly after his No. 48 crew assessed the damage in the Cup Series garage.
Wallace, who led a lap early and clinched a playoff spot last month at Indianapolis, was among those sidelined by the crash damage with 133 laps still to go.
“Got up to the lead fairly quick, so I thought we were playing all of our cards right,” Wallace said. “But just in the blink of an eye, which is what happens here at Daytona, it can be all taken away from you. It is what it is. We’ll re-rack, take Sunday off and go focus on Darlington.”
The crash forced an eight-minute, 30-second red flag for clean-up.
With Ryan Blaney winning the regular-season finale, it solidifies the 16-driver Cup Series Playoff field, which includes Reddick, who took the checkered flag in 21st place, and Bowman, who was credited with a 36th-place finish.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In conjunction with Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock), iRacing Studios and NASCAR unveiled the cover for the highly anticipated “NASCAR 25” racing game, which will launch on Oct. 14.
Gracing the cover are NASCAR Cup Series stars William Byron (2024 and 2025 Daytona 500 champion), Christopher Bell (2025 All-Star Race winner) and Ryan Blaney (2023 Cup champion).
The official game of NASCAR features all four national touring series: ARCA Menards, NASCAR Craftsman Truck, NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Cup. Platforms that support the game are PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, XJS and PC via stream.
Game-play modes include Career Mode, Quick Race, Championship Season and 40-player Multiplayer.
Pre-orders for NASCAR 25 will open in mid-September.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Trackhouse Racing announced Saturday that Connor Zilisch will drive full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026, the latest move in his rapid rise up the stock-car racing ladder.
Zilisch replaces Daniel Suárez, who will leave Trackhouse at year’s end after five seasons driving the team’s No. 99 Chevrolet. The organization and driver announced July 1 that they had mutually reached an agreement to part company, creating a high-profile vacancy in Trackhouse’s three-car fleet alongside Cup teammates Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen.
Zilisch appears poised to fill that void ever since signing with Trackhouse as part of the organization’s driver development program in January 2024. Since then, the 19-year-old phenom has won eight times in 27 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series while driving for JR Motorsports. That stretch includes wins in five of the last six races, highlighted by Zilisch’s triumph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to seal JRM’s 100th victory and capped by Friday’s victory at Daytona International Speedway with Parker Kligerman driving in relief.
Though the news had been widely reported for weeks, Zilisch grew emotional when presented with the magnitude of the moment, with his family joining him in the Daytona media center.
“It’s cool. I knew the whole world knew already, but still to be able to say it and have my name next to the word ‘Cup Series’ is really cool,” Zilisch said. “So, I wasn’t going to try and hide from it, but it’s just a day that I’ve been dreaming of for a long time and I’m not going to let that kind of the idea that everybody already knows take away from the moment.”
Team founder Justin Marks indicated that Zilisch’s car number, crew chief and crew lineup would be announced in the coming weeks, but noted that Red Bell and WeatherTech would continue to be anchor partners with his program. Zilisch has used No. 87 in his three Cup Series starts this season with Trackhouse.
Zilisch ranks second in the Xfinity Series standings, just three points behind JRM teammate Justin Allgaier as the battle for the Regular Season Championship heads to its final two races. Zilisch is on the mend from a broken collarbone, suffered in a hard fall in Victory Lane after winning Watkins Glen two weeks ago. He started Friday night’s Xfinity event, yielding to Kligerman in a Lap 13 caution period.
Zilisch has excelled at each turn of his racing career, from karting to Mazda MX-5 and Trans-Am competition. His first appearance in IMSA’s Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race yielded a victory in the LMP2 class.
The teenager’s move into stock cars also brought success, with wins in CARS Tour late models and the ARCA Menards Series before he reached the NASCAR national-series ranks last year. Zilisch participated in partial Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series schedules in 2024, winning poles on both circuits and rolling to victory in his Xfinity debut at Watkins Glen International last September.
Marks has called Zilisch a “rare talent,” noting how quickly the teenager has been able to adapt to different motorsports disciplines. He also lauded his potential to be a multi-time champion at the sport’s highest level.
“I think it’s what everybody sees. It’s the level of maturity, the approach, the ability to deliver in big moments,” Marks said. “When I get asked, which is sort of weird, but I get asked sometimes by young people, ‘What can I do to get noticed or to get an opportunity in racing?’ And I tell them it’s just you have to just win. You have to just have the ability to get it done when you got a fast race car and when you have a winning opportunity you’ve got to be able to close the deal. Connor’s done it. Just every car he’s gotten in, he’s figured out a way to win.
