Coke Zero Sugar 400<\/p>\n
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is this week\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway and it will be the final race of the 2026 regular season. This is the last chance for drivers to earn points to qualify for the Cup Series Chase.<\/p>\n
The regular season started here with the Daytona 500 and will end here with this weekend\u2019s race, so we have a lot of data points here given that there are two races a season at the track. It is a Saturday early-evening race at 4:30 p.m. ET and will be the first race on NBC and the last until we get to the final three races of the season.<\/p>\n
How to Watch The Coke Zero Sugar 400<\/p>\n
When: Saturday, August 29, 2026<\/p>\n
Where: Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL<\/p>\n
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
Channel: NBC<\/p>\n
2026 NASCAR Cup Series Winners and Standings<\/p>\n
Ryan Blaney is in some excellent form as he heads into this week and the Cup Series Chase. He picked up his second win in six races and he also has five more stage wins in that span. He\u2019s led the most laps in three of those races as well. He finished 27th in the Daytona 500, but he\u2019s been pretty on point since then.<\/p>\n
The race winners are Tyler Reddick (5), Denny Hamlin (4), Blaney (3), Chase Elliott (2), Shane van Gisbergen (2), Corey Heim (2), Gibbs (2), Logano (2), Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar, and Chase Briscoe. Wins no longer automatically qualify drivers for the playoffs, as the top 16, regardless of number of victories, have a chance to win the championship.<\/p>\n
Blaney did close the gap a bit on Hamlin at the top of the standings board with the win. Hamlin was seventh and became the only driver with over 1,000 points in the race at New Hampshire. Blaney is the only other driver with over 900 points. Gibbs and Reddick have 880 and 860 points, respectively, as the only other drivers with 800+ points. Bell is fifth.<\/p>\n
In terms of the cut line for the top 16 for the Cup Series Chase, van Gisbergen has a 31-point edge over Ryan Preece for 16th. Brad Keselowski is 66 points behind that, so he basically has to win the race and pick up some additional points to have any chance. For the most part, it looks like we have our 16 playoff drivers \u2013 Hamlin, Blaney, Gibbs, Reddick, Bell, Briscoe, Larson, Elliott, Logano, Chris Buescher, Hocevar, William Byron, Suarez, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, and van Gisbergen.<\/p>\n
Coke Zero Sugar 400 Winners<\/p>\n
While Blaney had that bad finish in the first one, he does have two wins in his last 10 starts at Daytona. Byron does as well, so maybe he\u2019ll pick up his first victory of the season. The nature of the track does create some pretty big crashes, so there aren\u2019t a lot of guys who consistently finish high here.<\/p>\n
To that end, Wallace is the highest average finisher with at least 10 starts in the last 10 races at Daytona. That\u2019s 13.4, so nobody is averaging a top-10 finish here in recent history. To further illustrate this point, the list of winners in the last 10 starts at Daytona includes Harrison Burton, Austin Dillon, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.<\/p>\n
Coke Zero Sugar 400 Predictions<\/p>\n