By Jerry Jordan, Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Mother Nature won out over the NASCAR track drying crews as continuous rain made it impossible to prepare the track for Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400. NASCAR officials called the race at 8:10 p.m. EST, announcing to the thousands in attendance that gates will open Sunday at 8 a.m. EST. The parking lots will open at 7 a.m. EST.
Asked about the differences of racing Saturday night or Sunday morning because of rain, Kyle Larson said, “Yeah, good question, I am not sure. This place, the handling will be more of a factor for sure during the day than at night. I mean just the whole track is slicker, but I feel like turn four gets really tight. So, I don’t know and I don’t remember us being on track earlier this year with the sun out. In Talladega, handling is not a big deal there. The cars drove really good there gripped up. So, yeah, I am sure it will play a factor as it always does. As far as the race, I am not really sure.”
When the green flag falls Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. will be battling each other for the final two spots in the NASCAR Playoffs, If Blaney wins, then Truex gets in the playoffs. Likewise, if Truex wins then Blaney is also in the playoffs. However, the curveball is if one of the 13 drivers in the Top 30 who hasn’t won yet wins the race, then Truex would be out unless he can make up a 25-point deficit over Blaney.
“We’re here to race and excited and two scenarios, one we get in on points, or we win the race,” Truex said. “That will be optimum because of the points situations.”
The CNBC Network will broadcast the race live at 10 a.m. EST. Radio coverage will be provided by MRN and broadcast on its affiliates, as well as, on SIRIUSXM NASCAR.
- Grandstand tickets for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 will be honored.
- Parking lots will open Sunday at 7 a.m. ET with Free Parking available in Lots 3 and 6 (Lot 7 will not be open). All Saturday parking passes will be honored tomorrow.
- Grandstand admission gates and the UNOH Fanzone open at 8 a.m.
- Great tickets are still available for the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
- The race will be shown LIVE on CNBC.
Starting Lineup For The Coke Zero Sugar 400 At Daytona
| Pos | Vehicle | Driver | Team |
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet |
| 2 | 9 | Chase Elliott | A SHOC Chevrolet |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford |
| 4 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet |
| 5 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Rheem Toyota |
| 6 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet |
| 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Mobil 1 Ford |
| 8 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford |
| 9 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Horizon Hobby Ford |
| 10 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet |
| 11 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet |
| 12 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Jockey Chevrolet |
| 13 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota |
| 14 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Menards/Maytag Ford |
| 15 | 41 | Cole Custer | Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford |
| 16 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Advance Auto Parts Ford |
| 17 | 24 | William Byron | Axalta Chevrolet |
| 18 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet |
| 19 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Cares Toyota |
| 20 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/NOS Chevrolet |
| 21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | BREZTRI Chevrolet |
| 22 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Interstate Batteries Toyota |
| 23 | 45 | Ty Gibbs(i) | Monster Energy Toyota |
| 24 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Castrol Ford |
| 25 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Thorntons Chevrolet |
| 26 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford |
| 27 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford |
| 28 | 16 | Daniel Hemric(i) | Cirkul Chevrolet |
| 29 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Dex Imaging Ford |
| 30 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | DoorDash Toyota |
| 31 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Built.com Chevrolet |
| 32 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | First Phase Ford |
| 33 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford |
| 34 | 15 | David Ragan | Select Blinds/Jacob Companies Ford |
| 35 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet |
| 36 | 78 | BJ McLeod(i) | NASCAR Rivals Ford |
| 37 | 62 | Noah Gragson(i) | Beard Motorsports/Southpoint Chevrolet |