Results, highlights from today’s race
NASCAR drivers discuss the career and legacy of Martin Truex Jr.
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The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season concludes at the penultimate race of the regular season at Daytona International Speedway. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is also the first Saturday night race of the season.
Cup Series leader Tyler Reddick won last weekend’s rain-stopped race at Michigan. He holds a 10-point lead over Chase Elliott, who is 22 points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson. All three drivers have secured a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Penalties are: Appeals panel upholds NASCAR penalty for Austin Dillon after accident-related win
NASCAR at Daytona summer 2024: Start time, TV, streaming, program for Coke Zero Sugar 400
Twelve drivers have secured a spot in the playoffs, so there is still plenty of racing to do on Saturday night at Daytona. Find the latest news on the Coke Zero Sugar 400 here.
Buescher takes the lead after a round of pit stops following Gragson’s accident. Blaney improves by five places and is now in the top 10 of the rankings.
The first contact finally came when chaos broke out outside the top 10. Noah Gragson made contact after a violent shove from Corey Lajoie, taking several cars with him. Denny Hamlin is one of the biggest names knocked out of the race as the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is now under caution.
After biding his time in the first stage, Wallace made a late push to get close to the top 10 before the pit stop. He is now in the lead after the first round of pit stops and is using the higher lanes to stay ahead.
Joey Logano is pushed to the front of the top lane of the field by Austin Cindric.
Suárez was returning to pit road after his stop when the No. 99 car caught fire. Suárez was able to exit the car safely and the Trackhouse Racing crew quickly extinguished the fire in pit road. Replay showed that spilled fuel from Suárez’s pit stop by Denny Hamlin caught fire and the No. 99 car eventually caught fire.
This is what the top 10 looked like after 35 laps at the end of the first stage:
- Josh Berry
- Joey Logano
- Chris Buescher
- Austin Cindric
- Ryan Blaney
- Todd Gilliland
- Brad Keselowski
- Michael McDowell
- William Byron
- Kyle Larson
The Team Penske driver took advantage of the high line to move into the lead before dropping back a few places in the final laps of the first stage.
The Legacy Motor Club driver was able to improve by 22 places right from the start and was the best overtaker until the 22nd lap.
The winner of the Ally 400 uses the first two lines to lead the field and moves between the two on the straights.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver is now in the front in the bottom lane before Berry went high and took the lead as they crossed the start-finish line.
McDowell has moved into the top lane of the track, clearing the bottom spots for Brad Keselowski and Josh Berry. Keselowski is now in the lead in the bottom lane.
Austin Cindric leads a third line atop the oval. McDowell and Todd Gilliland lead the bottom and middle lanes, respectively.
The green flag waves as Michael McDowell leads the all-RFK Racing front row to the start of the race.
NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400: How to watch
- Date: 24 August 2024
- Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Daytona International Speedway
- TV: NBC
- Streaming: Peacock, NBCSports.com, fuboTV
NASCAR Cup Series: Follow all the action from the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs with a Peacock subscription
Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. was spotted with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace before the race.
RFK Racing’s Michael McDowell starts the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from pole position.
(Car number in brackets)
1. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford
2. (38) Todd Gilliland, Ford
3. (22) Joey Logano, Ford
4. (41) Ryan Preece, Ford
5. (4) Josh Berry, Ford
6. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford
7. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet
8. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford
9. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
10. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
11. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
12. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford
13. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford
14. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford
15. (10) Noah Gragson, Ford
16. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
17. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota
18. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota
19. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
20. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford
21. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
22. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet
23. (33) Austin Hill, Chevrolet
24. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet
25. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota
26. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota
27. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota
28. (31) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet
29. (62) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet
30. (71) Zane Smith, Chevrolet
31. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota
32. (16) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet
33. (15) Cody Ware, Ford
34. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet
35. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet
36. (51) Justin Haley, Ford
37. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet
38. (78) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet
39. (44) Joey Gase, Chevrolet
40. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota
Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher are separated by just 16 points. Only two of them will be able to make the playoffs unless there is a new winner for 2024, who is currently behind them in points.
The Cup Series playoffs begin Sunday, Sept. 8, with the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Here is the full playoff schedule:
Round of 16
- 8 September: Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart | Atlanta Motor Speedway | 3:00 p.m. ET | USA Network
- 15 September: Go bowling at The Glen | Watkins Glen International | 3:00 p.m. ET | USA Network
- 21 September: Bass Pro Shops Night Race | Bristol Motor Speedway | 7:30 p.m. ET | USA Network
Round of 16
- 29 September: Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET | Kansas Speedway | 3:00 p.m. ET | USA Network
- October 6: YellaWood 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | 2:00 p.m. ET | NBC
- October 13: Bank of America Roval 400 | Charlotte Motor Speedway (Roval) | 2:00 p.m. ET | NBC
Round of 16
- October 20: Las Vegas Motor Speedway | 2:30 p.m. ET | NBC
- 27 October: Straight Talk Wireless 400 | Homestead Miami Speedway | 2:30 p.m. ET | NBC
- 3 November: Xfinity 500 | Martinsville Speedway | 2:00 p.m. ET | NBC
Championship 4
- 10 November: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race | Phoenix Raceway | 3:00 p.m. ET | NBC
After the Coke Zero Sugar 400, there is only one race left in the regular season: the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Round 26 of the Cup Series calendar is the last attempt for the playoffs.
William Byron won the Daytona 500, the opening race of the season, on February 19, 2024. He took the lead on a restart with four laps remaining before passing his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman when a crash occurred just as Byron was taking the white flag for the final lap.
Chris Buescher of RFK Racing won the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400.
In 25 championship races in 2024, 13 different drivers have won a NASCAR Cup race, including:
- William Byron (Daytona 500, EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, Cook Out 400)
- Daniel Suárez (Ambetter Health 400)
- Kyle Larson (Pennzoil 400, AdventHealth 400, Toyota/Save Mart 350, Brickyard 400)
- Christopher Bell (Shriners Children’s 500, Coca-Cola 600, USA Today 301)
- Denny Hamlin (Food City 500, Toyota Owners 400, Würth 400)
- Chase Elliott (Car Dealer EchoPark Automotive 400)
- Tyler Reddick (GEICO 500, FireKeepers Casino 400)
- Brad Keselowski (Goodyear 400)
- Austin Cindric (Enjoy Illinois 300)
- Ryan Blaney (Iowa Corn 350, Great American Getaway 400)
- Joey Logano (Ally 400)
- Alex Bowman (Grant Park 165)
- Austin Dillon* (Cook Out 400)
*= Dillon won the race but was stripped of his playoff eligibility.
Logano and Ty Gibbs won the NASCAR All-Star Race and the NASCAR All-Star Open, respectively, but neither race counts toward the championship.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 consists of 160 laps of the 2.5 mile track, for a total of 400 miles. The race consists of three legs (laps per leg) – Leg 1: 35 laps; Leg 2: 60 laps; Leg 3: 65 laps.
The NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 will be broadcast on NBC.
You can watch a live stream of the NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Peacock and fuboTV.
Today’s weather forecast from AccuWeather calls for temperatures in the high 80s with a 49% chance of rain at 7 p.m. ET.
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