And then there was one.
One race. One spot.
This Saturday night, the NASCAR Cup Series will finish the 2021 regular season by racing under the lights at Daytona International Speedway at the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
Most will be focused on the chances of Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Matt DiBenedetto, Darrell Wallace, Jr. and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. getting a win and clinching their playoff spot. (More on Dillon and Reddick later.) Under the current playoff format, however, even Anthony Alfredo (currently 30th in points) could find himself playoff-bound by pulling off the victory at Daytona.
The World Centre of Racing has already seen one major upset in the Cup Series already this season with Michael McDowell winning the Daytona 500. (Some might say Christopher Bell followed up with the win on the road course but Bell’s running for Joe Gibbs Racing!) Could Alfredo (to say nothing of Ryan Preese, Chase Briscoe or Daniel Suarez) have a Derrike Cope or Trevor Bayne moment with a win at Daytona?
In years past, it seems as if the regular season has ended with a whimper, with status quo being the rule of thumb. The driver just above the cut line and the driver just below usually stay in those exact positions. This year, NASCAR will head to the cut-off race with more storylines than an overwritten soap opera, even above and beyond who might win the race itself.
- If there’s a repeat winner, who wins the points battle for the final spot between Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick?
- Can Denny Hamlin catch Kyle Larson and claim the regular season points title?
- Could Hamlin and Harvick, who combined for 19 wins in 2020, go into the playoffs winless?
- Who snags the final win and goes into the playoffs with momentum on their side?
One might argue that the racing at Daytona is always exciting. I might argue differently given what we saw in February with no one wanting to get out of line for fear of drifting back with no drafting help and losing spots. The result was probably half the race (and I’m being generous) being single file racing, after Chase Elliot failed to get a second line formed up near the end of Stage 1.
However, when push came to shove and the win was on the line in the final lap, people started to make moves. Unfortunately, that led to a final Big One that took out Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano but it did give McDowell the chance to get the biggest win of his career.
With playoff hopes on the line, I think we can expect that level of competitive racing on Saturday night. I just hope we’re not having to wait through 399 miles of single-file racing to get to that excitement. (Preferably with drivers racing hard and trying to find alternate lines and using the draft, rather than a wreck that takes out several contenders.)
I think Daytona has a huge act to follow after this past week’s race at Michigan. For someone who has been told that NASCAR can’t produce close finishes and we have to live with the leader taking off to a several seconds lead, I have to wonder what was going on at Michigan. We saw close racing and multiple contenders for the lead all day from Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson to Matt DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon to William Byron and eventual winner Ryan Blaney. Instead of watching the last 15-20 laps wind down knowing who was going to win, that race was literally not decided until Blaney crossed the finish line.
With another half-mile to play with per laps and who knows how many plot twists at Daytona, this Saturday is going to be one to watch for NASCAR fans. 400 miles to answer the burning questions when it comes to who will be enroute to winning a Cup championships.
Should be fun!
johnmilner.ca 