The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers and teams are headed back to the birthplace of the sport. Saturday night it’s racing under the lights of Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
Winning a race on the track that gave birth to NASCAR is a bucket list goal of every driver that straps into a race car. Doing that at Daytona is not a small accomplishment. The superspeedway presents challenges for crew chiefs and drivers alike.
The handling has to be there. The speed has to be there. These necessities will be something that the crew chiefs will battle with from the moment the cars are rolled out of the haulers and from the green flag to the checkered flag. The race starts in the daytime and ends under the lights. The track conditions will change throughout the race. The crew chiefs will have to make adjustments to keep up with the track changes to give the drivers a chance to be there in the end to challenge for the win.
With maximum speeds and pack racing, the drivers will have to keep their car in the draft and make all of the right moves at the right time to move forward in the field. One miscalculation or slip in focus can result in losing the draft and falling back or even worse, an accident that takes them out of the race all together.
Here is a look at the track and race data for this week’s competition.
Daytona International Speedway Data
Track Size: 2.5-mile
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 31 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 31 degrees
Banking/Straights: 3 degrees
Banking/Tri-Oval: 18 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 3,800 feet
Backstretch Length: 3,000 feet
Coke Zero Sugar 400 Data
Season Race #: 18 of 36 (07-07-18)
Race Length: 160 laps / 400 miles
Stage 1 & 2 Length: 40 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 80 laps
Now let’s take a look at which active drivers have the best records at the track.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Daytona
Kyle Busch…………………………… 91.7
Ryan Blaney…………………………. 91.2
Kurt Busch…………………………… 90.2
Denny Hamlin……………………….. 89.4
Bubba Wallace……………………… 88.1
Joey Logano…………………………. 87.3
Jimmie Johnson…………………….. 86.3
Kevin Harvick……………………….. 82.7
Kasey Kahne………………………… 80.8
Brad Keselowski……………………. 79.8
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2018 races (27 total) among active drivers at Daytona International Speedway.
There are only 15 active drivers who have won at Daytona International Speedway. Of those drivers, only four have multiple wins at the track.
Jimmie Johnson leads the list with three Daytona victories in his Cup Series career. Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth are all just behind Jimmie with two wins each at the track.
The remaining 11 drivers that have won at Daytona each has a single victory. Those drivers are Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Trevor Bayne, David Ragan, Aric Almirola, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (last year’s winner of this race) and Austin Dillon (winner of this year’s Daytona 500).
There are only nine races left in the regular season before the ten-race playoffs begin. For those drivers that have not secured their place on the Chase Grid every race gains more importance than the last. Six drivers have at least one win this season to take advantage of the “win and you’re in” scenario for the playoffs. That leaves 10 spots available for new winners to claim or they will be filled by drivers with the most points and no wins.
Needing a win or at least the most points possible to get in the playoffs could make drivers more aggressive than usual this week. Which drivers will gamble and lose and which will gamble and win? We will find out starting at 6 PM central time (7 PM eastern time) this Saturday, July 7th in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
By: Buck Stevens
