Coke Zero Sugar 400 @ Daytona

Happy regular season finale and welcome to Daytona Beach! 

Daytona’s Night Race is always intense as multiple drivers are fighting for a playoff spot, so let’s break it down! 

Ryan Blaney (12) led us to green, followed by: 

2. Alex Bowman (48) 

3. Kyle Larson (5) 

4. Joey Logano (22) 

5. Austin Cindric (2)

6. Denny Hamlin (11) 

7. Austin Dillon (3) 

8. William Byron (24)* 

9. Chase Briscoe (19) 

10. Brad Keselowski (6) 

* – William Byron had to go to the rear of the field for unapproved changes and his crew chief was removed. 

The first caution of the night came on lap 12 for Casey Mears (66) who had a flat on his left front tire. 

The second caution of the regular season finale came on lap 19. Todd Gilliland (34) and Tyler Reddick (45) made contact in Turn 4 and Reddick hit the inside wall. 

Caution number three of the night: Bubba Wallace (23) made contact with the 22 of Logano, who spun and collected most of the field behind him, resulting in the Big One. There were 12 cars total involved in this one including: Cindric, Noah Gragson (4), Kyle Busch (8), Hamlin, Austin Hill (33), Riley Herbst (35), Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (47), and Bowman. 

Stage One ended with a win for Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson. The rest of the top 5 is as follows: 

1. Kyle Larson 
2. Ross Chastain (1) 
3. Ryan Blaney (12) 
4. Micheal McDowell (71) 
5. Justin Haley (7) 

The fifth caution of the night came on lap 83. Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar (77) had an engine issue and stopped on the backstretch. 

Stage Two Results: 

1. Ross Chastain 
2. Christopher Bell (20) 
3. Joey Logano 
4. William Byron 
5. John Hunter Nemechek (42) 

Stage two only saw two cautions aside from the beginning of the stage. The first one (caution number seven total) came on lap 108. Denny Hamlin had a flat right front tire. The second one, came on lap 149. Joey Logano spins from the lead and gets stuck in the grass. 

To end this race, Ryan Blaney drives up 3-wide for the lead from 13th position. 

Ryan Blaney is your regular season finale winner! 

Final Top 10: 

1. Ryan Blaney 
2. Daniel Suarez (99) 
3. Justin Haley 
4. Cole Custer (41) 
5. Erik Jones (43) 
6. Kyle Larson 
7. Chris Buesher (17) 
8. Ty Gibbs (54) 
9. Josh Berry (21) 
10. Chase Elliott 

Blaney’s win secured a playoff spot for Alex Bowman, and Tyler Reddick also advanced, despite having trouble early in the race.