All interviews seen in this story and provided by Bob Pockrass and Noah Lewis.
2 races to go until the playoffs and the stage is set at Daytona, where the possibility of the big one always looming around. Front Row Motorsports locked out the front row with drivers like Bubba Wallace trying to make his way into the playoffs and Kyle Busch who has improved as a super speedway racer since he joined RCR needs a win if he wants to make the playoffs.
Pre Race Notes:
Mcdowell and Todd Gilliand lock out the front row for Front Row Motorsports, fitting for the team name, am i right?
Gilliand failed pre race inspection 3 times but wont lose his starting position. He does lose his car chief and his pit stall selection.
160 Lap Race, 35 Laps Stage 1, 60 Laps for Stage 2 and a 65 lap race to the finish.
6 Fords locked out the top 3 rows
SHR in their final season, and their final race at Daytona as a 4 car team, starts 4th, 5th and 6th today.
Lap by Lap Review:
Lap 1: GREEN FLAG IS IN THE AIR AT DAYTONA AND MCDOWELL LEADS THEM INTO TURN 1 AND CLEARS GILLIAND AND WILL LEAD LAP 1
Lap 5: It’s been the Ford show so far as the Top 7 is a Ford Lockout
Lap 6: Austin Cindric is the first driver to make it three wide with other’s following.
Lap 9: Brad K and Berry swap positions for the lead, the field is 3 wide behind them.
Lap 18: Berry and Logano side by side for the lead as Gilliand makes it 3 wide at the line.
Lap 19: The field is 3 wide for 8 rows back.
Lap 21: Erik Jones who started dead last, has made up 22 places since the start.
Lap 22: Logano retakes the lead but lays a huge risky block on his former teammate, Keselowski.
3 to go in the stage: Ryan Blaney gives a huge push to Joey Logano to push him further into the lead, everyone in the top 10 getting real aggressive here. I wouldn’t be surprised if a wreck happens here
2 to go in the stage: Pit road is closed and Keselowski and Logano still lead the pack.
Final Lap in the 1st stage: 3 wide as Berry goes to the outside of Logano and Keselowski. Buescher gives a huge push to Berry to launch him into the lead. He has a 5 car length lead and wins the stage. A impressive move by Chris Buescher to give Josh Berry the lead and the stage win.
1st: Josh Berry
2nd: Joey Logano
3rd: Chris Buescher
4th: Austin Cindric
5th: Ryan Blaney
6th: Todd Gilliand
7th: Brad Keselowski
8th: Michael Mcdowell
9th: William Byron
10th: Kyle Larson
Lap 39: The Fords brought some fast cars today as they locked out the Top 8, a impressive job as Bubba Wallace is the highest Toyota finisher in 13th. Joey Gase is the free pass as pit stops happen and Corey LaJoie, BJ McLeod, Martin Truex Jr., Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Ryan Preece, Daniel Hemric, Shane Van Gisbergen, Carson Hocevar, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. stay out with all others pitting. Joey Logano first off of pit road. Daniel Suarez had a fire on pit road and the rear of the car is on fire as he exits the car on pit road and is the first retirement of the race.
Lap 40: Corey LaJoie, BJ McLeod, Martin Truex Jr., Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Ryan Preece, Daniel Hemric, Shane Van Gisbergen, Carson Hocevar pit.
Lap 42: Restart as Logano chooses the outside of Chris Buescher. Austin Cindric giving big pushes to his Penske teammate, Logano, as he helps him lead lap 1 of the restart
Lap 43: Suarez is interviewed at his pit box. You can find his reaction down below.
Lap 44: 3 wide now as Bubba Wallace goes to the middle lane and has some takers as he goes into the lead. I said in a previous story that Wallace’s best chance at a win is Daytona or Michigan, and he’s proving that now.
Lap 47: Wallace went out to a huge lead but learned very quickly that you can’t do that at Daytona as the pack catches up quickly to him and are bunched up once again.
Lap 48: Buescher clears Wallace and takes the lead.
Lap 49: Wallace and Buescher are battling for position as Briscoe goes charging up to the lead.
Lap 51: Wallace and Briscoe are trading 1st place back and forth. The TV Graphic from NBC shows John Hunter Nemechek only going half throttle as he is currently 23rd. JHN trying to make it to save fuel here.