“I think another one is the rate of adaptability. This sport won’t wait on somebody to figure things out. It’s such a fast-paced sport. You have to be able to get in a car, understand it right away, find its limits right away, and go deliver right away.”
Zilisch’s road-racing background has provided him with an edge in his wins at The Glen, Circuit of The Americas and Sonoma Raceway, but he has also been a quick study while performing on ovals, prevailing at Pocono, Dover and Indy consecutively. JR Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said after his Brickyard triumph that Zilisch has the potential for “incredible, Hall of Fame-worthy things” in his career, hinting that a Cup Series move was imminent. He also said he’s buying into the ever-building buzz around Zilisch, comparing his prodigious rise to that of some of the sport’s all-time greats.
“I mean, the only thing I think it’s close to is probably Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson,” Earnhardt said, making a nod toward his former teammates — both multiple-time Cup Series champions. “So he might be even more of a comet … he might be even more rare than that, because I don’t know, man, if you all get a chance to spend time around him, you’ll realize how mature he is, and I think there’s probably a lot of parents in the room that would be amazed at his level of maturity.”
Zilisch’s beyond-his-years composure will be tested in NASCAR’s top division next season, when his first full Cup Series campaign starts here in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. His first effort in the “Great American Race” will provide a “welcome to the show” moment, but Zilisch says the journey to saying he’s made it in the sport is just beginning.
“I still haven’t made it to where I want to be, right? This is the start,” Zilisch said. “I wanted to get to this point and give myself the opportunity to win championships at the highest level, but I wouldn’t say I’ve made it. But I’ve made it farther than a lot. So, that’s something to be proud of. And, yeah, it’s going to be grueling. The Cup Series is no joke, and that jump from Saturday to Sunday is bigger than probably any other sport in our country. So yeah, I’m excited for the challenge and looking forward to just going out and learning and every Sunday giving my best effort and seeing where I stack up.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ram’s planned return to NASCAR competition now has its first affiliated team: Kaulig Racing.
The multiyear partnership was announced Saturday at the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram dealership, just hours before the Cup Series’ Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock) at Daytona International Speedway. When the circuit returns to the 2.5-mile track in February for NASCAR’s season openers, the Matt Kaulig-owned team will be part of the Craftsman Truck Series grid for the first time, boldly announcing that five Kaulig trucks will be carrying the Ram banner.
“I know Ram doesn’t do anything small, as you can see by the dealerships and everything else, and I know at Kaulig Racing, we don’t do anything small,” Matt Kaulig said at Saturday’s presentation, where a No. 10 Ram truck with Kaulig branding was unveiled. “So when we’re going into the truck series, we’re not going to kind of silently come in or just kind of tiptoe our way in. We’re doing it big.”
Ram announced on June 8 its intent to return to NASCAR, unveiling a Ram 1500 concept race truck at Michigan International Speedway. Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis said in the days leading up to the unveil that his company was “looking for a date to the prom right now.” The first dance will go to Kaulig, which will expand its operations into a third NASCAR national series alongside its multicar efforts in both the Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Ram and Kaulig officials indicated that the rest of the team structure, driver lineup and other launch plans will be announced in the coming months. Kaulig team president Chris Rice said that the team will keep its operations in Welcome, North Carolina, but that the organization was seeking more properties in the area to aid the expansion effort.
Rice acknowledged that the timeline to be race-ready with a five-truck fleet between now and the Feb. 13 Craftsman Truck Series opener was an ambitious one, joking that job applications to support expansion would be taken on the spot in the back of the dealership. He also admitted that the rapid growth in a short span could present challenges to the team’s bid to be competitive right away.
“All we can say is we’re going to sit here and give you all that we can give you,” Rice said. “We’re going to show you, and we’re going to do the best we can. Are we going to fail at times? Absolutely, are we going to have people talk about us at times how bad we did? Absolutely, we’ve made some decisions that people have laughed at, but I can tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to do it different, and it’s going to be a lot of fun doing it.”
Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media
Nate Buelow — SVP of Brand Marketing for Stellantis North America, Ram’s parent company — indicated that for now, the automaker was exclusively partnered with Kaulig Racing as the “anchor team for our entire endeavor.” Buelow said that signing additional partner teams was a part of the manufacturer’s plans, but that Kaulig would be the centerpiece of Ram’s initial thrust.
