Date: Aug. 28, 2022
Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Round 26 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Format: 160 laps, broken into three stages (35 laps/60 laps/65 laps)
Race Winner: Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
SHR Race Finish:
● Aric Almirola (Started 27th, Finished 21st / Accident, completed 138 of 160 laps)
SHR Regular-Season Points:
● Aric Almirola (18th with 576 points, 363 out of first)
Playoff Standings:
1. Chase Elliott (2,040 points)
2. Joey Logano (2,025 points, -15)
3. Ross Chastain (2,020 points, -20)
4. Kyle Larson (2,019 points, -21)
5. William Byron (2,014 points, -26)
6. Denny Hamlin (2,013 points, -27)
7. Ryan Blaney (2,013 points, -27)
8. Tyler Reddick (2,012 points, -28)
9. Kevin Harvick (2,012 points, -28)
10. Christopher Bell (2,011 points, -29)
11. Kyle Busch (2,010 points, -30)
12. Chase Briscoe (2,009 points, -31)
13. Daniel Suárez (2,007 points, -33)
14. Austin Cindric (2,006 points, -34)
15. Alex Bowman (2,006 points, -34)
16. Austin Dillon (2,005 points, -35)
Race Notes:
● Austin Dillon won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 to score his fourth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his second at Daytona. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was .128 of a second.
● Dillon was the 16th different winner in the 26 NASCAR Cup Series races run this season.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 30 laps.
● Only 10 of the 37 drivers in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 finished on the lead lap.
● Chase Elliott won the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season championship.
Sound Bites:
“That was a long day, but I appreciate the guys sticking it out and giving me a chance to make it to the end. Our Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang doesn’t look as nice as it did to start this morning, but we gained 10 or 11 spots just by putting in the work to make it drivable after the wreck. I’m ready to get to Darlington and see what we’ve got next weekend.” – Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 Autodesk / HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang.
“A few things didn’t work out. I was in position and there was maybe a move I could’ve made differently to try and get to the lead, but my help that was pushing me – the 17 (Christopher Buescher) – wasn’t clear, so I didn’t take the run. Looking back on it, maybe I wish I would have, but I would’ve just been in the lead and I would’ve been the first one to the rain, so I feel like I would’ve wrecked either way. I just hate it. I obviously wanted to win so we could get our team into the playoffs, but we’ve still got a lot of racing left to do this year and proud of everybody on our race team. I’m just thankful to Smithfield and Ford and everybody who supports this program. We’ll go race hard for 10 more weeks and get ready for next year.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang.
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, Sept. 4 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The first race in the 10-race NASCAR Playoffs starts at 6 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.