Lap 52: Race Center shows the field has slowed over a full second as they try to save fuel as this second stage is far longer then the first one.
Lap 53: Bubba Wallace still leads as he is holding of 5 Fords right behind him. Everyone but Bubba Wallace in the Toyota engine is struggling as JHN is 14th, Hamlin 15th, Gibbs 16th, Jones 17th, Bell 18th, Reddick 22nd, and Martin Truex Jr 25th.
Lap 57: Wallace still holds the lead as the Top 8 consistently keeps changing other then the Lead. Wallace making smart blocks so far.
Lap 60: The Top 5 are currently single file and starting to save fuel as the Top 5
Lap 61: THE BIG ONE STRIKES AT DAYTONA! Corey Lajoie gives a huge push to Noah Gragson that sends him sideways front of half the field. Martin Truex Jr., Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Austin Hill, Corey LaJoie, Denny Hamlin, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Preece, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick collected in the crash. You can find the replay of the crash down below.
Lap 63: Hamlin has retired from the race, after an engine penalty earlier this week, he needed a big race here today but he sees it end early.
Lap 64: Everyone comes down pit road but the 77. Bubba Wallace leads them into the pits as Logano takes fuel and Cindric is forced to get held for a second more due to someone entering. Buescher comes out in front and Wallace loses 3 spots. Chase Elliott goes behind the wall for repairs. 18 cars in total were involved in the wreck.
Lap 67: Restart coming as Buescher chooses the outside and Keselowski goes to the inside. Pace Car makes a hard left down pit road. Logano pushes Buescher to the lead as Buescher is able to clear Keselowski and is now leading the field. Top 5 are single file once again.
Lap 68: Chase Elliott has retired from the race who makes his chase for the regular season championship that much harder with a early retirement from today’s race
Lap 70: The Field is all single file now as no one needs to save now as everyone including Hocevar coming down to top off on fuel.
Lap 71: Buescher still leads the field as Hamlin gets interviewed following his retirement.
Lap 73: Kyle Busch holds a solid 3rd place as he has turned into a whole different super speedway racer since he joined RCR. Can tonight be the night where Busch finally wins at Daytona, keeps his streak alive and also lock himself into the playoffs? Time will tell as we are under 120 laps to go now. Bubba Wallace during that decided to make the inside lane start to work and it gets going but unfortunately gets shoved out of the lead. Logano reclaims the lead.
Lap 77: Logano still leads the race with Cindric right behind him who has led the most laps so far this race.
Lap 78: Larson is starting to get the outside lane moving as Cindric has a huge save but gets shoved to the mid field, Larson gets loose and makes contact with Cindric. That would have been Larson’s second big mistake in 2 straight races.
Lap 79: Logano and Larson are now side by side battling for the lead
Lap 80: We are officially halfway
Lap 81: Larson leads this one but Logano is still right at his door, they are battling side by side around Daytona.
Lap 82: CAUTION! Jones and Truex Jr have tire problems as SVG has a engine blow in front of the field as everyone gets through unscathed. A rare engine failure in NASCAR as this is the second fire of the night. If i had a nickel for everytime a fire happened tonight and multiple drivers had a tire blow in one lap in two weeks, i’d have 2 nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice, right? Kaulig said it wasn’t a engine failure as they believe that the problems from the 43, forced something to go through the radiator.
Lap 83: Alex Bowman is the free pass.
Lap 86: Pit Road is open as the Top 5 stay out. Everyone who pitted earlier, can make it to the end of the stage on fuel. Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell, Zane Smith, Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Austin Cindric, Cody Ware, Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek, Todd Gilliland, Joey Gase, Harrison Burton, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Hemric, Austin Hill, Chase Briscoe, Carson Hocevar, Alex Bowman pit and everyone else stayed out.
Lap 89: Logano chooses the outside as Logano goes to the inside. Blaney is right behind his teammate ready to give a huge push as the GREEN FLAG is back out, 7 laps to go in the stage. Logano and Larson are even going into turns 1 and 2. As they stay even down the back straightaway and into Turn 3 and 4. As Keselowski gives him a push to the line and leads lap 90!
Lap 90: Third lane is slowly starting to form as their is now 6 laps to go in the stage. Larson leads Lap 91.
