It’s the final race in the regular season for the Cup Series with the Coke Zero Sugar 400.  Thirteen drivers have locked themselves into the playoffs with race wins; Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick have secured spots on points.  Currently Bubba Wallace holds the final spot in the playoffs but he is just one of 17 drivers who could earn their way in to the playoffs with a win or a bad day for Bubba Wallace. 

Among those 17 drivers is Chase Elliott who missed a total of seven races this season – six due to injury and on for a suspension.  Forty points below the cut line, Elliott is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time.

Josh Berry returns to drive the Legacy Motor Club number 42 car.

There are 39 teams at Daytona to run in the race.

With no practice, Chandler Smith is the first driver on the track to make a single car qualifying run and posted a time of 50.432 seconds.

Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Riley Herbst, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson, Harrison Burton, Aric Almirola, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Preece will all move on to round number two to determine who will sit on the pole.

The first of the top 10 drivers out on the track to make a run for the pole is Ryan Preece who posts a time of 49.741.

With a time of 49.499 seconds Chase Briscoe puts his number 14 car on the pole for the second time in his career.

The starting lineup for the Coke Zero Sugar 400:
Chase Briscoe
Aric Almirola
Harrison Burton
Bubba Wallace
Ty Gibbs
Riley Herbst
Kyle Larson
Ryan Blaney
Ryan Preece
Kevin Harvick
Chris Buescher
Brad Keselowski
Martin Truex Jr
Joey Logano
Christopher Bell
Austin Cindric
AJ Allmendinger
Kyle Busch
Denny Hamlin
Tyler Reddick
Austin Dillon
Daniel Suarez
Chase Elliott
Erik Jones
Ross Chastain
Austin Hill
William Byron
Justin Haley
Josh Berry
Ty Dillon
Alex Bowman
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
JJ Yeley
Brennan Poole
Todd Gilliland
Chandler Smith
Corey LaJoie
BJ McLeod
Michael McDowell

After multiple inspection issues, Chandler Smith and Josh Berry will have to start the race from the back of the field.

Motorcross superstar Ricky Carmichael is driving the pace car to start the race.

Stage one of the race is 35 laps, stage two is 60 laps, and stage three is 65 laps for a total of 160 laps around the two and a half mile track.

Chase Briscoe brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with teammate Aric Almirola alongside. Briscoe jumps out in front for the lead with Aric Almirola in second.

Lap two, Chase Briscoe leads the race with Bubba Wallace in second. 

Lap three, on the outside lane, Bubba Wallace battles with Chase Briscoe for the lead.

The top five are Chase Briscoe, Aric Almirola, Harrison Burton, Bubba Wallace and Ty Gibbs.

Ty Gibbs passes Buba Wallace for fifth with Kyle Larson in fourth.

Ryan Preece reported no power steering on the pace lap.

Lap five, the drivers are getting three wide through the field.

chase Briscoe leads the race with Aric Almirola in second; Harrison Burton, Kyle Larson, and Chris Buescher round out the top five.

The first seven car have gotten single file.

Lap seven, Chase Briscoe has led every lap so far with Aric Almirola in second; Harrison Burton, Kyle Larson, and Chris Buescher round out the top five.  The Toyotas are looking to hook up wither each other.

Lap 12, Chase Briscoe has led every lap so far; Aric Almirola, Harrison Burton, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Six second separate the entire field.

Lap 14, the outside line are working hard to try and move up to challenge the leaders.

Lap 15, Chase Briscoe leads the race with Aric Almirola on his bumper; Harrison Burton, Kyle Larson, and Chris Buescher round out the top five.

Brad Keselowski knows that he is safely into the playoffs on points and has chosen to move to the back of the field where he feels it is safer to save his car.

Lap 17, Chase Briscoe continues to lead the race with Stewart-Haas teammate Aric Almirola in second.

Denny Hamlin is in a bit of a quandary for tonight’s race;  his teammate Ty Gibbs must win to get in the playoffs, but his driver Bubba Wallace is also on the bubble and must win to guarantee a spot in the playoffs.  Earlier this week, Hamlin said that given the choice, he would push his driver, not his teammate for the win.

Lap 21, Chase Elliott is reporting a possible radio issue in his car.  The crew tells him to change to channel two.

Lap 23, Denny Hamlin gets the outside line moving and comes up to pass Chase Briscoe for the lead; Martin Truex Jr, Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Bubba Wallace round out the top five.

Chandler Smith has gone one lap down.

Lap 30, Denny Hamlin leads the race with Martin Truex Jr in second; Christopher Bell, Riley Herbst, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Lap 32, Denny Hamlin moves up to the outside lane to block Riley Herbst and Martin Truex Jr moves up alongside Hamlin to battle for the lead.

