Ross Chastain won his first superspeedway pole on Friday and will lead the field to start the Coke Zero Sugar 400, but he’s not the favorite to win.
He’s also already been eliminated from contention to qualify for The Chase postseason, while five drivers will vie for the final three spots in the 16-driver lineup.
Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric and Shane van Gisbergen are currently above the cutline, while Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski remain in contention.
Preece is starting fourth on the grid and Keselowski is 21st, while Van Gisbergen is sixth, Cindric is eighth and Wallace is 26th.
Despite missing out at a shot for the season championship, Chastain was thrilled with his qualifying result at Daytona.
“It’s almost indescribable, but tonight and today for a new package, for Trackhouse to pick the right package and execute through two rounds … it’s very important to note we chose the right things as a team,” he said.
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According to Fan Duel, Joey Logano, who starts ninth, is favored to win and is followed by Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Cindric. Wallace is next among the bubble drivers at 11th, just ahead of Keselowski in 12th, with Preece at 15th and Van Gisbergen at 20th.
However, the race presents a big wild card in the form of new regulations aimed at improving racing on the 2.5-mile oval drafting track. NASCAR has switched to a smaller rear spoiler, which will reduce drag and downforce and hopefully allow cars to pull out from the pack with a better chance of moving forward. The previous setup had too much drag to make this move with much success and led to long periods of cars cruising along in line to save fuel and shorten pit stops. The update also required a power reduction from 510 hp to 465 hp to keep top speeds about the same.
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