Lap 91: Wallace shoots up to the high lane as he is in desperate need for points. Keselowski still pushing Larson as Logano is 2 car lengths back from the lead. As Keselowski goes to the middle lane to get a push from his former teammate Joey Logano as they are even going to the line and Keselowski leads.
Lap 92: Larson pulls out to the lead in Turns 1 and 2 and Cindric makes a huge aggressive move going from the outside to the inside lane. Logano gives another big push to Keselowski at the Tri Oval
Lap 93: Larson and Keselowski are even as they stay close.
Lap 94: The Outside lane has huge momentum as Blaney is pushing Logano into turns 3 and 4 to a stage win as he blocks Larson for Logano as Logano has to go to the outside to block Keselowski and Logano wins Stage 2! Blaney helping his teammate secure the stage win as Logano realized the momentum Keselowski was gaining and blocks him. Solid job by the Penske teammates.
1st: Joey Logano
2nd: Ryan Blaney
3rd: Brad Keselowski
4th: Kyle Larson
5th: Todd Gilliand
6th: Justin Haley
7th: Kyle Busch
8th: William Byron
9th: Chris Buescher
10th: Bubba Wallace
Lap 98: Ross Chastain is the free pass.
Lap 98: Logano has now lead a race high 35 laps as there has already been 31 lead changes with 12 different leaders. This race will only get crazier as drivers like Todd Gilliand, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace all looking in trying to lock in their playoff spots.
Lap 99: Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse Jr stay out under the caution as everyone else pitted behind them. Mcdowell leads the rest of the pack out of pit road.
Lap 100: Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Todd Gilliland, Bubba Wallace, Carson Hocevar, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, BJ McLeod, Cody Ware, Joey Gase, William Byron and Brad Keselowski pit at the one to green to top off
Lap 101: GREEN FLAG IS BACK IN THE AIR AT DAYTONA FOR THE FINAL STAGE OF THE COKE ZERO 400 AS MCDOWELL LEADS THEM INTO TURN 1 as he blocks low and high and leads the restart. Berry right behind him
Lap 102: Josh Berry has been having a amazing night tonight as he’s been up front pretty much all night. Berry who was 23rd coming into tonight’s race, can he lock himself in and shake up the playoffs?
Lap 103: Justin Haley makes a pass on Josh Berry for 2nd place and sets his sights on 1st place now. Current top 5 is Mcdowell, Haley, Berry, Busch, and Harrison Burton.
Lap 105: Zane Smith who is currently 8th place, just got dropped by Trackhouse earlier this week for SVG. Smith still trying to find a seat for next year is boosting his stock today.
Lap 106: The top 8 are currently all single file as Nemechek is trying to get the bottom lane working.
Lap 107: Top 3 is still unchanged currently as Mcdowell still leads the pack. Bottom lane isn’t getting much momentum as they believed.
Lap 109: Justin Haley tries to make a pass to the bottom but Mcdowell makes a block as Haley is starting to get real aggressive here with 52 laps to go.
Lap 110: John Hunter Nemechek now cracks the Top 3 as a impressive day from Nemechek and Legacy Motorsports continues here at Daytona.
Lap 114: Mcdowell continues to lead here as the Top 8 remains single file. You have to think that as the laps wind down, more and more drivers will wanna make that bottom lane work.
Lap 117: Top 3 is still unchanged, Mcdowell, Haley and Nemechek as Mcdowell is shown running full throttle as everyone behind him who wants that track position is forced to run ull throttle as well. Stenhouse who is running 23rd currently is running half throttle trying to stretch fuel.
Lap 118: Haley and Berry have a close call as Cindric leads the bottom lane and is able to get closer.
Lap 119: Haley goes low and Mcdowell goes low to block and he goes high as Haley goes to the bottom and gets pushed by Cindric to the lead! Haley leads and has a half car length lead.
Lap 120: Mcdowell is now pushing Haley after Berry had a close call with Berry. Haley’s mistake has now put him into the lead.
Lap 121: Final pit window is now open as Haley leads the field and Cindric and Mcdowell are now even going down the back straightaway.
Lap 122: Justin Haley still holds the lead, if he wins tonight then he will definitely shake up the playoffs as he came into this race 28th, -482 points out of the cutline for the playoffs. A win today would automatically lock him in.
Lap 123: Josh Berry reclaims 2nd place as he continues his impressive day.
Lap 126: Top 12 are currently single file as there are 35 laps to go. JHN is running 3rd and the highest Toyota. Bell is the 2nd highest running Toyota back in 12th. Can create problems if JHN needs to pit.
Lap 127: Larson’s crew asks for Larson to save fuel down the straightaway as he rides 4th currently.
Lap 128: Martin Truex Jr blows a tire but is able to get it back to pit road.
Lap 129: Cody Ware is trying to get the bottom lane started here with 31 laps to go.
Lap 130: Top 5 are currently single file as Ware is still attempting to get the bottom lane going but doesn’t have anymore takers. Other drivers still think it’s a little early to make big moves.
Lap 132: Top 3 remains unchanged with Haley leading the pack, Berry in 2nd and John Hunter Nemechek in 3rd. If someone would have told me that these 3 would have been the top 3, i wouldn’t of believed them.
Lap 136: Top lane is starting to gain momentum as Nemechek leads the charge in the outside lane. Berry gives a huge push to Haley at the line, leaving them vulnerable for a huge run.
Lap 137: Haley and Berry are able to stop that charge from the outside lane but the field is now starting to get 3 wide here as Haley and Nemechek are now side by side going into the tri oval.
Lap 139: Everyone but the top 2 are three wide all the way back. Drivers are now starting to get aggressive as final pit stops are on the horizon
Lap 140: CAUTION! NEMECHEK GETS HIT BY LARSON AND SENDS HIM SPINNING DOWN THE BACK STRAIGHTAWAY, Nemechek keeps it off the wall for no damage but another costly mistake by Larson in the second straight week sending another driver spinning.
Lap 141: Busch now leads the pack, Cindric in second and Mcdowell in third.
Lap 142: Everyone needs to come to pit road now, as maybe the spin by JHN was a blessing in disguise as all manufacters were in no point in pitting together. Fuel is all you really need this time around but will anyone get risky and take 2 or 4 tires for some extra speed?
Lap 143: Martin Truex Jr is the free pass.
Lap 144: Everyone on the lead lap comes down pit road. Larson opts for fuel only, Cindric as well, Busch as well. Cindric wins the race off of pit road. Erik Jones, Christopher Bell, Carson Hocevar, BJ McLeod all make contact on pit road
17 to go: Keselowski and Cindric lead the field back to the line as GREEN FLAG IS BACK IN THE AIR
16 to go: Cindric is able to get a huge push by Larson as Race Control comes over the radio and says the restart is under review.
15 to go: PENALTY! BRAD KESELOWSKI! HE WENT WAY TOO EARLY AS CINDRIC WAS THE CONTROL CAR! RESTART VIOLATION! He will have to come down pit road to serve his penalty before he stops getting scored. Brad K’s team is trying to argue the penalty and saying the 2 car didn’t go and press the accelerator.
13 to go: Keselowski serves his penalty.
12 to go: Cindric, Mcdowell and Larson are your top 3 currently as the Top 10 and back are starting to get 3 wide here. Mcdowell gets pushed to the lead and Cindric and Mcdowell are even coming to the tri oval.
11 to go: Mcdowell and Cindric still even as Larson goes to the middle lane to make it 3 wide! LARSON, MCDOWELL, AND CINDRIC ALL 3 WIDE ALL THE WAY BACK.
10 to go: Mcdowell leads the field as everyone behind him is 3 wide
9 to go: MCDOWELL GOES FLYING AS BIG NAMES ARE CAUGHT UP IN THE SECOND BIG ONE! Logano’s window net is down and he is done for the day. Mcdowell is also done as well. Haley is done after leading some solid laps towards the end of the race here. Mcdowell gets sent off of Cindric’s bumper and into the front of the field. Kyle Busch made it through unscathed. Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Justin Haley, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Cindric, Chris Buescher, Austin Hill collected. Replay and interview will be shown below.
7 to go: Larson and Stenhouse and Reddick all are down pit road trying to repair the damages caused by the wreck.
6 to go: Martin Truex Jr is awarded the free pass.
5 to go: BJ McLeod, John Hunter Nemechek, Bubba Wallace, Joey Gase, Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Corey LaJoie, Ross Chastain pit with all others staying out
4 to go: Cindric goes to the inside as Berry chooses the outside. Busch and Byron right behind as Burton and Bell round out the top 6. We will restart with 3 to go.
3 to go: The pace car makes the hard left turn onto pit road as the GREEN FLAG IS OUT! Busch gives a huge push to Cindric and is able to go high and block. Berry is able to even it out down the back straightaway. They are even going into the tri oval.
2 to go: Cindric and Berry still even going down the straightaway as BERRY GOES FLIPPING AND HITS THE INSIDE WALL. Berry who had a impressive night all comes to a end. Berry is okay and communicating to the AMR Team. Red Flag is out as the AMR safety team flips over the car. Josh Berry is out of the car. NASCAR has a serious problem that they need to get fixed. That’s the 3rd car that’s gotten flipped or almost flipped in two weeks. NASCAR spends far too much money for this to keep happening to these cars. Berry walked away from this crash but a scary crash indeed as he banged into the inside wall on his roof. The Red Flag has been lifted and overtime is on the horizon. Josh Berry, Erik Jones, Austin Cindric, William Byron, Austin Dillon, Austin Hill, Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith, Cody Ware, Carson Hocevar involved. Red flag duration: 6:52
Caution Laps: Kyle Busch, Harrison Burton, Christopher Bell, Parker Retzlaff and Cody Ware round out the top 5. Busch chooses the inside and Burton goes to the outside. Bell behind Busch and Retzaff behind Burton. Ware behind Busch and Nemechek behind Retzaff. OVERTIME at DAYTONA. Can Kyle Busch or Burton pull off the upset?
Restart / 2 to go: THE TOYOTA CAMRY MAKES A HARD LEFT TUR FOR HOPEFULLY THE FINAL TIME AND ITS A GREEN FLAG! Busch gets a push from Bell, his former teammate. Busch is clear on his outside and getting oushed by Bell! Busch goes into turns 3 and 4 leading!
ONE TO GO: BUSCH LEADS INTO TURN 1 AND 2. CAN KYLE BUSCH WIN AND HOLD OFF BURTON! AS HARRISON BURTON GETS A HUGE PUSH BY RETZLAFF PUSHES BURTON AND WINS AT DAYTONA! BLOCKS A HUGE RUN FROM BUSCH AND BURTON PULLS OFF THE UPSET AND PUNCHES HIS TICKET INTO THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!! HARRISON BURTON WHO CAME INTO THIS RACE 34TH IN THE PLAYOFF STNADINGS, SECURES WOOD BROTHERS 100TH WIN AND LOCKS HIMSELF INTO THE PLAYOFFS UPSETTING KYLE BUSCH AT THE LINE.
Final Thoughts:
Tyler Reddick advances his lead on the regular season championship to 17 points, 2nd place is Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott is 18 points behind the regular season championship. Reddick will look for a impressive run next week at Darlington to secure those crucial 15 playoff points.
Ty Gibbs +39 and Chris Buescher +21 will look for a solid weekend at Darlington as well and keep their noses clean so they can secure their spots in the playoffs. Bubba Wallace -21 and Ross Chastain -27 are now on the outside looking in.
Harrison Burton who came into the night in the 32nd position, and who all season has said, he just wants to get Wood Brothers, their 100th win, led all but one singular lap tonight but it proved to obviously be the most important one of the night as that secured him the win and Wood Brothers 100th win in their iconic NASCAR career as a team.
Parker Retzlaff, the man who gave the push the Ford driver, Harrison Burton to shoot him into the lead past Kyle Busch said he wanted to push Busch at the end but didn’t wanna give up a row on the restart due to that. He said pushing Burton was his best shot at a win, he ended up finishing seventh for his first career cup series Top 10.
Other then the points earned for finishing the race, Bubba Wallace only walked away with a singular point today through the stages. A disappointing day on one of his best tracks.
Cody Ware who ran a impressive race all day, finished this race in the Top 5! A huge congrats to him and those guys!
Zane Smith who i mentioned earlier is now driving to stay in the Cup Series, finished his race 12th today!
16 different drivers DNF’ed today with notable names including Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Michael Mcdowell and Tyler Reddick.
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