Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 was surrounded by as much hype and anticipation as we’ve seen all year, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Both stage finishes were entertaining, the strategy was interesting, and the aggression ramped up at the end as we expect every time NASCAR comes to Daytona, and especially in as crucial as Saturday’s race was, as it was the regular season finale. Three playoff spots were up for grabs heading into the race, but Clint Bowyer clinched one of those spots early in the race after earning points in stage 1, so the final two playoff spots were the focus for the majority of the race. At the end of the day, one of those spots was taken by a first time race winner and the other was taken by a driver making his first playoff appearance, leaving a legend out of the playoffs in his final season.

William Byron earned his first career win after getting the lead from Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin on the final restart in overtime. He was able to hold off a late charge by teammate Chase Elliott on the final lap to bring that first win home. Byron, who entered the race in the final playoff spot only 4 points above the cutoff, was able to punch his playoff ticket with the huge win.  “I’m just extremely blessed and this is incredible,” said Byron, who drives the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “It’s been a hard couple of years in the Cup Series and trying to get my first win and gel with this team. These guys did an awesome job today and got us in the Playoffs and it’s amazing.” (Cain, 2020) Daytona’s unpredictable nature makes anyone who’s in a desperate points situation nervous. With Daytona being the regular season finale, those drivers have to find that balance between caution and aggression, as the risk of  violent multi-car crashes is there throughout the entirety of the race. Byron made his fair share of risky moves, as evidenced when he took it four wide with two laps to go, getting between Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace, who were both sideways and nearly crashing at that juncture. Logano crashed just seconds after the move by Byron, eliminating multiple cars and setting up that final overtime restart. Ultimately, that move may have been what won Byron the race. “This is probably the hardest track to points-race,” Byron said. “We had a great Stage 2 and kind of got back in the pack and got shuffled when everyone went single file. I thought my hopes were up there. And we were racing around the No. 21 (DiBenedetto) and the No. 48 (Johnson) in the final stage and I was like, ‘man, I’ve to really make something happen. Luckily, I was able to push the No. 43 (Wallace) and he and the No. 22 (Logano) made some contact and opened up a hole for me and I wasn’t going to lift. It was awesome.” (Cain, 2020) 

Crashes were not a major part of the race until an incident with 9 laps to go that took out multiple drivers. Tyler Reddick dove down to the bottom in turn 3 making a pass for the lead, and tried to slide up in front of Kyle Busch and cleared him, but hit the wall in the process, setting off a multi-car incident taking out multiple contenders, including Kyle and Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, and Erik Jones. Jones and Stenhouse saw their playoff hopes go away, as they were in a must-win situation, as was Reddick, who was able to continue with minimal damage. Reddick restarted in second place on the ensuing restart, but was caught up in the crash with two laps to go. Many drivers were upset with Reddick’s move on Busch and made it known in their interviews. “I mean, he wasn’t clear,” said Jones. “Kyle let him in, number one, to not cause a wreck, and then he ran into the wall and wrecked everybody behind him. It’s frustrating. He had way too much speed to try to make that move up the hill with the grip that is left in the tires; we had a lot of laps on them. It’s unfortunate. He wrecked us a Pocono, and then to have this happen, two times making racing moves that were not going to work out.” (Courtesy of racer.com) Ryan Newman, who was also eliminated, said, “It seems like you can win a couple of Xfinity championships and still stick your head where the sun don’t shine when the time comes right. I’m just disappointed. It was kind of an average race sitting there waiting with our Guaranteed Rate Ford and never got a chance to show how good a car we had.” (Crandall, 2020) Reddick himself was even critical of his move. “That move really hurt my chances to win the race, bringing the caution out, causing that wreck,” said Reddick. “So, they’re right to be upset. If someone made that move on me, I’d be pretty upset too. I was just too late. I was clear for a second, and when I slid up, it messed the 18 (Busch) up and caused a big wreck back there. Yeah, I totally understand them being upset.” (Crandall, 2020)

Clint Bowyer clinched his playoff spot after the first stage of the race and 18th place Erik Jones was eliminated from making the playoffs unless he won the race, so it was a three horse battle to get the final two playoff spots on points. Obviously, Byron took one of these with his win, and Matt Dibenedetto took the other spot to make his first playoff appearance of his career. 7 time champion Jimmie Johnson was the lone man out, missing the playoffs in his final season. Johnson tracked ahead of the cutoff for much of the race, but was eliminated in the crash with 2 laps to go after hitting the spinning #42 of Matt Kenseth, allowing Dibenedetto to pass him in the points standings. “We had a really good car,” an upbeat Johnson said after the race. “I felt like we had a way to transfer (into the playoffs), to win, and things just got ugly there in Turn 1. It’s unfortunate, but that’s plate racing.” (Dean, 2020) Despite the defeat for Johnson, he was still happy for his teammate Byron and his former crew chief Chad Knaus, who is now Byron’s crew chief. “Congrats to my teammate, though,” said Johnson. “To get that first Cup win like that, in this setting, with the drama … that’s a big win for Chad (Knaus) and William.” (Dean, 2020) For Dibenedetto, it was a feeling of accomplishment, as he overcame his tough career path and finally proved his worth with making it to the playoffs. “That was so stressful,” said DiBenedetto after Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400. “But, man, just so much appreciation to a level that is hard to describe because of my career path and appreciating the little things. This is a big one. When you’re driving for the Wood Brothers and have all these great people around you, it just means so much to be able to do it.” (Crandall, 2020) Dibenedetto was released from his ride at Leavine Family Racing after last season and felt his career was in jeopardy, but the Wood Brothers snatched him up after Paul Menard recommended that Dibenedetto drive the 21 in 2020, as Menard retired after the 2019 season. “Man, coming into here, that was by far the most stressful situation I’ve ever dealt with behind the wheel. But I have to thank my career path and all the opportunities I’ve gotten before this because last year (at) this time, I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to drive a Cup car again. So, fast forward a year, I’m appreciative of all the stressful situations I’ve been through because it’s made me extremely mentally tough to where I feel like I can be a good leader along with the guys on my team, and not let it get to me.” (Crandall, 2020)

The playoffs will start with Sunday’s CookOut Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway. The Southern 500 is typically NASCAR’s throwback race, as many drivers have paint schemes inspired by schemes that raced back in the day. For the 16 playoff drivers, they hope that they can honor the driver who’s paint scheme is featured on their car with a pivotal win to advance in the playoffs. The broadcast will start at 6 PM ET on NBC Sports Network.

Written on September 3rd, 2020

Sources:

Cain, Holly. “William Byron Wins Regular-Season Finale at Daytona: NASCAR.” Official Site Of NASCAR, NASCAR Wire Service, 30 Aug. 2020, www.nascar.com/news-media/2020/08/29/results-cup-series-regular-season-finale-daytona-coke-zero-sugar-400-race-recap/.

Crandall, Kelly. “Plenty of Critics for Reddick, Including Himself, after Late Wreck.” RACER, 30 Aug. 2020, racer.com/2020/08/30/plenty-of-critics-for-reddick-including-himself-after-late-wreck/.

Dean, Zach. “In Final Season, Jimmie Johnson Misses Playoffs, Bid for Record Eighth NASCAR Title after Late Daytona Wreck.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 30 Aug. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2020/08/30/jimmie-johnson-misses-playoffs-daytona-wreck-final-season/5672684002/.

Crandall, Kelly. “DiBenedetto Prevails, Locks up Playoffs Spot in Regular Season Finale.” RACER, 30 Aug. 2020, racer.com/2020/08/29/dibenedetto-prevails-locks-up-playoffs-spot-in-regular-season-finale/.