Lap 33, Martin Truex Jr battles Denny Hamlin for the lead  but Hamlin holds him off.  Drivers are three wide behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Martin Truex Jr takes the lead and wins stage one.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Martin Truex Jr
Christopher Bell
Kevin Harvick
Ty Gibbs
Joey Logano
Bubba Wallace
Austin Cindric
Denny Hamlin
Chase Briscoe
Daniel Suarez

Drivers come down pit road for service with Austin Hill winning the race off of pit road after taking fuel only.

Kyle Busch was charged with a crew member coming over the wall too soon and Justin Haley was charged with an equipment interference penalty.  Both drivers will have to restart the race from the back of the field.

Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 41 with Martin Truex Jr on the outside.  Truex edges out for the lead but Kevin Harvick gives Logano a big push for the lead.

The top five are Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr, Christopher Bell, and Daniel Suarez.

Drivers are getting three wide back in the field.

With stages two and three being 60 and 65 laps, the drivers will have to make a pit stop during the stages.

Lap 44, Martin Truex Jr moves up on the outside to briefly take the lead but a lack of some help with a push gives the lead back to Joey Logano with Kevin Harvcik in second.

After having to restart the race from the back of the field, Kyle Busch has entered the top 20 in 17th place.

Drivers are three wide through the field.

Lap 46, Kyle Busch has entered the top 10.

Joey Logano leads the race but Chase Elliott comes up on the top lane to battle for the lead.

Lap 47, Chase Elliott leads the race but AJ Allmendinger comes up to battle for the lead.

Lap 48, the top five are AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Kyle Busch passes Chase Elliott for second.

Lap 50, Chase Elliott moves up to retake the lead of the race with Joey Logano in second.

Lap 52, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and AJ Allmendinger are in a three way battle for the lead.  Drivers are three wide through the field.

Lap 53, AJ Allmendinger takes the lead.

Joey Logano and AJ Allmendinger are in a battle for the lead with Joey Logano taking the spot.

Drivers are four wide in a battle for position.  Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr make contact but both save the cars.

Three wide through the field is a recipe for disaster; if just one car gets loose, they could take out half the field.

Lap 55 AJ Allmendinger leads the race but is in a battle with Ross Chastain and Ty Gibbs for the lead.  Each of the drivers take the lead briefly before Ross Chastain takes the lead.

Denny Hamlin has bailed out of the melee and has dropped to the back of the field.

Lap 57, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, and AJ Allmendinger continue to battle for the lead with the field three wide through the field.

Lap 62, Things have calmed down a bit with the first handful of drivers single file.  Ross Chastain leads the race with Joey Logano in second; Martin Truex Jr, Christopher Bell, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

The drivers are running 194mph around the track.

Todd Gilliland makes an unscheduled trip down pit road with an oil leak issue.

Lap 65, Ross Chastain leads the race with Joey Logano in second; Ryan Preece, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

Lap 73, Ross Chastain holds on to the lead with Ryan Blaney battling for the lead.

Lap 74, the top five are Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, and Ryan Preece.

Lap 76, Ross Chastain holds on to the lead with Ryan Blaney in second; Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Preece round out the top five.

Lap 77, Ryan Blaney takes the lead with Ross Chastain in second; Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick ,and Ricky Stenhouse Jr round out the top five.

Lap 81 drivers begin making green flag pit stops.  Some of the crews are doing fuel only.

Aric Almirola leads the race with Chris Buescher in second; Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.

Denny Hamlin was charged with a crew member coming over the wall too soon.  Since the pit stop was under green flag conditions, he will have to serve a pass through penalty.

More drivers come down pit road for service; Harrison Burton is the leader of the race.

With all of the green flag pit stops, the field has gotten spread out.

Lap 87, Harrison Burton leads the race with Daniel Suarez in second; Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

Brennan Poole and Riley Herbst were also charged with pit road penalties and are now a lap down.

With six laps remaining in stage two, Kyle Busch takes the lead with Daniel Suarez in second; Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, and Chris Buescher round out the top five.

Four laps remain in stage two, Kyle Busch leads the race with Daniel Suarez in second; Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, and William Byron round out the top five.  The leaders are approaching Denny Hamlin to put him a lap down.

Kyle Busch passes Denny Hamlin to put him a lap down.

Ty Gibbs passes Kyle Busch on the outside to take the lead on the final lap of stage two.

Ryan Blaney passes Ty Gibbs for the lead. 

Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney makes contact and cause “THE BIG ONE!”  to bring out the caution flag at the end of the stage.

NASCAR has red flagged the race!

Ty Gibbs bumps Ryan Blaney in the rear and sends them into the wall; Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Brennan Poole, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Harrison Burton, Riley Herbst, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Alex Bowman were all involved.

Brad Keselowski wins stage two.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Brad Keselowski
Kyle Busch
Daniel Suarez
Alex Bowman
William Byron
Tyler Reddick
Chase Elliott
Austin Dillon
Ross Chastain
Joey Logano

In order to keep the field fair, NASCAR has lined up all of the tow trucks to push the drivers who need help getting to pit road for repairs.  All of the drivers involved in the wreck but are still in the race are one the “crash clock”.  The drivers must make a required minimum speed in order to stay in the race.

