First Practice Speeds | Final Practice Rained Out
Driver Averages | Laps Led Leaders | Driver Ratings | Past Winners
Detailed driver notes and statistics to help set your fantasy racing lineup for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Who’s HOT at Daytona
- Joey Logano has finished sixth or better in five of the last seven races, including a win in the 2015 Daytona 500.
- Denny Hamlin has finished sixth or better in the six of the last nine races, including a win in the 2016 Daytona 500.
- Austin Dillon has finished in the top 10 in six of the last nine races, including a win in this year’s Daytona 500.
- Defending race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has won two of the last five races at restrictor-plate tracks.
- Brad Keselowski won this race in 2016 and has combined to lead 150 laps in the last two July races. An accident took him out of contention in 2017.
- Paul Menard and AJ Allmendinger are the only drivers that have finished in the top 10 in each of the last three races.
- Aric Almirola, winner of this event in 2014, finished fourth in this event last year and was leading this year’s Daytona 500 on the last lap until contact took him out of contention.
- Ryan Blaney has finished in the top 10 in two of the last three races and has combined to lead 129 laps in that span.
- Clint Bowyer has finished in the top 10 in the last five Coke Zero Sugar 400s.
Keep an Eye On at Daytona
- David Ragan has finished in the top 10 in four of the last five races at restrictor-plate tracks and his teammate Michael McDowell has the best average finish (10.6) among drivers that has competed in each of the last five races at Daytona.
- Ryan Newman is the only driver that has finished in the top 10 in each of the last four races at restrictor-plate tracks.
- Chris Buescher (8.0), Bubba Wallace (9.0) and Alex Bowman (12.5) each rank in the top seven in average finish among drivers that have competed in both restrictor-plate races this season.
- ‘The Big 3’ at Daytona – Kevin Harvick (tied for second in stage points earned at Daytona) and Kyle Busch, who leads the series with five wins this season, each are previous Daytona winners. Busch won this event in 2008 and Harvick won the 2007 Daytona 500 and the 2010 Coke Zero Sugar 400. Martin Truex Jr’s best restrictor-plate finish is second in the 2016 Daytona 500.
- Kurt Busch has finished in the top 10 in four of the last seven Daytona races, including a win in the 2017 Daytona 500.
- Jamie McMurray has four career restrictor-plate wins, including two at Daytona.
- Jimmie Johnson, who has led the most laps at Daytona in the last 10 races, and Kasey Kahne each have a top 10 Driver Rating at Daytona.
- Trevor Bayne has been running at the finish in each of the last eight races at Daytona and has two top 10s in the last three Coke Zero Sugar 400s.
- Blaney, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and JJ Yeley (No. 23 Toyota) will compete in both races this weekend – same tire combination.
Notes: Monster Energy Cup and Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Daytona this week…this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that they have run since this race weekend in 2017 – Paul Menard has the best average finish (4.5) and Ryan Blaney has led the most laps (127) in that span…Wood Brothers Racing leads all organizations with 15 Daytona wins and Hendrick Motorsports is second with 14…Ford has won three of the last four races at Daytona and eight of the last nine restrictor-plate races…The last eight races at Daytona were won by a different driver…Daytona has produced 18 first-time winners.
*Best Average Finish at Daytona
| Last # of Races | Driver | Average Finish |
| Two Races | Paul Menard | 4.5 |
| Four Races | AJ Allmendinger | 8.5 |
| Six Races | Denny Hamlin | 10.8 |
| Eight Races | Denny Hamlin | 9.4 |
| Ten Races | Denny Hamlin | 11.3 |
* – The best average finish is based off a driver entered in the race who has competed in EVERY race during that time span.
Laps Led Leaders at Daytona
| Last # of Races | Driver | Laps Led |
| Two Races | Ryan Blaney | 127 |
| Four Races | Brad Keselowski | 152 |
| Six Races | Brad Keselowski | 153 |
| Eight Races | Denny Hamlin | 154 |
| Ten Races | Jimmie Johnson | 212 |
Click Here to view all laps led leaders at Daytona over the past 10 races.
