NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Can Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona Give a Week 26 Playoff Upset?
For 15 drivers, Saturday night at Daytona is the last chance at making the 2022 NASCAR Playoffs. Close to half of the field in do-or-die desperation mode. Just how aggressive this year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 will be is unknown. With everything on the line and little to lose for so many, handicapping this Daytona race in particular is a challenge. However, a few drivers do rise above as favorites looking at recent superspeedway trends and momentum. Saturday night will be can’t-miss action, here’s six drivers who could end in victory lane.
Austin Cindric
Reigning Daytona 500 Champion Austin Cindric is looking to join an exclusive club on Saturday. Cindric will be going for a single-season Daytona sweep, only achieved five times before in history. Fireball Roberts (1962), Cale Yarborough (1968), LeeRoy Yarbrough (1969), Bobby Allison (1982), and Jimmie Johnson (2013) are the only drivers to earn two Daytona wins in one year.
In February, Cindric led 21 laps, including the last eight circuits of the overtime-extended Daytona 500. Entering the regular season finale tied for the 16th Playoff seed, Cindric is looking for a few valuable bonus points to vault the 2 up the standings. Five more points from another win would put the rookie in the thick of the championship battle to start the 10-week postseason. Fords are always strong in recent years at Daytona; the 2 has a great chance at his second career win.
Denny Hamlin
Despite being a three-time Daytona 500 Champion, Denny Hamlin is 0-16 in the summer 400-mile race. With a best finish of third three times, the Coca-Cola Racing Family driver desperately wants to add the Coke Zero Sugar 400 trophy to his collection. After scoring his first-ever Daytona 500 DNF this year, Hamlin eyes redemption on the high banks. As perhaps the best superspeedway racer today, Hamlin enters Daytona eyeing a strong chance at another victory. Flying FedEx Cares colors Saturday night, Hamlin hopes to deliver win three of 2022.
“We are going there with a lot of confidence knowing that we don’t really have to do anything special because we’re already locked into the Playoffs,” Hamlin said. “It’s a free race for us, so it’s an opportunity to go out and try to get a few more Playoff points. I don’t see any reason why we should feel any pressure other than to go out there and try to win the race. I feel like this race is usually chaotic being the last race for guys to make the Playoffs. I would say there’s going to be no shortage of wrecks and a lot of things will happen. For me, I’ve just got to be patient because I know I’ve got to make it to the checkered flag if I’m going to win the race.”
As the winningest active driver at Daytona, Hamlin is sure to be in the mix late for the win if the 11 stays clean all race long. Trying to put his 23XI Racing car into the Playoffs as well, Hamlin is in a unique position between winning himself and putting a car he owns into the postseason.
Ryan Blaney
As the last man currently in the Playoffs, can Ryan Blaney secure his fate with a walk-off win? The Penske No. 12 Mustang was in the mix coming to the line at the Daytona 500, with laps led also in every other 2022 superspeedway race. Blaney will try and maintain his 25-point gap over Martin Truex Jr. The defending Coke Zero Sugar 400 winner as well, Blaney has reason for great optimism heading to Daytona.
Fords have perfected manufacturer teamwork on superspeedways, especially Penske cars at Daytona. Expect many Mustangs to work together to keep the 12 ahead of the cut line, if not leading the pack. Any new winner would eliminate Blaney, so he has to be on the offensive all race long to maintain his Playoff berth.
Brad Keselowski
The most aggressive driver in the Daytona 500, Brad Keselowski led a race-high 67 laps. Being shuffled back late to ninth, Keselowski and the 6 team are aiming higher for this trip to Florida. Being 27th in points, Saturday night truly is an all-or-nothing race for Keselowski, trying to rectify a rebuilding year at his new team. Having a simple-yet-impossible task at hand, the Michigan native knows that Saturday will be all about surviving until the closing laps.
“It goes without saying but this race is going to be wild,” Keselowski said. “I told the team that if I can be one of the last 10 cars left on the last restart, we’ll have a shot and that’s about all you can ask for, especially in this type of scenario. We know we have speed and feel really good about our chances, we just need everything to align to make it happen.”
Between Keselowski and Chris(topher) Buescher, RFK Racing will have two great chances at taking the final Playoff berth. Buescher was second in this race a year ago, before a DQ. Both Ford drivers also won a Duel race in February, so they know how to control a pack at The World Center of Racing.
Bubba Wallace
As one of the most daring, skilled, and talented superspeedway racers, Bubba Wallace could stun at Daytona. The winner at Talladega last fall, the 23 team was also second in each of the last two Daytona races. If not for front end damage in February, Wallace could have made a potential race-winning move on Cindric coming to the line.
After a run of four-straight top-10s that ended in Richmond, Wallace has recent momentum coming into Daytona. Can the 23 deliver a Playoff-upsetting victory in the final race? Wallace has what may be his best shot ever at making a Playoff appearance on Saturday.
Joey Logano
Always a threat on superspeedways, Joey Logano looks to take win number three of 2022 at Daytona. Penske teammates are in near-tandem perfection at finding each other and pairing up to control Daytona races, as seen in the last two Daytona 500 finishes. Should Logano keep his No. 22 Ford clean and be in the hunt late, he could take Coke Zero Sugar 400 victory number one. Likely entering the Playoffs as the fourth seed, Logano hopes to build momentum ahead of the run for the championship.
A regular season’s worth of drama will all boil down to 160 laps at Daytona under the lights on Saturday. Can the Coke Zero Sugar 400 deliver a walk-off win for the ages, or will Ryan Blaney hang onto the 16th ticket? Be sure to not miss a lap of action, as the green flag will fly just after 7:00 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR
