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For all of the potential outcomes that would have occurred at Daytona Worldwide Speedway on Saturday night time, the NASCAR Cup Collection regular-season finale was considerably predictable.
DAYTONA, FL – AUGUST 28: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Ford, celebrates profitable the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on August 28, 2021 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway in Daytona Seaside, Fl.(Picture by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures)
Ryan Blaney ended up in victory lane for the second straight week. Kyle Larson, essentially the most dominant driver all yr, took dwelling the regular-season trophy. Tyler Reddick ended up with the sixteenth and closing playoff spot. And the race led to time beyond regulation with a fiery crash that concerned practically half the sector.
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“It’s Daytona. For me, it was no totally different than some other race right here,” mentioned 2017 sequence champion Martin Truex Jr., who completed thirtieth. “I’m glad we’re accomplished; I’m glad we’re out of right here.”
He was hardly alone. Drivers ripped the revamped aerodynamics package deal and bemoaned the standard aggressive driving that brought on three wrecks within the closing 20 laps.
DAYTONA, FL – AUGUST 28: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, spins in the course of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Collection race on August 28, 2021 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway in Daytona Seaside, Fl.(Picture by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures)
Reddick bought caught up within the first one however rebounded to complete sixth. He wanted solely to beat Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon and hope for a repeat winner to earn his first playoff berth.
Reddick and Dillon had been each in rivalry to make a determined, last-gasp push for the win within the two-lap time beyond regulation dash to the end. However Blaney, who was second on the restart, cleared site visitors thanks partly to a bump from Corey LaJoie and was nicely forward of the pack when a crash ended the race.
Daniel Suarez, one in every of 10 drivers within the entrance pack attempting to win the race to earn the automated playoff berth, turned Kevin Harvick to set off the multi-car melee. Suarez appeared to be pushed into Harvick from behind by Kurt Busch.
Blaney, the winner in Michigan final week, heads into subsequent week’s playoff opener at Darlington Raceway with three victories this season in his Group Penske Ford.
DAYTONA, FL – AUGUST 28: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Collection race on August 28, 2021 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway in Daytona Seaside, Fl.(Picture by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures)
“Yeah, we’ve bought good momentum,” Blaney mentioned. “We’d wish to make it three in a row, we’ll see.”
The regular-season finale had pretty low stakes since 15 of the 16 playoff slots had been claimed beforehand. It meant solely a first-time race winner might edge Reddick or Dillon for the ultimate spot.
Neither had a clean night time: Reddick’s automotive suffered crash injury in an earlier incident and Dillon was first flagged for rushing on pit highway and likewise battled voltage points in his Chevrolet.
“I don’t know the right way to smile at this level. It was quite a bit tonight,” Reddick mentioned. “I’m excited to be previous it.”
Dillon had nonetheless rallied to fourth on the ultimate restart however was collected within the race-ending crash.
DAYTONA, FL – AUGUST 28: Hendrick Motorsports staff driver Alex Bowman drives automotive #48 spins out in flip 4 in the course of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Collection race on August 28, 2021 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway in Daytona Seaside, FL. (Picture by Roy Ok. Miller/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures)
“We gave all of it we might and fought till the top,” Dillon mentioned. “We’ll end exhausting this yr and construct on subsequent yr.”
The one different competitors at Daytona was for the regular-season title, which went to Larson, a five-time winner this season. The race for the regular-season championship and its playoff factors was between Larson and Denny Hamlin, who entered Daytona trailing Larson by 28 factors.
Hamlin held the regular-season lead for 22 weeks till Larson claimed it two races in the past at Indianapolis. Larson overcame a 166-point deficit to Hamlin to earn the title.
“What an superior yr he’s had,” mentioned staff proprietor Rick Hendrick, who gave Larson a job this season after he missed most of 2020 whereas suspended for utilizing a racial slur.
WATKINS GLEN, NY – AUGUST 08: NASCAR Cup Collection driver Kyle Larson of the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro reacts to profitable the NASCAR Cup Collection – Go Bowling at The Glen race in victory lane on August 8, 2021, at Watkins Glen Worldwide in Watkins Glen, NY. (Picture by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures)
Chris Buescher completed second, one spot in need of incomes the automated berth into the playoffs he was searching for. However it was a 1-2 end for Ford.
“To overlook that playoff spot by one spot, that’s a tricky ending to a day,” Buescher mentioned. “I’m certain I’ll play it again and discover one thing else totally different.”
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Bubba Wallace was a season-best third however pissed off he had no assist from any Toyotas on the finish of the race. Hamlin, his staff proprietor at 23XI Racing, was the closest Toyota driver to Wallace on the end — approach again in 14th.
“I’m just a little pissed off, I’m the one who will get known as out for not working with teammates and I’m the one which will get left hanging,” Wallace mentioned. “There’s a purpose why Ford’s in victory lane, trigger they all the time work collectively.”
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – AUGUST 28: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Columbia PFG Toyota, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Funfetti Chevrolet, Kurt Busch, driver of the #1 Monster Power Chevrolet, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Shaping Black Futures Toyota, race in the course of the NASCAR Cup Collection Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway on August 28, 2021 in Daytona Seaside, Florida. (Picture by Jared C. Tilton/23XI Racing by way of Getty Pictures)
MCDOWELL’S MISS
Michael McDowell completed first and final in two superspeedway races at Daytona this season.
The shock Daytona 500 winner blew an engine underneath warning Saturday and was accomplished after 23 laps. McDowell clinched a spot within the playoffs along with his Daytona 500 victory so the early exit didn’t have an effect on his playoff probabilities.
However McDowell has no momentum after ending twentieth or worse for the seventh consecutive race.
OVERDUE OVERTURE
NASCAR offered Wendell Scott’s household a customized trophy commemorating his historic 1963 victory earlier than the race. Scott is the one Black driver to win a race at NASCAR’s prime degree.
Scott handed Richard Petty with 25 laps remaining at Speedway Park in Jacksonville on Dec. 1, 1963. However Buck Baker, who really completed second, was declared the winner of the Jacksonville 200 and acquired the trophy in victory lane.
Race officers found hours later that Scott was the precise winner and had lapped your complete discipline twice. However he was not credited with the victory for an additional two years, and his household has lengthy pushed for a correct celebration.
NASCAR obliged on the eve of what would have been Scott’s a hundredth birthday.
OLYMPIC FLAIR
Olympic bronze medalist Noah Lyles served because the race’s grand marshal and demanded extra from the group.
Lyles, the 200-meter favourite who settled for third in Tokyo, requested followers for a louder response after his first try drew a lackluster effort. “That’s what I’m speaking about,” he mentioned earlier than giving the command for drivers to begin their engines.
Lyles was carrying his medal earlier than the race and mingling with driver Bubba Wallace on the grid. Wallace bought an up-close take a look at the medal. Lyles made headlines in Japan for his emotional breakdown following the 200-meter closing.
UP NEXT
The playoffs start subsequent Sunday at Darlington Raceway, which not too long ago repaved a bit in Flip 2 that would change the way in which the monitor races. Kevin Harvick is the defending race winner and Martin Truex Jr. received on the South Carolina monitor in Could.
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