Daytona Loop Data Stat Leaders (2005-2018, 27 Races)
| Average Running Pos. | *Laps in Top 15 |
| 1. Ryan Blaney – 12.3 | 1. Jimmie Johnson – 2,981 |
| 2. Bubba Wallace – 13.7 | 2. Kyle Busch – 2,958 |
| 3. Kyle Busch – 14.3 | 3. Kurt Busch – 2,914 |
| 4. Denny Hamlin – 14.6 | 4. Denny Hamlin – 2,649 |
| 5. Jimmie Johnson – 15.1 | 5. Kasey Kahne – 2,593 |
| Fastest Laps Run | Driver Rating |
| 1. Kevin Harvick – 108 | 1. Kyle Busch – 91.7 |
| 2. Kyle Busch – 106 | 2. Ryan Blaney – 91.2 |
| 3. Clint Bowyer – 105 | 3. Kurt Busch – 90.2 |
| 4. Ryan Newman – 103 | 4. Denny Hamlin – 89.4 |
| 5. Denny Hamlin – 99 | 5. Bubba Wallace – 88.1 |
*Must be entered in the Coke Zero Sugar 400
Top 10 Stage 1 &2 Points Earned at Daytona
Three Races – Drivers listed are entered in Coke Zero Sugar 400
| Driver | Points Earned |
| Ryan Blaney | 36 |
| Kurt Busch | 28 |
| Kevin Harvick | 28 |
| Brad Keselowski | 24 |
| Joey Logano | 23 |
| Michael McDowell | 16 |
| Denny Hamlin | 13 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 11 |
| Paul Menard | 11 |
| Clint Bowyer | 11 |
2017 July Daytona Stage Finishes
| Stage 1 | Stage 2 |
| 1. Brad Keselowski | 1. Matt Kenseth |
| 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 2. Denny Hamlin |
| 3. Ryan Blaney | 3. Jimmie Johnson |
| 4. Clint Bowyer | 4. Kurt Busch |
| 5. Joey Logano | 5. David Ragan |
| 6. Michael McDowell | 6. Kevin Harvick |
| 7. Jamie McMurray | 7. Kasey Kahne |
| 8. Kurt Busch | 8. Ty Dillon |
| 9. Matt Kenseth | 9. Bubba Wallace |
| 10. David Ragan | 10. Ryan Blaney |
Rookie Report
Bubba Wallace has posted an 8.5 average finish in his two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Daytona, including a second-place finish in this year’s Daytona 500. Wallace finished 16th at Talladega in April to give him an average finish of 11.0 in his three career plate starts in Cup. Byron, who leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings by 37 points, has a 26.0 average finish in his two Cup plate starts.
MRN.com Staff Picks
Jeff Wackerlin: Ryan Blaney
Pete Pistone: Joey Logano
Tyler Burnett: Ryan Blaney
Driver Notes – Ordered by Average Finish (Top 15) in the Last Five Races at Daytona
Bubba Wallace finished second in this year’s Daytona 500 in his first start at the full-time driver of the No. 43 Chevrolet for Richard Petty Motorsports. Wallace made his first Cup start at Daytona last year in this event and finished 15th, subbing for the injured Aric Almirola. Wallace finished 16th at Talladega in April to give him an 11.0 average finish in three restrictor-plate starts.
Aric Almirola has finished in the top 15 in his last four starts at Daytona. Almirola made his first restrictor-plate points-paying start with Stewart-Haas Racing in this year’s Daytona and was leading on the final lap until contact with Austin Dillon going into Turn 3 relegated him to an 11th-place finish. Almirola won this event in 2014 with Richard Petty Motorsports, a race that was shortened to 112 due to rain. Almirola has posted an average finish of 6.2 in his last five restrictor-plate starts (missed this event last year due to an injury).
Michael McDowell has finished in the top 10 in three of his last four starts at Daytona. McDowell’s ninth-place finish in this year’s Daytona 500 was his first start in the No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports. McDowell has not finished outside the top 15 in his last five Daytona starts.
AJ Allmendinger is one of two drivers that have finished in the top 10 in each of the last three races at Daytona. Allmendinger has finished 13th and eighth, respectively, in the last two July races at Daytona.
Joey Logano has finished sixth or better in five of his last seven Daytona starts, dating back to his win in the 2015 Daytona 500. Logano is the most recent winner at a restrictor-plate track, winning at Talladega in April for his third consecutive top five on a plate track. Logano has earned stage points in three of the six stages were points were scored so far, including the opening stage in this event last year.
Denny Hamlin has finished in the top 10 in six of the last nine races at Daytona, including a win in the 2016 Daytona 500. His last top 10 in the July race came in 2015, third. Dating back to the start of the 2017 season, Hamlin has led 96 laps and posted an average finish of 12.5 in the last six restrictor-plate races.
Ryan Newman has finished in the top 10 in his last two Daytona starts. He is the only driver that has finished in the top 10 in each of the last four races at restrictor-plate tracks, including top 10s in the last two July races at Daytona.
Paul Menard has finished sixth or better in the last three races at Daytona. His average finish of 4.7 in that span tops all drivers.
Ryan Blaney led 118 laps and finished seventh in this year’s Daytona 500. He is the only driver that has scored points in every stage since stages were implemented. Blaney has made 14 career restrictor-plate starts in the Cup Series with an average finish of 19.4 and 174 laps led.
Austin Dillon has finished in the top 10 in four of his last six starts at Daytona, including a win in this year’s Daytona 500. The win is his only top 10 in his last six starts at restrictor-plate tracks.
Kyle Larson has two top 10s in nine starts at Daytona. Larson’s best finish in 18 career restrictor plate starts is a pair of sixth-place finishes, one of which came in this event in 2016.
Brendan Gaughan finished seventh last year in this event for his first top 10 in six Daytona starts.
Trevor Bayne has finished 13th or better in four of his last six starts at Daytona. Bayne, who won the 2011 Daytona 500, saw his average finish in 30 career restrictor-plate starts raise to 24.3 after an accident in the spring Talladega race.
Alex Bowman one the pole and led 13 laps and finished 17th in this year’s Daytona 500. Bowman led 26 laps and finished eighth at Talladega in April for his first top 10 in 10 restrictor-plate starts.
