Bubba Wallace Probably Likeliest To Win Himself Into The Playoffs

Bubba Wallace is generally regarded as one of the best drafters in the NASCAR Cup Series and not without reason. Although he has never won at Daytona, he has finished second three times and has led almost every Daytona race with the Next Gen chassis. Additionally, 23XI Racing seems to have consistently fast cars on […]

Zane Smith Eager To Prove Himself After Release From Trackhouse Racing

It was just announced Friday that Trackhouse Racing has released Zane Smith from their satellite Spire Racing operation for 2025. Although Smith is expected to reunite with Front Row Motorsports in an effective ride swap with Michael McDowell, his release likely means he will be eager to prove himself, and Daytona may be one of […]

Tyler Reddick Likely To Play It Safe To Protect Points Lead

Tyler Reddick took his first-ever lead in the NASCAR Cup Series championship with his win at Michigan. This season has marked a sudden change in style for Reddick as in 2022 and 2023 he had a more hotheaded aggressive style with more electrifying performances than this year but also more bad results. He is clearly […]

Daytona Might Be Ryan Preece's Last Chance to Save His Career

Ryan Preece's NASCAR Cup Series career is probably winding down after Stewart-Haas Racing's shutdown coupled with a dismal season where he is regularly being outrun by his less-experienced teammates. He has not led a single lap this year or posted an average running position better than 15th. As a result, Daytona is not merely a […]

Brad Keselowski's Extremely High Daytona Crash Rate Does Not Inspire Confidence

While Brad Keselowski has a reputation as one of the best drivers on drafting tracks, that's more because of his Talladega record than his more hit-or-miss Daytona record. Although he pushed his teammate Chris Buescher to victory in last year's race, he has crashed out of a staggering 11 of the last 15 races at […]

Carson Hocevar's Momentum Should Override Weak Daytona Record

Although Carson Hocevar has been the best rookie this year and is on something of a hot streak (especially considering the caliber of Spire Motorsports equipment), Daytona remains a big question mark for him since he crashed five laps into the Daytona 500 for his only DNF of the year in his only previous start […]

Daniel Hemric's Crash Avoidance Could Suit Him At Daytona

Although Daniel Hemric has been very slow in the NASCAR Cup Series this year, he has been smooth and polished and good at crash avoidance; his racecraft certainly exceeds his raw talent. That definitely suits him well for a track like Daytona, where half the field regularly crashes. Hemric's steady hand has given him three […]

Denny Hamlin's Race Strategy Likely Shifts After 75-Point Penalty

Denny Hamlin received a 75-point penalty for his team disassembling an engine before NASCAR could inspect it after his win at Bristol. Although the playoff point penalty he received was relatively minor in comparison, the 75-point penalty does effectively eliminate him from the regular-season championship. Counterintuitively, that will actually allow Hamlin to take more risks […]

Noah Gragson Becoming A Drafting Specialist With Nothing To Lose

While Noah Gragson hasn't really embarrassed himself in 2024 like he did the previous year, he hasn't really done much either and has been a very anonymous performer. The one exception came at Talladega, where he finished third and actually posted the best driver rating. Since he finished ninth in the Daytona 500 and also […]

Chase Elliott Likelier To Focus On Crash Avoidance Than Winning

Chase Elliott sits 10 points behind Tyler Reddick for the regular-season points lead with two races before the playoffs as he seeks to win his second regular-season championship. Although he has never yet won at Daytona unlike his father Bill, he has been consistently competitive, winning three poles and leading at some point in almost […]

Austin Dillon Probably Not Fast Enough To Deliver Another Cheap Shot

After Richard Childress's appeal of Austin Dillon's rough driving penalty at Richmond was denied, Dillon is once again in a must-win situation for the playoffs. He already proved twice on drafting tracks even before Richmond that he would wreck anyone for a playoff spot, wrecking Aric Almirola in the 2018 Daytona 500 and Austin Cindric […]

Ross Chastain Likelier To Try To Maximize Points Than Win

Ross Chastain qualified 24th at Daytona. He holds a one-point advantage over Bubba Wallace for the final spot in the playoffs after passing him on track on the final restart at Michigan to salvage a pyrrhic victory. Although he has never scored a top five finish at Daytona, he came very close in the Daytona […]

William Byron's Strong Passing May Bode Well At Daytona If He Doesn't Crash

William Byron starts seventh for Saturday night's Daytona race, higher than all other non-Ford drivers, and he's had a strong record there historically. In addition to winning the season-opening Daytona 500 in a tight duel with his teammate Alex Bowman, he also won his first race there four years ago in this race and also […]

Chris Buescher Likely To Play It Safe To Ensure A Finish

Chris Buescher led his teammate and car owner Brad Keselowski to a 1-2 finish in last year's Daytona night race, but this year he's in a much more precarious situation, as he is winless and sits only 16 points above the playoff cut line. Since he has a cushion over both Ross Chastain and Bubba […]

Alex Bowman Stronger In Daytona Qualifying Than In The Race

Despite his impressive streak of six consecutive front-row starts in the Daytona 500 from 2018 to 2023, Daytona hasn't been one of Alex Bowman's best tracks, as he has only led 42 laps there despite his qualifying dominance and has seldom factored in for a win on any drafting oval. This year's Daytona 500 was […]