“We’ve leaned very heavily into their expertise as we’ve been getting our plans together to re-enter back into it,” Buelow said. “We want to make sure that that is a solid, sustainable effort before we start looking at all the other places that we can go. We’re not opposed to any of those opportunities, but we’ve got a lot of work to do right now, so we want to focus in on that now and see where it grows.”
Ram’s June announcement came with a hint about the Stellantis group’s intentions to eventually return to racing in the Cup Series, potentially with Dodge branding. Dodge last competed in NASCAR’s top division as a factory effort in 2012, when Brad Keselowski won the championship in a Roger Penske-owned Charger.
Buelow said the timeline for that potential return is still unclear.
“I wish we could tell you today,” Buelow said. “I think we’ve got a lot of work to do to get these five trucks on track first, and then Cup is the next thing on our agenda to figure it out. How are we going to do it? What are we going to do? … I’d hate to commit to the timing with you, but it is a much bigger endeavor. With trucks being a spec chassis, we’ve got the body, we’re through aero and all that good stuff. Cup is just such a bigger endeavor, and a lot of work has to be done in developing an engine and all that.”
Whether Kaulig Racing is a part of that effort is undetermined. The organization — which began as a single-car Xfinity team in 2016 — has an existing partnership with Chevrolet for its Cup and Xfinity cars, and the team is headquartered near Chevy-loyal neighbors in Richard Childress Racing.
Matt Kaulig said that he’s viewing the Truck Series effort with Ram as a separate entity.
“We don’t really have a goal that way,” Kaulig said when asked about a Cup Series manufacturer shift. “I mean, we’re taking it as we’re Ram trucks, we’re running the Truck Series. I mean, we’re still Chevy with Xfinity and Cup. We’ve had great relationships there, great relationships with Richard Childress and RCR, and so we literally are keeping it separate and just viewing it that way. … Every team’s tied to a manufacturer right now, but over the years, people have switched manufacturers. So we don’t look at it as we’re switching manufacturers. We look at it as we’re going truck racing with Ram.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Delivering the winning push to Parker Kligerman at Daytona International Speedway carried special meaning for Justin Allgaier.
It wasn’t only because Kligerman had suddenly become a one-off teammate at JR Motorsports, jumping in as the relief driver for Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 Chevrolet.
The winning moment also felt full circle for a pair of drivers who have had their differences in the Xfinity Series, notably in a September 2023 race at Texas Motor Speedway when Kilgerman and Allgaier collided while racing for the lead.
“It’s cool because at the end of the day, Parker and I have actually probably had a better relationship since we don’t race together, but we’re a lot the same,” said Allgaier, who celebrated with Kilgerman in Victory Lane late Friday night at Daytona. “We came through some weird opportunities, we both kind of got stuck in a really weird bubble when we came into the sport, and we both had to fight really hard to stay in the sport. It sent us different directions, but at the same time, I think we both kind of had that little bit of a chip on our shoulder of how we got to where we were at.
“And we’ve talked a lot, and we’ve had a lot of good conversations. Tonight was different in the fact that JR Motorsports fire suit that he’s wearing, and the effort that I know that team’s put in. We’re all pushing hard to make our company finish one, two, three, four every week.”
It was a 1-2-3 finish for JR Motorsports as Zilisch was credited with the win ahead of Sammy Smith and Allgaier, with the 19-year-old Zilisch starting the race before Kligerman finished in his stead as Zilisch nursed a broken collarbone.
Kligerman thanked Allgaier several times for talking him through what it would be like to drive a JRM Chevy on a superspeedway.
“He played a very, very big role in getting this done as a teammate,” Kligerman said.
During a pre-race meeting, he tried to convince Allgaier he would return the favor if possible.
“I was like hey man you got a friend in me in pushing it, and I don’t think he really believed me,” Kligerman said. “I was like, ‘No, I truly mean it.’ Then we got late in Stage 3, and we were at the top, and I didn’t want to leave Justin hanging and so it kind of stuck us in second when we probably could have got the lead.”
The move earned an admonition from team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the radio under an ensuing yellow.
“Dale said, ‘Why are you not taking the lead?’ I was like, ‘Well, I’m trying to be a good teammate here to keep (Allgaier) with me,’ but I think I knew that when we came down to it that he could be a really good teammate there, which he was,” Kligerman said.
No hard feelings after all for two drivers who actually were together at Team Penske more than 15 years ago when Kilgerman was beginning his NASCAR career.
Their paths have had parallel moments since then. Both had ill-fated attempts at Cup before returning to Xfinity. Last year, Allgaier won the championship while Kilgerman decided to end his full-time racing career to focus on being a TV analyst.
