The Cup Series closes out the regular season with some Saturday night racing at Daytona International Speedway with the Coke Zero 400.
With 41 teams bringing drivers for a 40 car field, the garage is overflowing with drivers hoping to make the race; while there are only three spots not locked up in the playoffs with five drivers mathematically still in the running.
NASCAR has brought a new package to Daytona with a smaller spoiler from seven inches to four inches and less horsepower. They are looking to increase passing during the race.
Joey Gase and Daniel Dye are attempting to run in both races.
The first driver on the track to make a qualifying run is Casey Mears with a time of 49.520 seconds around the 2.5 mile track.
The top 10 drivers will make a second round of qualifying to set the pole.
Ty Gibbs got a second attempt at his qualifying lap due to the caution lights coming on in turns three and four.
Joey Logano and Kyle Larson tied in track time on lap one of qualifying and then came within eight thousandths of a second on lap two.
With a time of 48.808 seconds, The Mellon Man Ross Chastain put hiss number one car on the pole with Chris Buescher alongside on the front row.
The starting lineup of the Coke Zero 400:
Ross Chastain
Chris Buescher
Austin Hill
Ryan Preece
Riley Herbst
Shane van Gisbergen
Connor Zilisch
Austin Cindric
Joey Logano
Kyle Larson
Corey Heim
Chasse Briscoe
William Byron
Ty Gibbs
Erik Jones
Cole Custer
Tyler Reddick
Michael McDowell
Ryan Blaney
Alex Bowman
Brad Keselowski
Chase Elliott
Daniel Suarez
Josh Berry
Cody Ware
Bubba Wallace
John Hunter Nemechek
Carson Hocevar
Austin Dillon
Denny Hamlin
Ty Dillon
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Todd Gilliland
Zane Smith
Christopher Bell
AJ Allmendinger
Noah Gragson
Casey Mears
Daniel Dye
Joey Gase
Gray Gaulding failed to qualify for the race.
Riley Herbst was involved in a hard hit during the race last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Herbst and 23XI Racing has stated, “after a strong effort in qualifying yesterday, Riley Herbst woke up with lingering effects from last weekend’s incident and, along with the team, decided it was in his best interest to step out of the car for tonight’s race at Daytona International Speedway.”
Harrison Burton will take over the driving duties in the number 35 car.
While Herbst qualified the car in the top 10 in fifth position; Burton will start the race from the back of the field due to the driver change.
Stage one is 35 laps, stage two is 60 laps, and stage three is 65 laps for a total of 160 laps around the 2.5 mile high banked tri-oval.
“Days of Thunder” star Tom Cruise is in the house as they plan for a sequel over 30 years later. While the script is still being written, a release date of June 2, 2028 has been announced.
Mellon Man Ross Chastain brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Chris Buescher alongside. Mark Martin waves the green flag to start the race. Chastain edges out for the lead.
Driverss have gotten three wide through the field.
Lap two, Ross Chastain leads the race with Chris Buescher in second; Kyle Larson, ty Gibbs, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Lap three, Kyle Larson battles with Ross Chastain for the lead.
Lap four drivers are three wide with Ross Chasstain leading from the outside lane, Shane van Gisbergen leads the middle lane with Chris Buescher leading the inside lane.
Lap six, Chris Buescher leads the race from the inside lane; Ryan Preece, Ross Chastain, Shane van Gisbergen, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Lap 12, Austin Hill has the lead with Kyle Larson in second;Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Lap 14, The top five spots are separated by less than half a second wit Austin Hill leading the race.
Lap 16, after starting the race from the back of the field, Harrison Burton has moved up to 28th.
Lap 17, the top five are Austin Hill, Kyle Larsson, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, and Chase Brisoce.
Lap 20, Austin Hill has a narrow lead over Kyle Larson; Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, and Shane van Gisbergen round out the top five.
Denny Hamlin reports that his mirror is off and the screen has gone blue. The drivers use the video mirrors for offensive and defensive driving.
