Daytona 2 Preview

Ford Racing comes into this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway on a hot streak after Ryan Blaney won on Sunday in New Hampshire. The Blue Oval has now won four of the last six series events with Joey Logano and Blaney each winning twice.

THE SCHEDULE

Saturday, August 29 -- NASCAR Cup Series, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC)

UP TO SPEED

BLANEY LOOKING FOR DAYTONA REPEAT

Ryan Blaney used the outside lane to go from 13th place with two laps remaining to Victory Lane as he won last year’s NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway. Blaney followed Cole Custer, who jumped to the top of the track to make it three-wide against the wall. After getting alongside the middle and bottom rows at the white flag, Custer battled Justin Haley through turn two. When Haley moved up two lanes to block on the backstretch, Custer countered by darting to the inside with Haley mirroring the move. That opened the door for Blaney, who found himself at the front of the outside lane. He ended up going to the middle and battling Custer door-to-door off turn four before edging him at the finish line. The win was Blaney’s second in the summer race at Daytona after winning previously in 2021.

CHASE BERTHS CLINCHED

Joey Logano and Chris Buescher joined Ryan Blaney as Ford Racing drivers who have clinched a berth in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase. The 16-driver field will kick off the championship battle at Darlington Raceway, but there are still three spots available going into Saturday night’s race in Daytona. Austin Cindric is currently 15th and is 44 points above the cut line while Ryan Preece is on the outside, trailing Shane Van Gisbergen for the 16th and final spot by 31 points.

BERRY STAYS HOT

Josh Berry ran his streak of top 10 finishes to four with a season-best third on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Wood Brothers Racing driver led 73 laps, a career-high for one race, after qualifying second. Berry’s streak started in Indianapolis, where he finished seventh, and continued at Iowa (fourth) and Richmond (eighth).

CLIMBING THE LADDER

Ryan Blaney’s win on Sunday in New Hampshire was his 20th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, making him only the 14th driver to win that many races in a Ford. His Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano, ranks third on the manufacturer’s all-time win list with 37 while Ned Jarrett is first with 43. One other active Ford driver, Brad Keselowski, is also on the list with 27.

DRIVERS WITH AT LEAST 20 FORD CUP WINS

Ned Jarrett – 43

Bill Elliott – 40

Joey Logano – 37

Mark Martin – 35

Dale Jarrett – 30

David Pearson – 29

Brad Keselowski – 27

Fred Lorenzen – 26

Junior Johnson – 26

Kevin Harvick – 25

Matt Kenseth – 24

Rusty Wallace – 23

Carl Edwards – 23

Ryan Blaney – 20

A LOOK BACK

RFK TEAMWORK LEADS BUESCHER TO VICTORY LANE

In 2023, Chris Buescher won for the third time as teammate Brad Keselowski pushed him to victory in the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway. The win was Ford’s fourth in the last five races overall and came on a night that saw eight Blue Oval drivers lead a combined 110-of-163 laps. For Buescher, he only led the final two laps as the race went into overtime. Keselowski finished second and Aric Almirola, who needed a win in order to make the postseason, was third. Ford also swept the top three spots in qualifying as Chase Briscoe captured the pole and led a race-high 67 laps.

BLANEY WINS IN WILD FINISH

Ryan Blaney endured a chaotic end to the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in 2021 at Daytona as he swiftly escaped a multi-car pile-up exiting the third turn with four laps remaining. Blaney, who was running fifth in the middle row of three-wide competition, moved up the track to evade the spinning cars seen from his windshield and inherited the lead. In overtime, Blaney managed to stay out front, fending off Kevin Harvick and Chris Buescher in the final laps before the race’s eighth caution, subsequently giving Blaney his third win of the season.

PAST WINNERS

FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES SUMMER RACE WINNERS AT DAYTONA

1963 – Fireball Roberts

1965 – A.J. Foyt

1967 – Cale Yarborough

1969 – LeeRoy Yarbrough

1970 – Donnie Allison

1983 – Buddy Baker

1988 – Bill Elliott

1989 – Davey Allison

1991 – Bill Elliott

1994 – Jimmy Spencer