2024-08-25 18:25:03
It wasn’t the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season this year, but Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 still held plenty of importance.
Especially for Harrison Burton, who got his first career win and put himself in the playoffs.
Burton took the checkered flag in overtime at Daytona International Speedway. He also handed the Wood Brothers their 100th all-time victory.
It followed an exciting Wawa 250 Xfinity Series race won by Ryan Truex Friday night. The weather cooperated both days.
GREAT AMERICAN RACE:Celebrate a fast-paced history of the Daytona 500 with new book; foreword by Richard Petty
Harrison Burton takes the checkered flag in overtime and puts himself in the playoffs. It’s also his first career win and the 100th all-time victory for the Wood Brothers.
Josh Berry goes airborne and flips upside down, sliding on his roof. Caution flag flies again.
Berry gives a thumbs-up after climbing out of his car.
Three-wide for several laps was a recipe for exactly what happened, a mammoth crash at the very front of the field with nine laps remaining. Some 14 cars were involved, give or take.
Leader Michael McDowell, coming out of Turn 2, got contact from second-running Ryan Blaney and lost control. His car began to get airborne but returned to its four wheels as it smacked the outside wall.
A who’s who of contenders had their nights ended.
As cleanup began, the top five on the leaderboard began to Austin Cindric, Josh Berry, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon.
Caution over. Green flag flies. Sixteen final laps left at Daytona.
Kyle Larson bumps John Hunter Nemechek from behind, causing him to slide off the track to the left. The yellow flag flies with 20 laps to go.
Daniel Suarez lasted only 37 laps during the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Saturday. The back of his No. 99 Chevrolet caught fire on pit road and burned brightly before his crew put it out.
Here’s why:
“I was doing my pit stop just like every single weekend,” Suarez said. “The No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) was right behind me and the No. 21 (Harrison Burton) was right in front of me, so unfortunately I got boxed in. We know that every single time we do a pit stop, we drop a little bit of fuel and that’s completely normal.
“Unfortunately, the No. 11 was leaving his pit stall right behind me, and because he was waiting for me to leave, his exhaust fired up the little fuel I dropped. Because I was still parked there, that went up the back of my car where the fuel cell is and it just grabbed it. It was a very unfortunate situation. I don’t know what we could have done differently. Just sad that we’re out of the race this way, but I’m glad I’m fine and the entire team was fine.”
Well, we knew it wasn’t going to be clean forever.
Following a smooth Stage 1, a wreck swallowed multiple cars and a few others left due to mechanical issues during Stage 2. Joey Logano won it.
Results:
Ross Chastain throttles back, Corey LaJoie taps Noah Gragson from behind, and Gragson loses control. That stops a bunch of traffic. A wreck involves LaJoie, Gragson, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin and others.
It also brings out the caution flag.
Thirty-five clean laps down at Daytona International Speedway, and it’s Josh Berry who grabs the top spot in Stage 1.
He captures his first stage win ever.
Rounding out the top five: Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney in that order.
The 25th race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series is under way at Daytona International Speedway.
Forty drivers started the race, 12 have locked up berths for playoffs that start in two weeks, and plenty of others know this is their last best chance to get a win and the automatic playoff berth that comes with it.
We’re under 30 minutes to race time at Daytona International Speedway. Here is the starting grid.
Row 1
1. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
2. Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Row 2
3. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
4. Ryan Preece, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Row 3
5. Josh Berry, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
6. Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Row 4
7. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
8. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
Row 5
9. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Row 6
11. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
12. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
Row 7
13. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
14. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Row 8
15. Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
16. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Row 9
17. Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
18. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
Row 10
19. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20. Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Row 11
21. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
22. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Row 12
23. Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
24. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Row 13
25. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
26. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Row 14
27. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
28. Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Row 15
29. Parker Retzlaff, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet
30. Zane Smith, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Row 16
31. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
32. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Row 17
33. Cody Ware, No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford
34. Corey Lajoie, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Row 18
35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
36. Justin Haley, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
Row 19
37. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
38. BJ McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
Row 20
39. Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet
40. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Parker Valby took two weeks off from training after making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. She started running again on Thursday, just ahead of her involvement with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.
