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NASCAR at Daytona 2020: Odds, TV Schedule, Live Stream and Drivers
August 28, 2020
The NASCAR Cup Series regular season ends with one of the most difficult tasks on the circuit, when the 40-driver field will attempt to conquer Daytona International Speedway under the lights Saturday night.
Thirteen competitors head into the Coke Zero Sugar 400 with a playoff spot assured, while Clint Bowyer is essentially certain of a postseason position.
That leaves four drivers to fight for two positions on a track that is known to produce some unpredictable results.
Coke Zero Sugar 400 Information
Date: Saturday, August 29
Start Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Live Stream: NBC Sports app or NBCSports.com
Starting Lineup
Odds
Denny Hamlin (+700; bet $100 to win $700)
Brad Keselowski (+1000)
Joey Logano (+1000)
Kevin Harvick (+1000)
Ryan Blaney (+1200)
Chase Elliott (+1400)
Kyle Busch (+1500)
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook.
Preview
Most of Saturday's spotlight will be focused on Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, Jimmie Johnson and Erik Jones in the fight for the final two playoff positions.
DiBenedetto holds a five-point lead over Byron, who owns five more points than Johnson for the 16th and final postseason spot.
Jones has the most work to do of the quartet since he is 46 points back of Johnson in 18th place.
Racing at Daytona, where teammates typically work together to get to the front of the field, will throw a wrench into the playoff hunt.
The teams of Hendrick Motorsports teammates Byron and Johnson have said they are going to try to work together to get both drivers past DiBenedetto in the standings, per The Athletic's Jeff Gluck:
Byron and Johnson did not fare well at the Daytona 500, where they finished in the bottom six positions due to accidents.
Byron did come out on top in the second of two qualifying duels, but that was with half the usual field on the track.
A year ago, the No. 24 and No. 48 cars took second and third behind Justin Haley in a weather-shortened Coke Zero Sugar 400, which took place during the first weekend of July.
If Byron and Johnson avoid early wrecks and meet up with teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, they could partner to land in the front of the field.
DiBenedetto and Jones could also benefit from long trains of teammates to go for the victory, or the highest position possible.
DiBenedetto is the lone Wood Brothers Racing driver, but he typically teams with the Team Penske cars at the superspeedways.
Jones can benefit from the push out of Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch in the Joe Gibbs Racing stable.
The No. 20 car driver may be best suited going for the victory, which clinches an automatic playoff spot if the champion is a first-time winner this season.
Hamlin won the Daytona 500 in February and is one of three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers to start in the top 12. Jones will have some work to do to reach them from 20th.
One of the four Joe Gibbs Toyotas could be in the best position to win since the team owns three of the last four victories on the Daytona oval.
Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and the top drivers in the series should be in the mix at the front, but they do not have as good of a recent history as the Joe Gibbs cars.
Harvick has not won on the Daytona oval since 2010, Keselowski has a four-year win drought at the track, and Blaney has a pair of top-five finishes in 10 races there.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from NASCAR.com.