NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona: Everything you need to know for Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400

The NASCAR Cup Series travels down to Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Fifteen drivers are vying for one final spot in the Cup Series playoffs, which will be decided in Saturday’s race.

Teammates Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon are the only two drivers who can race into the playoffs on points. Reddick has a 25-point advantage over Dillon going into Saturday.

The following drivers must win the race to clinch a playoff spot: Matt DiBenedetto, Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Newman, Ryan Preece, Cole Custer, Anthony Alfredo, and Corey LaJoie.

Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are also fighting for the regular-season points title. Larson leads by 28 points; however, Hamlin still has a chance to make up ground as he’s excellent at driving at Daytona. The winner of the regular season gets an additional 15 playoff points.

Saturday’s race is expected to last 160 laps around the 2.5-mile superspeedway with stage breaks at laps 50 and 100. Horsepower has been reduced to 450hp from 510hp for the race in an attempt to slow the cars down 7-10mph. Speeds should top off around 190-192mph. The wicker on the rear spoiler has also been removed for safety.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron will start on the front row of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Ryan Blaney, last week’s winner, starts 6th.

The entire starting lineup is below:

Starting Position Driver Car Number Team
1 Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick
2 William Byron 24 Hendrick
3 Denny Hamlin 11 Gibbs
4 Kyle Busch 18 Gibbs
5 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick
6 Ryan Blaney 12 Penske
7 Martin Truex Jr. 19 Gibbs
8 Kurt Busch 1 Ganassi
9 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers
10 Brad Keselowski 2 Penske
11 Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas
12 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty
13 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway
14 Christopher Bell 20 Gibbs
15 Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick
16 Chase Briscoe 14 Stewart-Haas
17 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress
18 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row
19 Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas
20 Bubba Wallace 23 23XI
21 Erik Jones 43 Richard Petty
22 Joey Logano 22 Penske
23 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway
24 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty
25 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas
26 Daniel Suarez 99 TrackHouse
27 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress
28 Justin Haley 77 Spire
29 Ross Chastain 42 Ganassi
30 BJ McLeod 78 Live fast
31 Cody Ware 51 Rick Ware
32 Anthony Alfredo 38 Front Row
33 Corey LaJoie 7 Spire
34 Garrett Smithley 53 Rick Ware
35 Quin Houff 0 StarCom
36 Josh Bilicki 52 Rick Ware
37 Joey Gase 15 Rick Ware
38 Kaz Grala 16 Kaulig
39 Landon Cassill 96 Gaunt Brothers
40 David Starr 66 MBM

 

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