Next Race: Coke Zero Sugar 400 The Place: Daytona International Speedway The Date: Saturday, July 6 The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 7:00 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 400 miles (160 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 50), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 100), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 160) 2018 Race Winner: Erik Jones Logano looking good atop the points standings Joey Logano rallied to a third-place finish in Sunday night at Chicagoland Speedway and that effort was good enough to keep the Team Penske driver atop the points standings as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series arrives in Daytona Beach for Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It was inspired driving by the reigning Monster Energy Series champion, who had not earned any stage points on the day but still managed to collect his ninth top five of the season and third top-three run in the last five races. He’s won twice on the year (at Las Vegas and Michigan) and his work at Chicago was good enough to extend his championship lead to 18 points over Kyle Busch. Daytona International Speedway has been hit-or-miss for the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. He won the Daytona 500 in 2015 and led 11 laps and finished fourth in the season opener this year. The Daytona summer race, however, has been more challenging for the team of late. Logano has crashed out of the last two 400-milers but finished fourth in the last two Daytona 500s. He has six top-10 finishes in the last nine races at the track, but only led 74 laps (in 21 starts) and posted an average finish of 17.0 in his career there. Back to defend for the first time For the first time in his brief Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones returns to Daytona International Speedway as a defending race winner. The driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota earned the win in only his fifth Cup start at the track. And while the 2.5-mile Daytona high banks have typically proven tough for many competitors, the 23-year old Jones seems to have taken to the style of fast, tight competition rather well. He has three top-10 and a pair of top-five finishes in five starts, including a third place in this season’s Daytona 500 as an impressive follow-up to last year’s summer victory. He has only two Coke Zero Sugar 400 Cup starts, but his 5.00 average finish in the race is still tops statistically. Jones has been strong especially as of late. He has three top-10 finishes in the last four races and five in the last seven. He’s scored a season-best third place, three times – at Daytona, Texas and Pocono. He comes to Daytona ranked 17th in the championship hunt, only 15 points behind 16th place Clint Bowyer in the Playoff cutoff position. “I’m looking forward to getting back to Daytona,’’ Jones said. “It’s always cool coming back to a track where you are the defending race winner. Looking forward to the race and defending our win from last year. “It’s always fun to get down there on the 4th of July. It’s usually a great crowd, a great turnout and great atmosphere for the race. Looking forward to getting out there and hopefully we’ll be able to get another win to lock ourselves in the Playoffs and have a lot fun at the same time.” Blaney on the verge of driving into Victory Lane Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney has watched both his teammates – Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski – celebrate in Victory Lane multiple times this season. But the popular 25-year old driver of the team’s No. 12 Ford should feel plenty optimistic heading into Daytona. The 2.5-mile track has been a positive entry on the resume of his four-year fulltime career with multiple close-calls in scoring that first win on the iconic track. He finished runner-up in the 2017 Daytona 500 – by a mere blink-of-the-eye .228-seconds to Kurt Busch. And after winning one of the two Daytona 500 Duel qualifying races, he answered the effort leading a race best 118 laps in 2018 – only to finish seventh after being collected in an accident in the final laps. This year, he was again involved an accident – only 10 laps from the scheduled checkered flag – and finished 31st. So Blaney arrives at the beach, hoping to extend some of his better luck 2019 showings. He is on a run of three straight top-10 finishes, including a sixth place at Chicago. He has finished a season-best third, three times including two weeks ago at Sonoma, Calif., and is ranked 10th in the championship standings, only 10 points behind ninth place Alex Bowman, last week’s Chicago winner. The new technical package – a tapered spacer as opposed to the traditional restrictor plate – will be used for the first time since 1988 at the track. But Blaney, who started seventh and finished 15th at Talladega using the new package earlier this season, seemed optimistic that teams will be in better shape this go-round. “Obviously, they are different kind of race tracks a little bit in their own ways and I think teams will go to Daytona with a little different mindset of what they had at Talladega,’’ Blaney said. “Just trying to figure it out. I think it will be a good race. I thought Talladega was a pretty good race and I think it will get better as teams start to understand the package.’’ “It’s a race I look forward to every year,’’ Blaney added. Back On Track Four-time race winner Kyle Busch has displayed a dominant start to the 2019 season – tying a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series record with 11 consecutive top-10 finishes to start the year. And he won three races (at Fontana, Calif., Bristol, Tenn. and Pocono, Pa.) in that time. His top-10 streak ended with a season worst 30th place at Kansas Speedway, however, he has rebounded solidly. Busch has four top-five finishes in the last five races in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, including a fourth win at Pocono, Pa. and a runner-up at the Sonoma, Calif. road course two weeks ago. Busch remains ranked second in the Monster Energy Series points standings – trailing leader Joey Logano by 18 points – despite a 22nd place finish at Chicago on Sunday. Looking to Daytona, he has run the most laps in the top 15 (63.8 percent) and made the most Quality Passes (4,093) since 2005. Only his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin has led more laps (437 vs. 420) in that time He enters the Coke Zero Sugar 400 as one of the top ranked drivers in the event – his only win at the track coming in the summer of 2008. He has nine top-10 finishes – eight of them top-five finishes – in 28 starts at Daytona. He led 37 laps in this year’s Daytona 500 and finished runner-up to Hamlin. Will Denny double up at Daytona? Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin returns to Daytona International Speedway as the most recent race winner, having taken the season-opening Daytona 500 victory – his second in the Great American Race. He has 10 top-10 finishes through the first 17 races in the No. 11 JGR Toyota Camry with wins at Daytona and Texas and average finish of 10.4 on the season. He’s led laps at the five previous races coming to Daytona, a place where he is tops in laps led (437) among the current drivers. Hamlin has eight top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 27 Daytona starts – famously winning the exhibition Clash race in his very first Cup start at the track. “We had a great race earlier this year in Daytona, but this weekend will be entirely different,’’ Hamlin said. “Just like all the other teams, we have learned a lot about ourselves in the weeks since the Daytona 500 and we will be fighting for a repeat win, but we are ready and preparing for the challenge that is coming our way.’’ Hendrick Resurgence Alex Bowman’s maiden Monster Energy Series victory Sunday night in Chicago coupled with the good showings from his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates – Jimmie Johnson, William Byron and Chase Elliott – was certainly an encouraging sign for the championship organization as it heads into Daytona Beach. The four drivers have combined for 12 top-five finishes and 25 top-10s. Elliott, the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet leads the team with six top-five finishes. Elliott and the seven-time Cup champion Johnson each have seven top 10s while Bowman has tallied six. All by Bowman has won at least one pole position. Bowman (Chicago) and Elliott (Talladega, Ala.) have race wins. Elliott’s victory at Talladega in May is encouraging for the team, as that marked the first time the series has used a tapered spacer in place of a restrictor plate at one of the two “big tracks.” This week will feature the same tapered spacer at Daytona. Even though Elliott, Bowman and Byron have won pole positions at Daytona International Speedway, the famed high banks haven’t been the most productive of venues for the three youngest members of the Hendrick team. Bowman is the only member of that trio with a top-10 finish (10th place in this summer race last year) in 16 combined starts among them. The veteran champion Johnson, however, has three victories at Daytona – two Daytona 500 wins (2006 and 2013) and scored a Daytona victory sweep in 2013 while also claiming the 400-mile race win. He’s crashed out in four of the last six Daytona races, but paced the team this February with a ninth-place finish in the Daytona 500. Next Race: Circle K Firecracker 250 presented by Coca-Cola The Place: Daytona International Speedway The Date: Friday, July 5 The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 7:00 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 250 miles (100 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 100) 2018 Race Winner: Kyle Larson Dominant ‘Big 3’ look to continue to hold down the competition Stewart-Haas Racing’s rising star Cole Custer added another win to the stats column last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, bringing the NASCAR Xfinity Series Big 3’s – Custer, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell – combined win total to 11 of the first 15 races of the 2019 season, including the last nine consecutive events. Now the three Xfinity championship contenders head to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway for the Circle K Firecracker 250 presented by Coca-Cola on Friday night (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to keep the winning streak alive. Cole Custer and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell are tied for the series most wins this season with four each, but Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick is right behind them with three victories this season. Interestingly heading into this weekend, of the three drivers, Reddick is the only one to have won at Daytona before; when he captured the closest win in NASCAR national series history (margin of victory of 0.0004 sec.) over his then-teammate Elliott Sadler in last year’s season-opener. In total Reddick has made five series starts at Daytona, posting one pole, one win (2018), one top five and two top 10s. Bell has made three series starts at Daytona grabbing one top five and two top 10s; his best finish on the 2.5-mile track came in this event last season when he finished third. Last weekend’s winner Custer, on the other hand, has struggled at Daytona in his career, making five series starts with an average finish of 22.4. He scored his career-best series finish at Daytona earlier this season (14th). Michael Annett goes for the Xfinity Series’ Daytona single season sweep The NASCAR Xfinity Series started competing at Daytona International Speedway twice a year in 2002, and since then the only driver who has been able to sweep both series races in a single season is Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003. What’s interesting is Earnhardt Jr. is the owner of JR Motorsport, the team Michael Annett races for as he’ll be looking to match his boss’s feat this weekend in the Circle K Firecracker 250 presented by Coca-Cola on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Annett grabbed his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win in the season-opener at Daytona back in February. Now the Iowa native returns to Daytona looking for the sweep. In total, Annett has made 15 series starts at the 2.5-mile speedway posting one win (2019), two top fives and three top 10s. Annett should be confident this weekend at Daytona, JR Motorsports has won six of the last 11 Xfinity Series races at Daytona – Annett (Feb. 2019), Tyler Reddick (Feb. 2018), William Byron (July 2017), Chase Elliott (Feb. 2016), Kasey Kahne (July 2014) and Regan Smith (Feb. 2014). Superspeedway studs Daytona International Speedway can chew up talent fairly quickly, which makes it that much more impressive to see those that have succeeded at managing the enormous challenges the 2.5-mile speedway demands. Three former series winners are entered this weekend, Michael Annett (Feb. 2019), Tyler Reddick (Feb. 2018) and Joe Nemechek (July 2002, Feb. 1998). But there are a pair of drivers who haven’t won at Daytona, yet, who are worth noting. JR Motorsport’s Justin Allgaier has made 17 series starts at Daytona, and in the process has put up the most top fives (four) and top 10s (eight) among all active series drivers at the track. Plus, he finished runner-up at Daytona earlier this season. RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg has also seen some success at Daytona International Speedway. He has the next highest top-five finishes among active drivers at Daytona posting three top fives in 11 starts; including a season-best fourth in the 2019 opener. Next Race: Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 The Place: Kentucky Speedway The Date: Thursday, July 11 The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 7:00 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 225 miles (150 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 35), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 70), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 150) 2018 Race Winner: Ben Rhodes source – NASCAR communications
