Livescore
The intensity is building as the NASCAR Cup Series moves closer to the playoffs.
Two races remain in the regular season. Here’s a look at where things stand for each Cup organization heading into Saturday’s race at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock).
23XI Racing — Good news: Tyler Reddick’s victory at Michigan moved him into the points. This is the first time a driver from 23XI Racing has led the points in the team’s four-year history. … Reddick’s seven career Cup wins have all come at different tracks. … While he has yet to win at Daytona, Reddick won at Talladega earlier this season. … Reddick has finished no worse than sixth in the last seven races this year. … Bubba Wallace has three career runner-up finishes in Cup at Daytona. … Wallace’s five top-five finishes at Daytona are his most at any Cup track in his career. Bad news: Wallace’s car was damaged in Kyle Larson’s incident at Michigan and went on to finish 26th. … Wallace is the first driver outside a playoff spot, although he’s only one point behind Ross Chastain.
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Michigan winner keeps his hot streak going and his reign at No. 1.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell has started on the front row in all three races on drafting style tracks, winning the pole at Talladega and Atlanta and qualifying second for the Daytona 500. … Todd Gilliland led 16 laps in this year’s Daytona 500, the first time he had led laps at Daytona in a Cup race. Bad news: Gilliland has never finished a Cup race at Daytona in five starts. … In the six Daytona races since winning the 2021 Daytona 500, McDowell has finished 28th or worse four times.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: William Byron won this year’s Daytona 500. He seeks to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2013 to sweep the Daytona races in a season. … Byron is the only repeat winner in the last 10 Cup races at Daytona. … Alex Bowman has finished sixth or better in the last three Daytona races, including a runner-up result in this year’s Daytona 500. … Chase Elliott has completed all but one of the 6,438 laps run this year. That is 99.98% of the laps. Bad news: Kyle Larson fell from first to fourth in the points after his crash at Michigan. … Larson is winless in 20 Daytona Cup starts and has never finished better than sixth there.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Denny Hamlin is the winningest active driver at Daytona with three wins. All of those were in the Daytona 500. … Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs have combined to lead 2,456 of the 6,438 laps run this year. That is 38.1% of the laps. Bad news: Truex has finished 24th or worse in eight of the last 12 races this season, including three in a row. … Christopher Bell has failed to finish six of 24 races this season.
Leigh Diffey named NBC Sports’ NASCAR Cup Series lead play-by-play commentator
Leigh Diffey will lead the Cup broadcast beginning this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
JTG Daugherty Racing — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s best finish this season was at Talladega. He placed fourth. … All three of his Cup wins have come at superspeedways, including the 2023 Daytona 500. … He has led 148 laps at Daytona, the most of all tracks. Bad news: Since winning the 2023 Daytona 500, Stenhouse finished 34th there last August and 31st in this year’s Daytona 500.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: Shane van Gisbergen is scheduled to drive the No. 16 this weekend. This will be his fifth Cup start of the season. … Three of Daniel Hemric’s six career top-10 finishes have come in the last 15 races. Bad news: Hemric has finished outside the top 20 in the last four races.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: John Hunter Nemechek has finished no worse than 11th in three Daytona starts, including a seventh-place result in this year’s Daytona 500. … Nemechek’s average finish of 9.7 at Daytona ranks third all-time among drivers who have made a minimum of three starts there. … Erik Jones was eighth in the Daytona 500. That is the only race this year that Legacy MC has had two cars finish in the top 10. … Jones’ first career Cup win came in 2018 in the summer race at Daytona. Bad news: Nemechek has placed 28th or worse in each of the last six races this year. He’s failed to finish three of those races due to an accident.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch won a stage at Michigan, his first stage victory of the season. … Busch’s fourth-place finish last weekend was his first top five in the last 13 races. … Austin Hill is back in the No. 33 this weekend. This will be his fourth Cup start of the season. Bad news: In the three Daytona races since he won there in August 2022, Austin Dillon has finished no better than 33rd. … Kyle Busch has one Daytona victory in 38 career Cups starts at Daytona. That victory came in July 2008. Only four drivers in that race still compete in NASCAR full-time (Martin Truex Jr., Michael McDowell, Denny Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger).
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Richard Childress Racing is scheduled to have its appeal of the Richmond penalties heard Wednesday morning.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: The organization has recorded its best finish at a particular track in six of the last seven races. … Rick Ware Racing has had a car finish in the top 20 in four of the last six races, including Justin Haley’s 20th-place finish at Michigan. … Haley’s lone Cup win came in the Daytona summer race in 2019. … Cody Ware is in the No. 15 for a second week in a row and fourth time in the last five races. Bad news: Haley has not finished in the top 20 in his last five starts at Daytona.
RFK Racing — Good news: Chris Buescher won at Daytona last August and teammate Brad Keselowski was second. … Buescher has five top-five results and seven top-10 finishes at Daytona. Both are his most at any Cup track. … Keselowski has eight top-five finishes this season. He had seven last season. Bad news: Keselowski has failed to finish half of his 30 career Cup starts at Daytona. … Since winning at Daytona in July 2016, Keselowski has failed to finish 11 of the 15 races there.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Corey LaJoie has top 10s in each of his last two Daytona starts. … Spire Motorsports placed two cars in the top 10 at Michigan. That’s the first time this season Spire has done that. Zane Smith was seventh. Carson Hocevar was 10th. Bad news: LaJoie has not had a top-10 finish since placing fourth in the Daytona 500.
Corey LaJoie walks away after car goes upside down: “It was a ride”
Corey LaJoie: “That’s just about the way the year has gone.”
Stewart-Haas Racing — Good news: Noah Gragson has two top 10s in his last three Daytona starts. He also finished a career-best third at Talladega. Bad news: The organization has gone two years since its last victory (Aug. 14, 2022 at Richmond by Kevin Harvick). … It has been 92 races since Chase Briscoe’s victory at Phoenix in March 2022. … Ryan Preece has been eliminated by accident in two of the last four races. … Josh Berry has been eliminated by an accident in two of the last six races.
Team Penske — Good news: Joey Logano has led at least a lap in 11 consecutive Daytona races. … Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric have combined to win 10 races at drafting style tracks (Daytona, Talladega, Atlanta). That is the most in the series for any Cup team. Bad news: Blaney has failed to finish the last two races at Daytona. He was 30th in this year’s Daytona 500 and 36th there last August.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Daniel Suarez ranks second in the series in laps completed. He’s run all but 13 of the 6,438 laps completed this season. … Ross Chastain remains in a playoff spot despite spinning in overtime at Michigan and losing 14 spots from where he was running. Bad news: Chastain holds the final playoff position and is only one point ahead of Bubba Wallace with two races left. … Suarez, who won at Atlanta earlier this year, has never finished better than seventh at Daytona in 14 Cup starts.
Race for final NASCAR Cup playoff spots remains tight heading to Daytona
Ross Chastain holds the final playoff but is only one point ahead of Bubba Wallace.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Harrison Burton finished a season-best 10th at Talladega earlier this season. … He was 11th at Atlanta in that drafting style race. Bad news: Burton has failed to finish three of the last six races this year. … He has failed to finish three of his five Daytona Cup starts.
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