NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Will Reign Supreme in Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona?
It all comes down to Daytona closing out the NASCAR regular season. 160 laps on Saturday night will set the final berth, and determine seeding for the Playoff hunt. 17 of the 39 drivers entered are all gunning for this 16th ticket to the championship. Two of the last three years at Daytona have seen a bubble driver win their way to contention in the 11th hour. Who are some favorites for Saturday night’s victory? Despite the apparent crapshoot that is superspeedway racing, a few drivers do have history to elevate them above the pack.
Denny Hamlin
Three-time Daytona 500 Champion Denny Hamlin is surprisingly still 0-18 in the summer race. Driver 11 is gunning for the regular season championship against teammate Martin Truex Jr. It is in Hamlin’s best interest to be on the offensive all night long. Third is Hamlin’s best Coke Zero Sugar 400 result, coming three times and most recently in 2020. One of Daytona’s all-time best drivers will all but certainly be one of the cars controlling the pack on Saturday.
“It’s going to be an exciting weekend at Daytona,” Hamlin said. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s one of the best facilities we have on our circuit and one of the best races you’ll see all season could happen this weekend. I think it’s going to be pretty crazy with guys trying to race their way into the Playoffs. On our side, we’re trying to do all we can to score as many points as we can to put some pressure on Martin (Truex Jr.) and those guys. It should be fun. These are the moments you live for and what makes this sport so exciting to be a part of.”
Entering Daytona with five top-10s in the last six races, the stars could be aligning for another Hamlin win. Only being 39 points back of the regular season championship, it is not improbable for Hamlin to take max points into the Playoffs.
Ryan Blaney
2021 Daytona summer winner Ryan Blaney is another one who can never be counted out on superspeedways. The 12 has an amazing Daytona record, boasting top-10s in five of the last seven races. Blaney knows better than most how difficult passing will be Saturday night. Driver 12 is also conscious that he must remain up front to have any winning chance.
“I don’t feel like the ride around in the back works very well anymore at Daytona,” Blaney said. “You just need to go race, establish yourself and be smart at the same time – not throw wild moves on lap 30 of the thing. You have to prepare for the end. At the same time, you have to compete and go racing. You have to show guys that your car is strong. That’s how you have help at the end of those things. If you’re racing all day, you show that you’re fast and have speed, and you can take and give pushes, guys pay attention to that. Then they’re like, ‘Okay, I’m going to go with you if you make a move at the end of this race.’ It’s because you’ve shown the speed in your car. That’s how I’ve approached these races – be smart, but at the same time, you have to actually race.”
Blaney has been a bit of an anomaly since his breakthrough Charlotte win. Three ninth-place runs are the 12’s best results since June. This includes two of the past three weeks. Trying to get any momentum possible before the 10-week marathon, Blaney could shine under the lights on Saturday.
Bubba Wallace
The driver with the most attention on him this weekend will be Bubba Wallace. The No. 23 Toyota holds the final Playoff position by 32 points over rookie Ty Gibbs. Wallace is facing down his first ever Playoff appearance, and will race for it at his statistically-best track. Wallace is aware that he must get the job done and be smart throughout all 400 miles. The upward trajectory for the 23XI Racing team should also not be overlooked.
“Just hats off to my team for sticking with me and believing in me on these road courses,” Wallace said. “I know we still have one more to go, but we wanted to maintain our gap and not lose too many and we gained. Hats off to everybody on the effort we put in. Thanks to Toyota for believing in me, McDonalds and all of our partners involved. Just a great day for the 23 team. Now, we get to go in Daytona stressful as hell, but (Watkins Glen) takes a little bit of the edge off for sure.”
“If we could lock ourselves in and do some really great things, I think it would be a massive pat on the back to everybody involved in this program.”
“Past success doesn’t guarantee future success, that’s for sure. We just gotta go out and get through qualifying, no practice there, survive the Stages and run our own race. We know what we need to do there. We showed that at Talladega, just don’t need to crash on the last corner.”
“Who knows what can happen on lap one? Just got to go in with a positive mindset and believe, that’s it.”