“I think what happened to us in the last two years was unfortunate because he was excited I was racing full time again,” Kilgerman said. “So we’ve definitely had our moments.
“I have a lot of respect for Justin Allgaier, and I could see the way he handles himself at this race team and why he’s such a good leader, why he’s been here so long and I also respect his talent and ability behind the wheel because you know that it takes serious talent to have longevity he has and have the wins he has and now the championship and everything he’s done. I think it was cool, though, for us to kind of be in that position, just knowing our past and how young we were when we first started at Penske and first met.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The record book will list Connor Zilisch as the winner of the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway.
But it was part-timer Parker Kligerman who did the heavy lifting in Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race, driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to victory in relief of the 19-year-old prodigy.
With Zilisch determined to protect the collarbone he broke in a fall in Victory Lane two weeks ago at Watkins Glen, Kligerman got behind the wheel in a driver switch under caution on Lap 13.
From that point through an overtime that took the race to Lap 104, Kligerman drove a masterful race. His victory was welcome consolation for a heart-wrenching loss at Daytona in February, when Kligerman was first to the finish line in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event but suffered a disqualification for a ride-height infraction.
Racing-Reference.info, the statistics bible of motor racing, will credit Zilisch with his seventh win of the season, tying Christopher Bell for most by a Sunoco rookie in series history, but it was Kligerman who performed the celebratory burnout on the frontstretch at the “World Center of Racing.”
“It’s different in every way, because I didn’t expect to get a call from (team owner) Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. on the day I was leaving for vacation, saying ‘Hey, man, would you come drive this thing?’” Kligerman said. “I hate the circumstances for Connor. He’s an amazing generational talent. I feel honored to have gotten the call to grace the seat that he’s been in, that Kyle Larson’s been in. … For me, it’s such a ‘me’ thing that this will not be on Racing Reference at all.”
After the overtime restart on Lap 103, Zilisch got a strong push from teammate and eventual third-place finisher Justin Allgaier. He controlled the final two circuits until a massive 13-car wreck in Turn 4 ended the race under caution.
With Sammy Smith running second, JR Motorsports enjoyed a 1-2-3 finish.
It was the second time this season Zilisch watched his car win a race. After a hard crash at Talladega in April, Zilisch sat out the subsequent race at Texas Motor Speedway, with Larson winning in the No. 88.
But on this Friday night, Zilisch ran from the pit box to the frontstretch to congratulate Kligerman. The drivers shared a delicate hug, with Kligerman mindful of Zilisch’s surgically repaired collarbone, which is still on the mend.
“It’s weird,” Zilisch said. “It was really weird the last time I did it, and I never thought I’d have to do it again. … But I love Parker. I’ve been a fan of Parker for a long time. He’s another one I’m OK watching win inside my race car.
“I’m glad that I got to start the race and get the points for my team.”
With a fifth-place finish in Stage 1 and a win in Stage 2, Allgaier regained the series lead from Zilisch and takes a four-point advantage to the Aug. 30 event at Portland International Raceway.
Deeper in the series standings, the fortunes of cousins Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton — both fighting for the final spot in the Xfinity Playoffs — changed radically during the race. On Lap 10, Harrison Burton’s No. 25 Ford spun after contact from Matt DiBenedetto’s Chevrolet. With no caution called, Harrison lost two laps getting to pit road, but he regained one circuit as the beneficiary under a caution for rain on Lap 12 and returned to the lead lap under caution for the first stage break at Lap 30.
Jeb Burton scored two points for his ninth-place finish in Stage 1, but his luck soon turned negative. On Lap 20, contact between Jeb’s No. 27 Chevrolet and Smith’s No. 8 Camaro ignited a six-car wreck, but Jeb recovered to run in the top 15 before an 11-car melee on Lap 97 collected both cousins.
Harrison finished 16th to Jeb’s 20th, giving Harrison a 36-point lead for the final playoff spot with two races left in the regular season.
Jesse Love finished fourth, followed by Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Dean Thompson, Garrett Smithley, Brennan Poole and Carson Kvapil.
Ryan Sieg led a race-high 19 laps but was wiped out in the Lap 97 accident and finished 31st, dropping 56 points below the current elimination line for the playoffs.
NOTE: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Zilisch as the race winner.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With his teammates locked into the playoffs and his championship eligibility on the line at a track where drafting help often overrides everything, Alex Bowman remains a realist.
Even having the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets of William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson as potential wingmen, there will be no easy path into the playoffs Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock).