“It’s super cool learning everything about NASCAR and racecar driving,” she said. “Maybe it’s my future career.”
The 21-year-old Tampa native will serve as an honorary event official Saturday.
She visited Daytona Beach once before — for a middle-school surf camp — but this is her first trip to the Speedway.
Valby plans to participate in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Trackhouse Racing announced Saturday it will have a third full-time entry in the NASCAR Cup Series next season. Its driver: Shane van Gisbergen.
Over the last two years, the 35-year-old has run six Cup Series races. He won the first event he entered, the Chicago Street Race, in July of 2023.
This year, SVG has competed full-time in the Xfinity Series and enjoyed three wins and five top-five finishes.
And his new Chevrolet car number? No. 88, digits connected to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and other notable NASCAR winners. The charter comes from Stewart-Haas Racing.
Bobby, we know you’ve been busy winning Olympic medals and all lately. But have you practiced waving the green flag?
“I have not, and I’m really nervous for tonight,” said Finke, the honorary starter of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. “I’m scared of dropping it. Hopefully, I don’t mess up.”
The 24-year-old is a Tampa native who attended the University of Florida. He captured gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle and silver in the 800-meter freestyle during the 2024 Paris Games.
He brought his medals with him to Daytona International Speedway Saturday.
“I’m kind of learning to bring them with me everywhere because you never know,” Finke said.
Let’s start with the rundown from Hard Rock Bets, and remember, these payouts (+1200, +1600, etc.) are based on a wager of $100. Bet $10 and win 10% of that and, yes, do your own math.
+1200: Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin
+1300: Ryan Blaney
+1400: Brad Keselowski
+1500: Kyle Bush, Chase Elliott, William Byron
+1600: Michael McDowell, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher
+1750: Kyle Larson
+2000: Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell
+2250: Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman
+2500: Austin Cindric
+3000: Ty Gibbs, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
+4000: Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Todd Gilliland
+5000: Josh Berry, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Justin Haley
+6000: Carson Hocevar, John Hunter Nemechek
+7500: Zane Smith, Austin Hill, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton
+10000: Shane Van Gisbergen
+20000: Parker Retzlaff, Joey Gase, BJ McLeod, Cody Ware
Notice anything different about the above numbers? The payouts up top are a lot higher than the norm, while those at the bottom are a lot lower.
Why? It’s a plate-race, kids, and long-story-short, practically anyone can win. Well, that explains why the odds for the longshots aren’t as long as usual.
Why are the favorites’ payouts bigger? Because while anyone can win, it’s much, much easier to lose one of these crapshoots.
The TV viewing experience will be a little different for the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
NBC Sports will not show full-screen commercials during green-flag action. Saturday at Daytona is the first of three races with the newly implemented strategy, joining Atlanta on Sept. 8 and Talladega on Oct. 6.
The network plans to use only split-screen advertisements under green.
Speedway president Frank Kelleher dropped by the infield media center and dropped a bag of numbers on the table.
Ticket purchases for tonight’s race have come from all 50 states, 56 countries, six continents and eight Canadian provinces. According to Frank, all trackside suites and all reserved camping spots sold out.
Bubba on the bubble?
That’s the case with two regular-season races to go. Wallace sits one point back of Ross Chastain and the final of 16 postseason spots. Twelve drivers have already punched their tickets via wins this year, leaving four openings.
Here are the top 20 drivers in the playoff standings.
This Afternoon: A 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high temperature near 89. East northeast wind around 10 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11 p.m., then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 76. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
The green flag for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is set for 7:53 p.m. Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.
NBC will broadcast the race on TV with radio coverage from MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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