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DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 15: Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 zone Jalapeno Lime Chevrolet, and Chase Briscoe, driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, lead the field on a pace lap prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2026 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The NASCAR race today at Daytona International Speedway<\/a> carries major playoff stakes as the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series<\/a> reaches its regular-season finale. The Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola starts Friday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m. ET under the lights. The NASCAR race today is the final points event before the 12-driver O\u2019Reilly Chase field takes shape.<\/p>\n Fans looking for the NASCAR race start time should note that driver introductions begin at 6:55 p.m., while the green flag falls at 7:30 p.m.\u00a0There will be no\u00a0NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> race tonight.\u00a0The Coke Zero Sugar 400 takes place Saturday night. With playoff spots still open, tonight\u2019s race could decide which drivers continue their championship runs.<\/p>\n NASCAR Race Today Start Time And Schedule<\/p>\n The\u00a0NASCAR race<\/a> begins at 7:30 p.m. ET, with driver introductions starting at 6:55 p.m.\u00a0The Winn-Dixie 250 covers 100 laps and 250 miles around Daytona\u2019s 2.5-mile tri-oval. The stages end on laps 30, 60 and 100.<\/p>\n There is no practice this weekend. Qualifying sets the field before the cars race under the lights. O\u2019Reilly Series qualifying runs from 3 to 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN Unlimited. Cup Series qualifying follows from 5 to 6:30 p.m. ET on truTV and HBO Max.<\/p>\n NASCAR Race Today Channel And Streaming Details<\/p>\n The NASCAR race today channel is The CW. Fans can also stream the race through ESPN Unlimited. The race will also be available on the radio through MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.<\/p>\n Viewers can also follow the NASCAR race today on local CW affiliates if they use antennas or live-TV services. ESPN Unlimited carries the listed streaming coverage for qualifying and the race.<\/p>\n The NASCAR race start time remains 7:30 p.m. ET, but fans can begin following the action at 3 p.m. with O\u2019Reilly qualifying.<\/p>\n Why The NASCAR Race Today Matters<\/p>\n Tonight is race 24 of 33 and the final points race before the O\u2019Reilly Chase. Twelve drivers will make the playoff field. Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love, Corey Day, Brandon Jones, Austin Hill<\/a> and Sammy Smith have already secured spots. Allgaier leads the standings and is set for a record 11th title run.<\/p>\n Six drivers are fighting for the final four places. Parker Retzlaff needs about 10 points to secure his first Chase appearance. Sam Mayer sits 10th, while positions 11 through 13 are separated by one point. Rajah Caruth remains outside the playoff field.<\/p>\n Thirty-nine cars are entered, so all are expected to start. Connor Zilisch is the defending winner. A new Goodyear right-side tire construction will also be used with the left-side tire seen earlier at Daytona and Talladega.<\/p>\n The\u00a0NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series<\/a> concluded its regular season last Saturday at New Hampshire and is off tonight. The Chase starts on September 17 at Bristol.<\/p>\n Fans attending the NASCAR race today can find ticket and facility information at Daytona International Speedway. Frontstretch fan access is listed from about 6:45 to 7:15 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a writer covering NASCAR, Formula 1, and the IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. He has also written for Sportsnaut, FanSided, Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. Wilberforce focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, breaking down news, driver stories, and key moments with a clear, fast, and engaging style. His work connects headlines to context, helping readers understand what matters most in the sport. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 15: Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 zone Jalapeno Lime Chevrolet, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-874909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}