Lap 27, Austin Hill has a 0.10 lead on Kyle Larson; Chris Buesscher, Ryan Preece, and Shane van Gisbergen round out the top five.
Lap 30, Austin Hill continues to lead the race with Kyle Larson on his bumper; Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, and Shane van Gisbergen round out the top five.
Three laps remain in stage one with Austin Hill leading the race.
With two laps remaining in stage two the drivers get aggressive with Chris Buescher taking the lead; with Ryan Preece and Kyle Larsson in a battle for second.
Chris Buescher got loose after a push; causing a big wreck to end the stage.
Shane van Gisbergen wins stage one.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Shane van Gisbergen
Ty Gibbs
Joey Logano
Erik Jones
Chase Briscoe
Kyle Larsson
Bubba Wallace
Ryan Preece
John Hunter Nemechek
Austin Hill
Bubba Wallace has just secured his spot into the playoffs.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Joey Logano winning the race off of pit road.
Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with Shane van Gisbergen alongside. Getting a push from Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano takes the lead on lap 43.
Lap 44, Shane van Gisbergen takes the lead.
Lap 45, Todd Gilliland gets out in front with Shane van Gisbergen in second; Joey Logano, Austin Hill, and Bubba Wallace round out the top five.
Lap 46, Austin Hill takes the lead.
Lap 48, Austin Hill leads the race with Todd Gilliland in second; Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, and Bubba Wallace round out the top five.
Lap 50, getting a push from Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe takes the lead on the inside lane; Austin Hill, Ross Chastain, Todd Gilliland, and Zane Smith round out the top five.
Lap 55, Chase Briscoe holds the lead with Austin Hill in second; Ross Chastain, Zane Smith, and Todd Gilliland.
Chris Buescher spent 13 laps in the garage for repairs after the wreck at the end of stage one.
Lap 57, Ross Chastain takes the lead with Zane Smith in second; Chase Briscoe, Cody Ware, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.
Lap 59, the drivers are three wide through the field with Ross Chastain out in front.
Lap 62, the Mellon Man has the lead with Chase Elliott in second; Zane Smith, William Byron, and Cody Ware rounding out the top five.
Lap 63, Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott battle for the lead.
Lap 67, Chase Elliott leads the race with William Byron in second; Zane Smith, Ryan Preece, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Lap 69, the top 18 driverss are separated by less than one second.
Lap 70, Chase Elliott leads the race with Zane Smith in a battle for the lead.
Lap 70, the top five are Zane Smith, Chase Elliott, Ryan Preece, William Byron, and Brad Keselowski.
Lap 71, Chase Elliott retakes the lead.
Lap 73, the top five are Chase Elliott, Ryan Preece, Zane smith, William Byron, and Chase Briscoe.
Lap 78, Chase Elliott holds on to the lead with Ryan Preece in second; Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski, and William Byron round out the top five.
Lap 82, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney battle for the lead; Austin Cindric, Ryan Preece, and Joey Logano round out the top five.
Lap 83, Ryan Blaney is the new leader.
Lap 86, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney battle for the lead. The drivers are running speeds of 190 to 195mph.
Lap 87, Austin Cindric is the new leader.
Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney battle for the lead on lap 89.
With six laps remaining in stage two, Ryan Preece leads the race with Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, Zane Smith, and William Byron rounding out the top five.
Five to go in stage two, Chase Elliott takes the lead.
NBC reports that Chase Elliott may not have enough fuel to make it to the end of the stage.
Ryan Blaney wins stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ryan Blaney
Ryan Preece
Zane Smith
William Byron
Todd Gilliland
Kyle Larson
Chase Briscoe
Daniel Suarez
Chase Elliott
Austin Hill
Drivers come down pit road for service with Todd Gilliland winning the race off of pit road in the pickle mobile.
Drivers are making a second trip down pit road to top off the fuel tank.
Todd Gilliland brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 102 and gets out in front.
The top five are Todd Gilliland, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Harrison Burton, and Joey Logano.
With 58 laps remaining in the race the drivers are not in a comfortable spot to end the race on a single load of fuel.
