Starting Lineup | Pit Stall Assignments
Stories to follow during Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, which can be heard live on the Motor Racing Network starting at 6 p.m. ET.
New Winner?
Six drivers have won this season and the list of those shut out of Victory Lane continues to build with each passing week. The “Big Three” of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. will be in the mix for Saturday night’s win but will this be the week the likes of Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson or Chase Elliott finally breaks through?
Coke Zero Sugar 400 Paint Schemes | Daytona Winners
Elliott Upfront
Chase Elliott will lead the field to green Saturday night after winning the pole in Friday’s qualifying session. Statistically the Hendrick Motorsports driver has a good chance at finally finding Victory Lane based on past Daytona numerology. The pole winner has won 26 times in the Cup Series at “The World Center of Racing” including 18 wins in the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
Another Stenhouse Jr. Surprise?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won last year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 for his second career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. The Roush Fenway Racing driver, who will start sixth Saturday night, is a stellar restrictor plate driver. Stenhouse Jr. has visited Daytona 12 times in his Cup career and has posted one win, two top fives, and three top 10s. He claimed his second career win at the superspeedway after starting in sixth, leading 17 laps. Stenhouse Jr. has raced at Talladega 10 times in his career and it was there that he won his first Cup Series race in 2017, where he started from the pole for the second time in his career. He also has four top fives, six top 10s and one pole at the track.
Team Penske Plate Performance
The three car Team Penske trio of Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney are also superior restrictor plate drivers. Keselowski has only one Daytona win but has also accumulated three top fives and four top 10s. But, he has had much more success at Talladega Superspeedway, having won there five times and posting seven top fives and 11 top 10s in 19 starts. Logano also has one win at Daytona along with five top fives, and eight top 10s. Logano has three wins under his belt at Talladega, as well as six top fives and eight top 10s. Earlier this season, Logano won at Talladega after leading 70 laps. Blaney has competed at Daytona six times, posting one top five and two top 10s – but one of those top-10 finishes was a seventh-place finish in this year’s Daytona 500. In eight races at Talladega, he’s tallied a top five and two top 10s.
Where’s Wallace?
Bubba Wallace finished second in the Daytona 500 and the Richard Petty Motorsports driver is looking to gain one spot Saturday night to score his first career Cup win. Since Daytona he has posted one other top-10 finish, crossing the line eighth at Texas Motor Speedway in April. But he led laps at Bristol, Talladega and Pocono – and has completed over 98 percent of the laps run this season. The last time the famed No. 43 visited Victory Lane was in this race in 2014, with Aric Almirola behind the wheel.
Dillon Looks to Sweep
Austin Dillon kicked off the season with the biggest win of his career when he won the Daytona 500. The Richard Childress Racing driver has locked up a spot in the playoffs but has not dialed back his desire to win through the rest of the regular season including Saturday night. Not since Jimmie Johnson in 2013 has a driver swept both races at Daytona. See Also: Dillon Ready to Take Next Step
