2024-08-25 12:45:02
The NASCAR Cup Series takes another step toward the playoffs with Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
There are two races remaining in the Cup Series regular season. It’s going to be the best chance for most outside the playoff picture to earn a season-changing victory.
Michael McDowell is on the pole, with Todd Gilliland on the outside of the front row in Front Row Motorsports sweep on the front row.
Follow along with our live race updates, with green flag set for after 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.
THE GREAT AMERICAN BOOK:Celebrate a fast-paced history of the Daytona 500 with new book; foreword by Richard Petty
LIVE LEADERBOARD: Full field leaderboard of NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona
PLAYOFF PICTURE:NASCAR playoff picture: Cup Series points standings after Daytona
SATURDAY’S RESULTS: Who won NASCAR Cup race in Daytona? Winner is Harrison Burton, plus full results
BIG ONE NO. 1: Corey LaJoie shoves Noah Gragson, creating ‘the big one’ — a 17-car crash at Daytona
BIG ONE NO. 2: Michael McDowell goes airborne in second ‘big one’ crash in Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona
BIG ONE NO. 3:Josh Berry flips over in harrowing crash late in NASCAR Daytona race
FIRE:Daniel Suarez’s car bursts into fire at NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona
There’s so much to mention following Harrison Burton’s win at Daytona tonight. Among them:
Parker Retzlaff (!!!) pushes Harrison Burton (!!!!!) to the lead down the backstretch on the final lap past Kyle Busch, then blocks Busch through the tri-oval to win at Daytona and get into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Wow. The Wood Brothers are in the playoffs with Cup win No. 100!
Kyle Busch misses out on a massive opportunity. He’ll be pretty crushed by that finish, one would think.
Josh Berry and Austin Cindric get together down the backstretch, and Berry ends up flipping once, then spinning on his roof as he hits the inside wall. William Byron, Austin Hill among those also involved.
Berry is out of his car under his own power and is OK. He gives a thumbs up. Kyle Busch is the leader. OT upcoming.
Josh Berry and Austin Cindric will lead the two lines to green with 3 laps to go.
Michael McDowell is airborne through turns 1 and 2 after getting turned by Austin Cindric while leading, collecting several more cars.
Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Justin Haley, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher are also involved.
Logano and Haley are for sure done for the day, and one would think McDowell too.
Cindric brushed the wall and should be OK. Josh Berry and Kyle Busch are also OK among those in the lead 10-12 cars. Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon may have slipped by too.
Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson and Michael McDowell are side-by-side from bottom to top with 10 laps to go. Intensity is raised.
Brad Keselowski leads on the bottom lane, but he is penalized by NASCAR for jumping the restart. Looked like Austin Cindric struggled to go in the outside lane.
“Has to be one of the worst penalties I’ve ever seen,” someone says on the No. 6 radio.
Barring a caution (actually pretty likely), Keselowski’s chances at a win are done.
Just before cars come in to pit, John Hunter Nemechek spins off the bumper of Justin Haley to bring out the caution. Now everyone will pit under yellow.
Justin Haley leads Josh Berry and John Hunter Nemechek as the field calms before the final pit stop.
Kyle Busch is in fifth and has been lingering all night.
Michael McDowell leads a line of four cars single file, including Justin Haley, John Hunter Nemechek and Josh Berry.
50 laps to go.
Joey Logano vaults to the lead, then throws a block on Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski to hold on to the stage win. That’s a key playoff point.
The top 10:
Shane van Gisbergen’s car is up in smoke through turns 3 and 4 as he has a terminal issue. He’ll be done for the day. Close by, Erik Jones has an apparent tire issue on the right-rear. Caution is out.
Martin Truex Jr. also had a tire issue well back in the pack. Weird sequence altogether.
Kyle Larson shoves Austin Cindric from the side down the backstretch, and Cindric saves the field from another big one by re-collecting the car on the apron. He was in second behind Joey Logano on the bottom lane before that shunt. What a save.
They are 3-wide pretty quickly after the green flag flies again. Todd Gilliland makes a move to pass Bubba Wallace for the lead, but Joey Logano surges through the middle via Austin Cindric’s push to take the lead.
At least five cars are done for the day as a result of the wreck, including Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott.
Those drivers out:
Trouble down the backstretch, as a Corey Lajoie bump of Noah Gragson goes poorly and causes a multi-car crash.
Several cars involved. It appears Noah Gragson and Corey Lajoie may be done for the day. Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece and Daniel Hemric are all involved. There are others. Could be 15-20 cars, though a handful didn’t hit much.
Hamlin and Elliott are done for the day.
The official list of drivers involved, per NASCAR:
Not sure that Dillon or Blaney hit much of anything, but they were among the spinning race cars.
Bubba Wallace leads the field, with Chris Buescher leading the bottom lane. The pace is about 1.5-2 seconds slower than the first stage as the field attempts to save fuel. This is a 60-lap stage, so that would be quite the stretch on a tank of fuel.
Daniel Suarez’s race is done after the rear end of his car catches on fire on his initial stop, then eventually overtakes the back of the car by the time he returns down pit road. Wow. Suarez is out of the car and OK, but the rear of the car is singed.
It appears the exhaust of Denny Hamlin’s car helped catch Suarez’s car on fire initially. That is unusual.
Hendersonville’s Josh Berry wins Stage 1 with a good push from Chris Buescher on the final lap of the stage.
The top 10:
The top eight cars were Fords.
Whew. That was intense in the final few laps of the stage.
The storm in the lead pack has calmed a bit with 10 laps to go in Stage 1, with Todd Gilliland leading on the highline.
A short Stage 1 means the intensity could increase momentarily.
No fuel saving in Stage 1, unlike the 500 in February. There are three strong lanes throughout. with Josh Berry and Michael McDowell trading the lead.
The green flag is out, and off they go at Daytona. Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland are side-by-side throughout the first couple laps.
The Petty family says the command, led by Richard and Kyle Petty, so the engines have fired. Green flag coming soon at Daytona.
Michael McDowell won his third pole of the season in Friday’s qualifying session, with teammate Todd Gilliland in second.
The top 10:
Find the full starting lineup here.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway will be aired on the radio by the Motor Racing Network. MRN has affiliates all across the country, and their feed can also be streamed on NASCAR.com as well as the NASCAR app. The race can also be heard on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will be broadcast nationally on NBC. Streaming options for the race include the NBC Sports app and FUBO, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.
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