Lap 105, Todd Gilliland leads the race with Austin Cindric in second.
Lap 106, Chase Briscoe takes the lead.
Todd Gilliland and Chase Briscoe battle for the lead.
Austin Dillon had some smoke coming out of his car.
Chase Briscoe takes the lead with Todd Gilliland in second; Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano round out the top five.
Just 49 laps remain in the race, Brad Keselowski leads the race with Chase Briscoe in second; Cody Ware, Todd Gilliland, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.
Lap 114, Brad Keselowski and Chase Briscoe battle for the lead.
Lap 115, Chase Elliott comes up the middle to battle for position.
Many of the drivers are talking pit stops and how best to ensure enough fuel to the end of the race.
The drivers are three wide through the field.
Lap 118, Cody Ware is the new leader.
Lap 120, Cody Ware and Brad Keselowski battle for the lead.
Lap 121, six drivers are making green flag pit stops for fuel only.
Lap 127, Cody Ware leads the race.
Lap 129, William Byron leads the race.
The top five are William Byron, Chase Elliott, Chase Brisscoe, Cody Ware, and Ty Dillon.
A majority of the drivers are in fuel conservation mode with 27 laps remaining in the race.
Twenty to go! William Byron leads the race with Chase Elliott in second; Kyle Larson Cody Ware, and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five.
With 18 laps to go, the leaders come down pit road for fuel. John Hunter Nemechek is the new leader.
With 16 to go, Tyler Reddick takes the lead.
With some of the drivers making pit stops and others staying out on the track, the field is spread out around the track.
Just 12 laps remain in the race with Tyler Reddick leading the race but Zane Smith races up on the inside to take the lead.
Eleven to go, Ryan Preece iss the new leader.
Just 10 laps to go with Ryan Preece in the lead.
With eight laps to go, The Hurricane Carson Hocevar comes up on the inside lane to take the lead.
Seven to go, Ryan Preece with some help from Zane Smith retakes the lead.
Six to go, Zane Smith is the new leader.
Carson Hocevar gets into the wall with six to go to bring out the caution flag. Erik Jones is also involved. Hocevar gets loose and into the grass before moving back up the track and into the wall hard. Erik Jones hits Hocevar from behind.
The race goes into overtime.
Some of the drivers come down pit road for fuel.
Out of the care center, Carson Hocevar said the car just got away from him and caught him by surprise.
Ryan Preece brings the field down for the overtime shootout to end the race with Zane Smith alongside. Smith edges out for the lead but Preece comes up on the outside to battle for the lead.
Drivers are three wide with lots of pushing and shoving. Zane smith leads the race.
Zane Smith takes the white flag.
Zane Smith spins out and causes a big crash. Ryan Preece wins the race and the final spot in the playoffs.
The unofficial results of the Coke Zero 400:
Ryan Preece
Daniel Suarez
Michael McDowell
Tyler Reddick
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Austin Cindric
Austin Dillon
Alex Bowman
Cole Custer
Denny Hamlin
Josh Berry
Harrison Burton
Brad Keselowski
Chasse Briscoe
John Hunter Nemechek
Christopher Bell
Corey Heim
Joey Logano
Todd Gilliland
Bubba Wallace
Ty Dillon
William Byron
Chase Elliott
Connor Zilisch
Noah Gragson
Austin Hill
Shane van Gisbergen
Ross Chastain
Daniel Dye
AJ Allmendinger
Kyle Larson
Zane Smith
Ryan Blaney
Ty Gibbs
Cody Ware
Joey Gassse
Cassey Mears
Carson Hocevar
Erik Jones
Chris Buescher
The 16 playoff drivers are:
Denny Hamlin
Ryan Blaney
Tyler Reddick
Ty Gibbs
Chasse Briscoe
Christopher Bell
Chase Elliott
Kyle Larson
Joey Logano
Chris Buesscher
Daniel Suarez
Carson Hocevar
William Byron
Bubba Wallace
Austin Cindric
Ryan Preece