NASCAR at Daytona: Playoff spot on the line, team ceasing operations. How to watch, stream
One playoff spot remains in the NASCAR Cup Series.
And there’s one final race for drivers to earn it. One very unpredictable race.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway begins at 7 p.m. Saturday. You can watch on NBC, or listen to it on MRN or Sirius XM NASCAR.
Fifteen drivers have qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, which begin next weekend at Darlington. Bubba Wallace, who overcame his road course struggles for a top-12 finish at Watkins Glen last week, currently holds a 32-point lead over rookie Ty Gibbs for the 16th and final playoff spot.
Wallace doesn’t necessarily have to win at the superspeedway to claim this spot, though any new winner would knock the No. 23 car out of the playoffs. Including Wallace, 17 drivers — roughly half the field — in Saturday’s race at Daytona are vying for that last playoff spot.
Playoffs!
Wallace currently has the points to qualify for the postseason, with Ty Gibbs and Daniel Suarez within 50 points.
However, there are 14 other drivers — including 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott and last year’s Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric — who can still punch a playoff ticket with a first-place finish Saturday. Wallace, who is among the top superspeedway drivers in NASCAR, needs just 24 more points to secure his first career playoff appearance.
Additionally, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin are battling for the regular-season championship, which awards the regular-season points winner 15 bonus points — equivalent to three race wins — toward the drivers’ playoff total. William Byron has the most wins of any driver this year with five, but some inconsistency over the summer has dropped the Hendrick Motorsports driver below Truex’s and Hamlin’s point totals.
This season is one NASCAR team’s last
GMS Racing, a two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship-winning team, announced Wednesday it is ceasing operations after this season.
Initially known as Gallagher Motorsports, GMS Racing was founded by entrepreneur Maury Gallagher in 2012. Gallagher purchased controlling interest in Richard Petty Motorsports last year, and “Petty GMS” started competing in tandem with the Truck Series teams in 2022.
“Without their effort and dedication, we would never have been able to win two Truck championships, three ARCA championships and 68 wins,” Gallagher said in the release. “We are looking to finish out this year on a high note and close our legacy in this era with another Truck Series championship.”
Grant Enfinger, Daniel Dye and Rajah Caruth have represented GMS Racing in the Truck Series this year. Enfinger has two wins — in Kansas and St. Louis — and will be the team’s only driver in the playoffs. The team is the winningest Chevrolet organization within the series.
Gallagher is also the co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, the Cup team of the once-named Petty GMS team. Gallagher co-owns Legacy Motor Club with seven-time Cup champion and soon-to-be NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Jimmie Johnson.
Legacy Motor Club announced in May it is switching its alignment from Chevrolet to Toyota after this season.
When does the NASCAR race at Daytona start?
Race: Coke Zero Sugar 400
Distance: 400 miles (160 laps)
Stages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 35, Stage 2 ends on Lap 95 and Stage 3 ends on Lap 160
Where: Daytona International Speedway
When: 7 p.m., Saturday
TV: NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports App
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR
Purse: $8,778,583