“If it was that simple, every three-car or four-car team would get their guy in every year, and it never happens that way,” said Bowman, who is on the bubble of the 16-driver field entering the regular-season finale. “There’s a lot of different things that can happen and it’s a long race with a lot of things that are totally outside of your control. I don’t think our plan is any different. You’re going to see us pit together. That’s what we do every year. We’re going to work together when we can, and when we can’t, we won’t.
“I’d be shocked if at any point in the race you see three Hendrick Chevys lined up behind me, pushing. I don’t think this style of racing works that way or gives us a position to even do that anymore.”
Fuel-mileage strategies have turned Daytona into a peloton of nonstop position shuffling at the “World Center of Racing” — so running nose-to-tail with four cars for 400 miles is problematic at best.
“Yeah, it’s not that easy, and I don’t know if that’s the right tactic either,” said Byron, who will be unable to provide much early help because his No. 24 Chevrolet will serve a stop-and-go penalty at the green flag for failing inspection twice. “This thing’s very complicated. You just try to be conscious of that. It’s no secret. Everyone’s going to have some sort of playoff implication, so it’s going to be very strategic throughout the field on who’s helping who.”
Indeed, there will be myriad agendas that will muddle the simplicity of amassing an armada to march a car into Victory Lane (and the playoffs) in a “Three Musketeers”-style storyline. With apologies to author Alexandre Dumas, “all for one, and one for all” will have an entirely different meaning at Daytona.
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
“All for one” is the mantra for Hendrick and Joe Gibbs Racing. Each powerhouse has three of its four cars locked into the playoffs and can marshal its resources accordingly to focus on ensuring a full fleet of championship eligibility.
“One for all” is the unenviable spot for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, which has none of its three drivers locked in and only one available playoff spot to be claimed by Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski or Ryan Preece. The same holds true for the trios at Spire Motorsports (Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley) and Front Row Motorsports (Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith and Noah Gragson).
And there are three more teams (Trackhouse Racing, 23XI Racing, Richard Childress Racing) with at least one driver in the playoffs and another trying to make it.
With 14 winners locked into the playoffs, only Bowman and Tyler Reddick can make the field on points — there are 20 drivers who can qualify only with a win.
And with so many drivers and teams pursuing so many divergent goals, it seems inevitable the conflicting agendas will produce the invariable chaos at the 2.5-mile track.
“It’s going to be a mess,” McDowell said. “We all know it and lived it and seen it. That’s why this race is so unpredictable, because the desperation is so high for everybody.”
There are some strange bedfellows among the various scenarios. Consider that if Bowman or Reddick wins, the other driver will lock into the playoffs.
“After the stages end, we might be each other’s best friends, so it is a really weird situation,” Bowman said.
But the best way to navigate the frenzy is with the help of teammates.
“Yeah, I think that when it comes to this race in particular, you need each other,” McDowell said. “I think that the way you give yourself the best chance to run up front and have help when you need it is to have your help be your teammates.”
The emphasis at Hendrick will be helping Bowman — and not necessarily with a drafting push.
“Keeping Alex in mind is the main priority,” Larson said. “But the good thing with it is he can still make it on points, so if any Hendrick guys win, he’s good. So that makes it easy on all of us. But we’re not going to be selfish in that.”
The situation is different at JGR for Ty Gibbs, who can qualify for the playoffs only through a victory.
Teammate Christopher Bell, who is in the playoffs with Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, said JGR’s drivers and crew chiefs had been mapping out strategies with Toyota engineers.
“We’ll have a powwow at some point to discuss what the game plan is to try and execute these speedway races and more so than just getting Ty into Victory Lane, just trying to perform better and finish better at these races,” Bell said. “We had a great Daytona 500. We had a lot of cars in contention to win, but it was a little bit unique with no green-flag pit stop. So that really eliminated the strategy. Whenever it comes to the strategy side, it’s no secret that we’ve been a little bit behind.
“We can blame it on numbers, but I don’t really think it’s numbers. I just think the Fords and the Chevrolets beat us, and it seems like they’ve got a hold on this style of racing, and we’re just behind right now.”
Bell said there were no overriding directives of deference to help put the No. 54 driven by team owner Joe Gibbs’ grandson in the playoffs.
“We all know that it’s a big deal, but Joe’s not sitting up here telling us that we need to get the 54 in at all costs,” Bell said. “Never once in my career has he told me that I need to sacrifice a win of the race for someone else. At the end of the day, it’s going to be the best man’s gonna come out on top, but we certainly want to give Ty an opportunity and by giving Ty an opportunity it should help us out, too.”
