Cody Ware Carries Daytona Confidence to ‘Dega Driving No. 51 Arby’s Steak Nuggets Ford Mustang

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 13, 2025) – Amid a 36-race season that spans 10 months, 23 laps led in a single NASCAR Cup Series race is a bite-sized nugget. Yet it was a nugget to be savored that August night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

In the Aug. 23 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, Cody Ware’s 23 laps led was the second-highest total of the race, and when his No. 51 Arby’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse wasn’t leading the 40-car field, the 29-year-old racer was a constant presence among the top-10.

With Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway next up on the Cup Series docket, Ware is bringing the confidence earned at Daytona to Sunday’s YellaWood 500.

“I’ve built up a lot of confidence at Daytona and Talladega. Superspeedway racing just suits my driving style,” Ware said.

The two superspeedways are sister tracks. Both are sweeping, high-banked D-shaped ovals, with Daytona spanning 2.5 miles while Talladega boasts a 2.66-mile layout. Despite Talladega one-upping Daytona by .16 of a mile, the strategy for success at both tracks is the same: make your racecar sleek, keep your right foot to the floor, and don’t lose the draft. It’s a 200 mph freight train you don’t want to derail.

“In years past, I took a much more cautious approach to these races. But the last handful of times we’ve been to Daytona and Talladega, I’ve ramped up my aggression level without putting myself in bad spots. I’ve got the confidence to just race hard, get up front, and stay up front,” Ware said.

That confidence was on display at Daytona, where despite starting 35th, Ware was leading by lap 39.

“I’ve always enjoyed the superspeedways. They’re one of the great equalizers for the Cup Series,” Ware said. “After what we learned at Daytona – getting to put the Arby’s car up front and leading a bunch of laps – now’s the time to capitalize and not just focus on a good result, but what it’s going to take to win.”

The YellaWood 500 will mark Ware’s 140th career Cup Series start. In addition to staking his claim to a Cup Series victory, Ware is bringing steak, specifically, Arby’s Steak Nuggets, to Talladega.

“When Arby’s introduced their Steak Nuggets last week, I was one of the first to try them. They’re really good, and also convenient,” Ware said. “I just pick ‘em up and pop ‘em into my mouth. When you’re on the move as much as we are, a sit-down steak dinner isn’t always possible. But now when I’m craving steak, Arby’s is my go-to.”

Arby’s Steak Nuggets – tender, juicy, hand-cut, bite-sized pieces of steak, available in 5- or 9-count – are the perfect complement to a NASCAR race weekend, especially at Talladega. For fans coming from Birmingham, there’s an Arby’s just off Interstate 20, at Exit 158, in Pell City. And for those coming from Atlanta on Interstate 20, take Exit 188 in Oxford. Both locations are on the way to the track – the ideal pit stop before parking at Talladega.

With Steak Nuggets in hand, there remains plenty at stake for fans to take in at Talladega. The third-to-last race of the season can either send an eligible playoff driver to the Championship 4 finale or simultaneously bin their chances and their racecar.

“You can definitely feel the tension at Talladega,” Ware said. “Whether it’s a playoff driver trying to earn their spot in the Championship 4, or any one of us in the field, we all know it’s one of the last opportunities to win before the season is over.

“Finishing second doesn’t really do anything, especially for those playoff drivers. So I think they’re going to make bolder moves because it’s not really about having a good points day, it’s about winning, or putting it on a wrecker trying to win. And so with that mentality, the aggression level is heighted at Talladega.”

The aggression level was also high in August at Daytona. That was the regular-season finale, where the top-16 drivers advanced to the 10-race playoffs. Ware managed the dynamics of that race, and despite the subtle differences between Daytona and Talladega, he will rely on that recent experience in Sunday’s YellaWood 500.

“Talladega is definitely faster,” said Ware when juxtaposing the characteristics of each track. “Handling and balance don’t make as big of a difference. The straightaways are longer, the corners are a lot wider, so you’re not really as bound up. You don’t get tight, and you don’t have to worry about aero handling as much at Talladega.

“But with the speeds being increased by just five, six miles an hour, when things happen, they tend to happen even quicker. There’s a lot more room to dodge wrecks at Talladega, but when they happen, even with all that extra room, it seems to collect way more cars. There’s more carnage.

“And with this one being a playoff race, it’s going to be chaotic. We finished 12th there last year when we ran the playoff race, so I have no doubt that we can be up front. But again, I’m making the mental shift of not just collecting a good result and being up front, I’m there to win the race.”

The YellaWood 500 goes green at 1 p.m. CDT/2 p.m. EDT with live coverage by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

About Rick Ware Racing:

Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age 6 when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver’s seat and into full-time team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that competes full-time in the elite NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Progressive American Flat Track, FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) and zMAX CARS Tour.