32 points is a relatively large cushion, but any new winner eliminates Wallace from contention. Even with his superspeedway prowess, second in the 2022 Daytona 500 is Wallace’s only drafting top-10 in the Next Gen car. Should Wallace merely survive to the finish and there be a repeat winner, the 23 should make the 2023 Playoffs.
Brad Keselowski
One of the winningest superspeedway drivers in NASCAR history, Brad Keselowski aims to enter the Playoffs on a heater. The 6 is no longer being worried about points, after they locked up a postseason berth at Watkins Glen.
Daytona allows Keselowski a prime opportunity to bust his 87-race losing streak. Between this year’s Daytona 500, both Atlanta races and Talladega, Keselowski has been painstakingly close to many drafting track wins. Expect Keselowski to be one of the most aggressive drivers in the field Saturday night, trying to park it in victory lane as an owner.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Reigning Daytona 500 Champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has the chance to pull off the 2023 sweep. This feat has not been achieved since Jimmie Johnson’s 2013 wins. Stenhouse would only be the sixth driver ever to win both Daytona races in one year. Still riding the high from February’s career-defining triumph, Stenhouse is excited to have a chance at doing it again.
“It will be really fun to get back to Daytona,” Stenhouse said. “The last time we were there it was kind of chaotic with all the celebrating, media, and stuff that we did. It will be cool to go back and go to the museum to see our racecar for the first time since we won and be at the Daytona 500 Champions’ Walk of Fame reveal. It is always nice to go back to a racetrack where you are trying to defend. Sweeping the races at Daytona would be huge for us.”
“I feel good about what we were able to accomplish at the start of the season and winning the Daytona 500. It is one that we all have circled on our calendar every single year to get the job done when we show up. That was cool to do. It is a tough race to win and one that sticks with you forever.”
“We punch above our weight with what we have, and I think we take a lot of pride in that. We wish probably that we had more things to go to battle with, but I am happy with the tools we have and how we do battle. It has been a fun season. We know where our strengths and weaknesses are. We need to make sure that we continue to make our weaknesses less because we do have strong suits. We work hard and it has been cool to see everybody kind of hold hands and go forward together. We are okay with being under the radar going into the Playoffs. It is completely fine for us.”
Stenhouse and the No. 47 are another Playoff-bound team looking for any positive results to start a hot streak. Stenhouse’s lone prior Playoff appearance saw him make it past the Round of 16. If this feat is to repeat itself, the JTG Daugherty Racing crew will likely need outside help with so few bonus points. If not another win, Daytona allows Stenhouse a great window at potential Stage wins. The 47 should be rocket-fast again, going for a second-straight Daytona victory.
Joey Logano
Just feet shy of Stenhouse’s bumper in February was Joey Logano. The 2015 Daytona 500 Champion is another master of the draft who can never be fully counted out going into any superspeedway. Logano’s lone win of 2023 so far came on the drafting track in Atlanta. Team 22 eyes another win to start the Playoffs on the right foot.
“We just need to build some momentum right now,” Logano said. “That’s the biggest thing is trying to get ourselves back into the Top-10 in points and gain some momentum – a couple, nice top-fives would be good. We’ll win if we can. Set ourselves up to try and make a run again. To see (recent Ford success) is good, but we need to be more competitive as the No. 22. We need to get that piece a little bit better. There’s potential there and it shows that it’s possible. We just need to get a little quicker.”
Penske cars have been a bit off their usual pace the past few weeks. Logano has only seen two top-10s in the last five races, putting the 22 at 13th in points. Heading into Daytona with seemingly no pressure or attention on them, Penske cars could stand out as they usually do on the high banks.
Like mentioned above, Saturday under the lights at Daytona may be a highlight reel race of the season. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 never lets down on drama, intrigue and headlines leading into the Playoffs. The green flag will wave Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Intense title fighting lay ahead for the next 10 weeks, but everyone must first navigate the treacherous storm that is Daytona’s regular season finale.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to James Gilbert/Getty Images