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
There were also intense pre-race discussions at Trackhouse Racing, which is trying to help Daniel Suárez join Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen in the playoffs.
As a rookie still learning to dodge the massive wrecks common at superspeedways, van Gisbergen said he would be judicious about helping Suárez at the expense of a risky situation.
“Obviously you want to be a good teammate, but we also don’t need to get involved in all the stuff,” van Gisbergen said. “There’s three three-car teams that are all in a must-win, and they’re going to be all teaming up, pushing hard, and Ross and I don’t need to get involved. But we also want another Trackhouse car in there. So yeah, it was an interesting and dynamic conversation, because we both want to help Daniel, but how we play it in, it’s going to be interesting.
“I’ll be pushing him if I get the chance. I’ll be really trying, but if you see it all turning to (crap), I’m going to be the first to bail as well. I don’t want to risk myself in the car for no reason, and especially if it’s in Stage 2. (Suárez) wants to be up there all the race, which is fine, and I’ll be there with him as long as I’m comfortable.”
The best team on drafting tracks actually has the least at stake Saturday night.
With Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric qualified for the playoffs, Team Penske will enter Daytona with little stress but some immense leverage to help its manufacturer add another car to the playoffs. Over the past three seasons, Penske cars have led 1,123 of 3,392 laps raced on drafting tracks — more than three times those led by any other team.
Ford drivers have led more than half the laps at Daytona since the advent of the Next Gen car, and Cindric said Penske drivers had been “highly encouraged” to help the Mustangs of RFK Racing, Front Row Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing.
“If one of those guys is in a position to win, that’s a huge deal to have more Fords in the playoffs,” Cindric said. “If I have a choice to push a Ford or a different manufacturer across the line, I’m pushing that Ford every time, no doubt.”
Even though he is in a playoff battle with teammates Buescher and Keselowski, Preece believes the speed of the RFK Fords can overcome the advantage of Hendrick and Gibbs having all of its cars qualified.
“Honestly, yeah, they have three cars that are locked in, but we’ve got three race teams that have extremely fast race cars that take control of these races,” Preece said. “So if you’re going to try and win this race, I guarantee you’re going to have to go through an RFK car to win. I feel like we’re in a strong position to get one of our cars in and good luck to the other ones that are going to have to get through us.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Brad Keselowski cracked on social media just days ago that he was aiming to make this a two-sticker week. His first came midweek, declaring “It’s a boy!” as the Keselowskis welcomed their fourth child to the family. The second sticker reads “Winner” and it could come Saturday night if he can claim victory at Daytona International Speedway.
The only issues: Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece, his teammates at RFK Racing, are also chasing the same sticker and the berth in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs that goes with it. So is the rest of the field.
“It has been a good week,” Keselowski said. “I’d like to finish it strong.”
Victory in Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock) would be the winning ticket for the regular-season finale, where the 16-driver field in the Cup Series’ postseason will be settled. Two open spots are available, but only one of the RFK Racing drivers can funnel their way onto the grid. Buescher and Preece (in that order) are the top two drivers on the outside of the postseason picture, but neither can advance on the basis of points. Keselowski is slotted 22nd on the playoff pecking order and also resides in must-win territory.
Team co-owner/driver Keselowski is seeking his third consecutive playoff appearance, but his teammates are striving to end postseason droughts. Buescher is aiming to score his second playoff berth in the last three years, which would make up for last season’s miss with the No. 17 Ford group, and Preece is hoping to find postseason pay dirt in what’s been the best campaign of his journeyman career for the new-this-year No. 60 team.
Buescher and Preece appeared together in a joint press conference Friday at Daytona, and though the pressures of the playoff pursuit are present, the two were loose and trading quips about how hard they might race each other to reach their mutual goal. Until that time comes, both made the commitment to help each other get in that position.
“To be honest with you, Chris has always been somebody that I’ve found myself trying to work with, whether I was teammates with him or not, so that makes it that much easier,” Preece said. “Brad has always been, statistically, when you look at these races, even when he gets wrecked or something happens, he’s racing for the win, so the way I look at this race is our jobs are to get up in the first few rows and work with each other to get there, but if Brad and Chris are in the first two rows, it’s my job to find myself there to work with them and put RFK or one of us in position coming to the line winning. Whether that be Chris out front or Brad or myself, you want to be selfish as a driver, but understanding the main goal for the company and the employees and everybody there it’s very important that one of these cars gets into the playoffs because our speed, we’ve shown it throughout this year.”
Buescher said that recent conversations in-house at RFK have touched on the team dynamic to this race and how the final laps might play out. He initially described the rules of engagement among their group as “all bets are off” before softening his tone with a laugh to say, “Thou shalt not wreck their teammate.”
Keselowski says he believes that commandment will hold up.
“Those guys have good heads on their shoulders, and I don’t think they need a lot of coaching, which is one of the things I really appreciate about both of them,” Keselowski said. “High-character guys. I’m not expecting any surprises.”
Track: Daytona International Speedway Location: Daytona Beach, Florida Track length: 2.5 miles When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET Where to tune in: NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App/Peacock Race purse: $9,797,935 Race distance: 160 laps | 400 miles Stages: 35 | 95 | 160 Defending winner:Harrison Burton, August 2024 Starting lineup: Ryan Blaney to start from pole after lightning scraps qualifying
Regular season reaches its high-stakes Florida finale
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The NASCAR Cup Series’ regular-season finale took a gap year from Daytona International Speedway last season, tying up the giant web of playoff possibilities at Darlington Raceway last season. This year, the schedule’s natural order is back in place with a superspeedway setting to decide the postseason grid.
Two spots in the Cup Series Playoffs are up for bids in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock), the last chance to lock into the 16-driver postseason field. The high-stakes race will boil down to the ability — and willingness — for teams and manufacturers to work together in the aerodynamic draft and avoid the perilous pileups that come from racing in tightly knit packs.
The 14 drivers who are locked in have sealed their spots by collecting regular-season victories, the most recent being Austin Dillon after his Richmond breakthrough last week. Two drivers are on the positive side of the provisional postseason bubble, with Tyler Reddick 89 points up and Alex Bowman sitting at plus-60. But the specter of another first-time winner at one of the circuit’s more unpredictable tracks could leave just one of them advancing on points.
Darlington followed that form last season, with Chase Briscoe vaulting from below the bubble and onto the grid, winning in one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s last hurrahs. In five of the last seven summertime Daytona races, a new driver has scratched the win column, jostling the postseason picture.
Those would-be winners, though, have to endure a gauntlet of potential trouble, especially when the close-quarters racing intensifies later in the going. Six of the last eight summer races here have had 12 or more DNFs because of crashes, and in the last four races on this style of track, the lead has changed hands on the final lap.
“I feel like situationally being aware of just how these things play out and where to be and all those things, I feel really comfortable and confident, but it all goes out the window when things get crazy,” said Michael McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner but one of 22 drivers who has yet to clinch a playoff slot. “So I think there’s a level of confidence and angst that you bring to places like this because there’s so many variables that are not controllable, but I feel good about it being the cut-off race and giving us a opportunity to go race for it.”
Along with the pressure factor, the concept of teamwork should also spike in Saturday night’s showdown. Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, two of the sport’s most powerful four-car teams, each have three of their drivers with playoff berths secure. Each team’s fourth — Bowman for Hendrick and Ty Gibbs for JGR — should expect to have teammates and automaker allies making every effort to provide a postseason assist.
“Listen, we have high expectations,” said Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon, noting the importance of having Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet complete the organization’s playoff 4-for-4 goal. “We shouldn’t be in this position, right? And I think Alex and Blake (Harris, crew chief) and the whole team know that. They’ve actually had a really good season. There was a kind of a period of time — I don’t know, four races or so — where they kind of got off track a little bit, but they’ve had a very strong, solid, consistent season and (been) in position to win races. So it’s not like they’ve not been good, but they shouldn’t also be in this position because I think they’re capable. So you go into it with, hey, it’s Daytona, and we’re in and we’ve got to go execute. And whatever is meant to happen, happens.”
James Gilbert | Getty Images
From atop the pit box …
What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Saturday’s race?
The dividing line that has separated the Cup Series Playoffs contenders from the rest will have some permanence after Saturday night’s 400-miler. Crew chiefs on both sides of that threshold will have varying motivations and focuses beyond the obvious goal of winning.
Tyler Reddick has the most points among drivers who haven’t won, but his hold on a playoff spot has some uncertainty surrounding it. If a new winner emerges and Alex Bowman has a bonanza that erases the 29-point gap between them, Reddick, last year’s Regular Season Champion, could be out.