After a 10 minute red flag condition, NASCAR has pulled the red flag and displayed the caution flag.  The drivers are moving one again.

Ryan Blaney is out of the infield care center and is ok.  He noted that before the crash his car was really fast.

Drivers come down pit road for service with Kyle Busch winning the race off of pit road.

Chase Elliott has an issue with his digital mirror and the crew covered it with tape to keep Elliott from getting distracted.

Martin Truex Jr has earned enough points to earn the regular season championship.  He will earn 15 bonus playoff points for the win.

Unless there is a new race winner, Bubba Wallace will be the final driver in the field of 16 playoff drivers.

After staying out on the track, Chase Briscoe brings the field down for the green falg start of stage three on lap 105 with Kyle Busch alongside.  Briscoe gets out in front for the lead with Kyle Busch in second; Alex Bowman, Aric Almirola, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

With 50 laps to go, Chase Briscoe leads the race with Aric Almirola in second; Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, and Bubba Wallace round out the top five.  Kyle Busch leads the outside line but hasn’t been able to advance the line.

Lap 117, Chase Briscoe leads the race with Aric Almirola in second; Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher, and Chandler Smith round out the top five as the Fords have once again grouped together.

Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Riley Herbst, and Brennan Poole are all out of the race after the big crash.

Forty to go, Chase Briscoe holds on to the lead with teammate Aric Almirola in second: Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher, and Kevin Harvick round out the top five.

Lap 129, Chase Briscoe holds on to the lead with Aric Almirola in second; Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher, and Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five with 27 cars on the lead lap.

There are just 30 laps remaining in the race but the drivers must still make a pit stop for fuel. 

Running in a pack, the drivers are in fuel conservation mode.  With the draft the drivers do not have to run full throttle and can save some fuel.

Just 20 laps remains in the race with pit stops looming.  Chase Briscoe has dominated the race in stage three; much as he did at the beginning of the race.

Some of the drivers drop to the bottom line and are tunning full throttle in an effort to shake up the field.

Leading the bottom line, Chandler Smith pushes Ryan Preece up the track and is moving closer to the leaders.

Three lines are forming once again.

Lap 144, a large group of drivers comes down pit road for a fuel only pit stop.

Lap 147, the remainder of the field comes down pit road for fuel.

Kevin Harvick leads the race with Chase Elliott in second.

Ten to go, Kevin Harvick leads the field in his final race at Daytona; Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

The second pack has caught the first pack and the drivers are two and three wide.

Kyle Larson is two laps down but is behind Chase Elliott trying to help out his teammate to win the race.  Kevin Harvick is in the lead with Aric Almirola in second.

Seven to go, Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick are side by side but Harvick holds him off and pulls out in front with the help of some fellow Ford drivers.

Six to go, Kevin Harvick leads the race with Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski right behind.

Ryan Preece brings out the caution flag with five laps to go when he gets bumped from behind and goes flying through the air and barrel rolling through the air about 10 times before landing in the grass.  There were some flames coming out of the car.  Ryan Preece climbs out of the car!  He is standing among the safety workers with his helmet off.  He is being taken to the infield care center on a stretcher. 

Chase Briscoe was also involved in the crash and is out of the race.

The race goes into overtime!

Some of the drivers come down pit road to top off the fuel.

Kevin Harvick brings the field down for the overtime shootout to the end with Chris Buescher alongside. Kevin Harvick edges out in front but Chris Buescher gets out in front after a push form Brad Keselowski. 

Kevin Harvick comes down on the inside but Chris Buescher takes the white flag with a big push from teammate Brad Keselowski.

Chris Buescher wins the race for his third win this season.  Bossman/teammate Brad Keselowski comes in second.  This is Buescher’s first superspeedway win.

Bubba Wallace is the final driver in the playoffs!

The unofficial results of the Coke Zero Sugar 400:
Chris Buescher
Brad Keselowski
Aric Almirola
Chase Elliott
Joey Logano
Alex Bowman
Kyle Busch
William Byron
Kevin Harvick
Corey LaJoie
Ty Dillon
Bubba Wallace
Michael McDowell
Austin Hill
Chandler Smith
Christopher Bell
Ross Chastain
Erik Jones
JJ Yeley
Daniel Suarez
Justin Haley
Josh Berry
BJ McLeod
Martin Truex Jr
Tyler Reddick
Denny Hamlin
Kyle Larson
Harrison Burton
AJ Allmendinger
Chase Briscoe
Ryan Preece
Todd Gilliland
Austin Dillon
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Ty Gibbs
Ryan Blaney
Austin Cindric
Riley Herbst
Brennan Poole

The 2023 playoff drivers:
William Byron
Martin Truex Jr
Denny Hamlin
Chris Buescher
Kyle Busch
Kyle Larson
Christopher Bell
Ross Chastain
Brad Keselowski
Tyler Reddick
Joey Logano
Ryan Blaney
Michael McDowell
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Kevin Harvick
Bubba Wallace