This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Daytona for the final race of the regular season.  Coverage of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 starts with NASCAR RaceHub on FOX Sports 1 at 5 p.m.  NBC Sports' coverage starts with NASCAR America Saturday at 6 p.m. on NBCSN.  Coverage moves to NBC at 7 p.m. with Countdown to Green; the green flag will fly around 7:45 p.m. Saturday night.  The race can also be heard on MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

Records and facts

Last year's Coke Zero Sugar 400 was postponed to Sunday afternoon due to heavy rains.  On Sunday, fans saw a somewhat typical Daytona race with racing for position and incidents.  On Lap 119, Austin Dillon was spun out of the lead after contact with Clint Bowyer entering Turn 1, triggering the Big One, a massive wreck that involved 18 cars.

During the caution, dark clouds descended on Daytona International Speedway.  Most of the leaders pitted.  A few drivers, led by Justin Haley, chose to stay out.  However, right before the race was going to restart, there was a lightning strike within eight miles of the track.

On Lap 127, the race was red-flagged due to this lightning.  After a short wait, NASCAR called the race official, giving Haley his first career Cup victory.  William Byron was second, then Jimmie Johnson, Ty Dillon and Ryan Newman.

Among active drivers, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin have the most victories with three each, while Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth both have two.  Nine other active drivers have one Daytona victory.

All-time, Richard Petty is the winningest driver in points races at Daytona with 10 career victories, including seven wins in the Daytona 500.  Cale Yarborough has nine wins, followed by David Pearson with eight, Fireball Roberts with seven, then Jeff Gordon and Junior Johnson tied with six.  Note that win statistics for drivers such as Junior Johnson, Roberts and Pearson are slightly inflated because the races now known as the Can-Am Duels were point races up until 1971.  Also of note, Dale Earnhardt had 34 victories at Daytona in seemingly everything except the Rolex 24.  However, only three of them were in Cup Series point races.

Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 2.5-mile oval, 200 laps (500 miles)
Banking: 31 degrees

Frontstretch: 3,800 ft, banked 18 degrees in tri-oval, 6 degrees in chutes
Backstretch: 3,400 ft., banked 3 degrees
Grandstand Seating: 101,000
Pit Road Speed: 55 mph
Pace Car Speed: 70 mph
Opened: 1959

Website: http://www.daytonaintlspeedway.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DISUpdates

Say What?!

"I think this weekend is all going to depend on where you are in the standings heading into the race and what you have to do or don’t have to do to make it into the playoffs. There are guys that have to win to get in, there’s guys who are right on the cutline who are trying to be consistent to advance. There are guys on offense, there’s guys on defense. Lucky for us, we are not really having to play the points game necessarily to get in, but we are still battling for regular season points finishing position because that has a direct impact on your playoff points for the final 10 races. We want to better ourselves as much as we can. Obviously, Sunday (at Dover) really killed us picking up some more points. We don’t need to do that this weekend so maybe we can move up a little bit in that regular season standings." - Chase Elliott

"Daytona is a challenge for everyone, not just the drivers. You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that an August Saturday night in Florida is going to be hotter than you know what. That means those engines, gears and everything are going to be stressed. We feel like we have a competitive advantage over the other teams because our Mobil 1 lubricants have been tested and proven to be the best on the track. It means better horsepower, reduced friction, and outstanding wear protection for our Mustangs. In this sport, even the tiniest advantage is a huge advantage." - Clint Bowyer

"We have to be very, very smart. It’s one of those things where you have to control what you can control. We have to race, we have to make the car drive good, we have to make the car make moves and, if we can do that and if we can drive through the field and stay up front, which I have learned is the safest place on superspeedways – sometimes I have got the break in running in the top five. You never know, it’s never safe to be in the pack. We just have to be smart and do a good race. I believe we have a fast car to do the job in the draft and, obviously, I know what we need to do to try and get the job done" - Daniel Suarez