“It’s all a concern, you know?” said Billy Scott, crew chief of Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. “We’ve got to this point now that a win certainly would be great to establish some playoff points, get a better spot when it’s re-seeded. But our goal right now is to get in, so we do have to pay attention to that in case there’s a new winner. We’ll … just keep an eye on them all race and evaluate what we’ve got to do at the end of the race there to make sure we’re in a good spot.”
Even for teams and drivers who have already clinched, their aspirations also hold playoff implications for others. Team loyalty runs thick, and it’s especially so at Daytona where a helping hand in the draft can make a difference. So while William Byron aims for a season sweep of Daytona’s events — a feat that hasn’t happened since 2013 — a victory or well-timed push from “The Great American Race” champ or fellow teammates Chase Elliott or Kyle Larson could help Bowman in any event.
Teams will also have a new aerodynamic safety device in place this week. NASCAR competition officials added a flap to the A-post (the pillar that runs between the windshield and door windows) that is designed to deploy in the event of a car turning sideways. That measure, combined with the roof flaps that have been standard equipment for years, is intended to keep cars from getting airborne, increasing the speed needed for liftoff.
Computer modeling and wind-tunnel testing have helped competition officials to determine those safety changes. The true test will come Saturday night with a full field of cars.
“It’s encouraging that they continue to work on it, and they have safety on the forefront of their minds,” Scott said. “So that part’s good. We’ll have to wait and see in reality how well it works out, but in theory, it should help.”
Expect some extra distance. Overtime tends to happen with some frequency in this event, with 12 of the last 17 summertime Daytona races ending past the scheduled lap count. That stretch includes four of the last five 400-mile (and then some) races here, most recently with Harrison Burton’s surprise victory going four extra laps.
There are also signs that starting up front may not be as large of an advantage at Daytona, compared to other tracks. A front-row starter hasn’t won at the 2.5-mile speedway since Dale Earnhardt Jr. prevailed from the pole in July 2015.
He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. While the Hyak Motorsports driver has crashed out of five of the last seven Daytona races, Stenhouse has also proven capable of winning at the “World Center of Racing.” All four of his Cup Series victories have come in superspeedway events — two at Daytona and two at Talladega.
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• NASCAR at Daytona: Key info, qualifying reports and more from doubleheader weekend | Read more
• 2026 schedule unveiled: Chicagoland, a new All-Star site among changes | Read more • Racing Insights: Bowman tops projected results for Saturday night | Read more
• Field of 16: Last chance to dance in the playoff field | Read more • Turning Point to Daytona: Byron out for more after regular-season title | Read more
• At-track photos: Scenes, sights from the Daytona high banks | View gallery
• Paint Scheme Preview: Bright designs for under the lights | View gallery
• Power Rankings: Austin Dillon back in focus at Daytona | This week’s top 20
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — While Daytona-winning hardware is a trophy-case superstar for any driver, there remains a lot else on the line beyond a victory Saturday.
Although 14 drivers have already secured their playoff positions and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron wrapped up the Regular Season Championship a week ago at Richmond Raceway, there are still five drivers separated by only 23 points ranked second through sixth in the standings — which is important for the playoff bonus points awarded by ranking.
Byron’s Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott is second in the standings, with only a five-point advantage on third place, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. Hendrick’s Kyle Larson is fourth, 12 markers behind his teammate Elliott heading into Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock).
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney is 15 points off Elliott and Hamlin’s JGR teammate, Christopher Bell, is 23 points back.
“The only other main priority is Ryan’s (Blaney) got a great chance to get to second in points, which is obviously a ton of playoff points, whereas Joey [Logano] and I don’t really have that opportunity,” the 2022 Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric said of Team Penske’s overall game plan.
“I’m not saying the priority will be Ryan, but if we can get Ryan points — points don’t really matter for me regular season-wise, so I think that’s really the only thing that falls in the category of what else is out there. If we can get one of us a win, even having another Ford in the Playoffs is a big deal, so we’ll do our best to try and contribute to that cause.”
Bell conceded his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team is also very conscious of the points situation and potential of moving up in the standings to collect more bonus points. Of the five drivers vying to move up in points position — only the three-time Daytona 500 champion Hamlin and 2021 summer winner Blaney have previous Cup Series victories at the “World Center of Racing.”
“It definitely is [on my mind] and we need to finish up as high as we can in the points, but you just never know how these races are going to play out,” said Bell, a three-time race winner this year.
“We could go tomorrow and score a bunch of points, and the rest of the guys could score a bunch of points, and then it doesn’t matter. So, we’ll roll the dice and see where we end up.”