Daniel Suarez Returns to Form After Mid-Season Slump

After a lackluster middle portion of the season, Daniel Suarez has begun to rebound as his eighth-place finish at Michigan was his third straight top ten, giving him a lot of momentum entering the playoffs. Although he ran nowhere near as well as he did at Richmond, those two races back-to-back actually mark the first […]

Carson Hocevar Overtakes Josh Berry for Rookie Points Lead

Despite his hotheaded driving style, rookie Carson Hocevar is surprisingly proving to be one of this year's most consistent drivers. His tenth-place finish at Michigan gave him his second straight top ten and his ninth finish of 17th or better in the last ten races. Despite his 25-point rough driving penalty at Nashville and not […]

Denny Hamlin Recovers to Ninth After Sunday Spinout

Despite starting on the pole according to the scoring metric after qualifying was rained out, Kyle Larson made a three-wide pass on Hamlin, and eventual winner Tyler Reddick and Hamlin never led at the line. He certainly came close as he was running second directly behind Bubba Wallace late in Stage 1 when he spun […]

Ross Chastain Back Over Cut Line, but Michigan Still a Wasted Opportunity

Once again, Ross Chastain snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as his 25th-place finish marks yet another instance this year where he finished much worse than he ran, but in a race where all three of the principal bubble drivers spun out, he did overtake Bubba Wallace by a single point for the final […]

William Byron Comes up Short in Late-Race Duel at Michigan

William Byron finished second in yesterday's FireKeepers Casino 400. In a race where nobody dominated, Byron set the fastest average speed for the first time this season even though he failed to win. While Byron consistently ran in the top 10, he didn't seem to have potentially race-winning pace until the closing stint of the […]

Chris Buescher the Only Bubble Driver to Recover From His Spin at Michigan

Chris Buescher entered this weekend's Michigan race holding the tiebreaker over Ross Chastain for the last playoff spot, but in a race where all three bubble drivers spun out, Buescher managed to recover from his spin while Chastain and Bubba Wallace could not. Buescher drove from 18th to eighth and looked to have one of […]

Ricky Stenhouse Jr's Speed Decline Has Received Little Notice

Ricky Stenhouse's significant decline in speed has somewhat flown under the radar for most of the year because fans tend to be harsher towards the drivers who crash most often than drivers who are merely slow even if their actual performance is worse. However, the spotlight did switch to Stenhouse in a big way in […]

Intermediate Tracks Still Don't Suit Ryan Preece

It's unclear whether Ryan Preece will be back in the NASCAR Cup Series again after this year with his team owner and biggest advocate Tony Stewart leaving the ownership ranks at the end of 2024. Preece has become an afterthought in the NASCAR Cup Series as his fellow Stewart-Haas teammates have not given him as […]

John Hunter Nemechek Still Struggling to Learn Next Gen Car

Although John Hunter Nemechek did win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Michigan last year and finished third in yesterday's edition of that race, the prospects of him having a good run in today's Cup Series race seem dim. He still does not seem to have fully figured out the nuances of the Next Gen […]

Joey Logano Likely Ignoring Michigan to Focus on Playoffs

A week after Austin Dillon wrecked Joey Logano to win at Richmond and Logano retaliated by driving dangerously in a crowded pit lane, today's FireKeepers Casino 400 feels almost like an afterthought for both drivers. Logano's quite flukish win at Nashville locked him into the playoffs even though he has hardly had winning speed all […]

After Release from Spire Motorsports, Corey LaJoie Has Seemingly Lost Motivation

Now that his NASCAR Cup Series career seems to be coming to a close, it seems that Corey LaJoie may not be putting as much effort in as he was before Spire Motorsports released him. In last week's Richmond race, Carson Hocevar ranked 10th in speed while LaJoie was 35th-fastest. Although fans seem to disagree, […]

RFK Racing's Michigan Prowess May Help Justin Haley's Satellite Team

Justin Haley has consistently run mid-pack in his NASCAR Cup Series races at Michigan in the past. Although he did finish all three of his Cup Series starts, his average finish of 21.7 has been quite mediocre. However, he and new crew chief, Chris Lawson, have been generally outperforming their results in recent years and […]

Despite Increased Penske Speed, Austin Cindric Remains a Longshot at Michigan

Although Austin Cindric is frequently strong in qualifying, he continues to be consistently slower over a full race distance than in qualifying sessions for the most part, particularly outside road courses and drafting tracks, where he has gotten most of his top-10 finishes. Cindric is one driver who could possibly surprise when considering the speed […]

Chase Briscoe Mediocre at Michigan, Like Most Intermediates

Chase Briscoe has generally struggled on intermediate superspeedways in NASCAR Cup Series particularly since last year. Michigan is not an exception, as both his average finish and average running position at the track are around 21st--although he admittedly had one of his strongest intermediate runs in the 2022 Fontana race (a similar track in length). […]

Josh Berry's Michigan Chances Might Hinge on Rodney Childers's Setups

Josh Berry starts 16th in today's Michigan race. Although he unsurprisingly tends to be fastest on short tracks due to his vast late model experience, his team and crew chief, Rodney Childers, did win five of the last eight races at Michigan with Kevin Harvick behind the wheel. Berry also made a pass for the […]