TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE COKE ZERO SUGAR 400DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA BEACH, FL AUGUST 29, 2020
DAYTONA: RACE #26It’s the famed 2.5-mile superspeedway of Daytona International Speedway where the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) kicked off the 2020 season and the series return will mark the end of the regular season with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, August 29, at 7:30 p.m. ET. The 400-mile, 160-lap event under the lights at the “World Center of Racing” will set the stage for the Playoffs to determine the final 16-driver field that will vie for the title of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. It’s the first time in history that the famed Florida high-banked oval will host the regular season championship for NASCAR’s premier series.
NASCAR is continuing to make steps towards introducing fans to events due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Daytona International Speedway will play a role in that process. In accordance with public health officials and local, state and federal authorities, a limited number of fans will be on hand for the event to witness the conclusion of the series’ regular season. Seating will include socially-distanced front stretch seating and those in attendance will need to adhere to all health and safety protocols in place.
RACE FOR THE PLAYOFFSIt’s race #26 on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule and there’s one last chance for drivers to secure their spot in the 10-race Playoff battle to be crowned the title of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. Heading into the Daytona International Speedway race weekend, four Team Chevy drivers have locked themselves into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, three by virtue of victory and one has raced his way in by points: LOCKED IN BY WINSChase Elliott, No. 9 Hooters Camaro ZL1 1LE – 5th in Standings Victories: 2 (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona Road Course) Stage Wins: 6; Stage Top-Five’s: 18; Stage Top-10’s: 35 Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE – 8th in Standings Victories: 1 (Auto Club Speedway) Stage Wins: 4; Stage Top-Five’s: 13; Stage Top-10’s: 28 Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow VORASURF Camaro ZL1 1LE – 9th in Standings Victories: 1 (Texas Motor Speedway) Stage Top-Five’s: 3; Stage Top-10’s: 13 LOCKED IN BY POINTSKurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE – 13th in Standings Stage Wins: 1; Stage Top-Five’s: 4; Stage Top-10’s 20 With 13 drivers already locked in by wins or points, there are just three spots up for grabs for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Here is a look where the Playoff cutline battle stands: 14th Clint Bowyer (Ford): + 57 points 15th Matt DiBenedetto (Ford): + 9 points 16th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE: + 4 points 17th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE: – 4 points BOWTIE BULLETS:· Current Chevrolet drivers that have recorded wins at Daytona International Speedway include:Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, has three wins (February 2006, February and July 2013)Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW VORASURF Camaro ZL1 1LE, has one win (February 2018)Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, has one win (February 2017)Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE, has one win (July 2017)
· Of the 146 appearances made by NASCAR’s premier series at “The World Center of Racing”, Chevrolet has recorded 215 top-fives, 432 top-10’s and has led 7,977 laps.
· A Chevrolet has sat on the pole at Daytona International Speedway 50 times, with 22 of them being during the summer race – the most of any manufacturer. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hooters Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads all active series drivers in poles at Daytona with three (February 2016, February 2017 and July 2018). His 2016 Daytona 500 pole made him the youngest Daytona pole winner to-date (February 21, 2016 – 20 years, 2 months, 24 days). In addition, in his 10 career starts at Daytona, Chase Elliott lead all active drivers in average starting position with 9.222.
· Of all organizations, Hendrick Motorsports leads the way in poles at the summer Daytona race with seven: Darrell Waltrip (7/2/88), Greg sacks (7/7/90), Jeff Gordon (7/6/96 and 7/3/04), Mark Martin (7/2/11), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (7/1/17), Chase Elliott (7/7/2018).
· Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads all active NCS drivers in wins at Daytona with three (February 2016 and 2013 sweep). He also ties the leaderboard in number of runner-up finishes in the summer race at Daytona with three.
· In his 38 career starts at Daytona International Speedway, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads all active drivers in top-five finishes with 13 (seven in the summer race) and top-10 finishes with 18 (10 in the summer race).
· Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow VORASURF Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads all active NCS drivers in average finishing position at Daytona with 14.857 in his 15 career-starts.
· In four-career starts in the summer race at Daytona, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads the series in average finishing position with 8.667. DAYTONA HISTORY BOOKChevrolet is no stranger to victory lane at the famed 2.5-mile high-banked oval of Daytona International Speedway. On February 20, 1959, the track held its first NCS event (100-mile qualifying race to start on the pole for the inaugural Daytona 500), in which Bob Welborn took Chevrolet to victory lane. Later in Daytona’s debut year and the track’s first summer race, Fireball Roberts put his name in the record books by taking the checkers in a Pontiac. Chevrolet or GM brands Oldsmobile and Pontiac would go on to win the first 17 races at the speedway. To-date, of the 146 NASCAR Cup Series events at Daytona, Chevrolet drivers have scored 47 victories, with Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Buick adding an additional 23 wins. The 2019 Coke Zero Sugar winner was Justin Haley, who’s first-career NCS win in his Chevrolet after a rain-shortened race made him the youngest Daytona summer race winner (7/7/2019 – 20 years, 2 months, 9 days).