NASCAR Preview: Daytona Summer Race Weekend
- DIVEBOMB Motorsport
- Aug 22
- 5 min read
Written by Gabriel Tsui & Ashleigh McGregor
It all comes down to this: the Cup Series concludes their regular season, and it’s one last realistic shot for Xfinity mid-packers to lock their way into the 2025 playoffs at Daytona International Speedway.
Daytona Speedway, located in Florida, is a 2.5-mile (4.0-kilometre) D-shaped oval. Its superspeedway pack racing is unique to very few tracks, and thus allows for many upset winners.
Below are the start times for each race plus lap count:
Xfinity: Friday, 21 August, 19:30 local (00:30 UK) - 100 laps
Cup: Saturday, 22 August, 19:30 local (00:30 UK) - 160 laps
Below are the defending winners of each race:
Xfinity: No. 20 - Ryan Truex (Joe Gibbs Racing)
Cup: No. 21 - Harrison Burton (Wood Brothers Racing)
Cup Series: Coke Zero Sugar 400 Preview
Written by Gabriel Tsui
Here it is. We return to Daytona Beach, Florida for the final race of the regular season. Following Austin Dillon’s strong win at Richmond, only two playoff spots remain up for grabs. Will the current two drivers above the cut line, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman, prevail? Or would we see yet another Harrison Burton moment this weekend?
The drivers will be going full throttle around Daytona for 160 laps, with 50 laps each in the initial stages, then closing out the race with 60 laps of bump-draft racing, totalling a distance run of 400 miles (643 kilometres).
The weather report indicates rain and thunderstorms may occur during the weekend, so delays and postponements could be in order. The race will commence on the Saturday of August 23rd, at 19:30 Eastern (16:30 Pacific, 00:30 British).
Race Predictions
Trying to predict a superspeedway race, for the most part, is a useless and pointless mind exercise. The thrill of Gen-7 superspeedway races lie within the huge crashes and accidents, alongside the most surprising race winners and exciting finishes.
However, if we look at things from the pure standpoint of luck, it is not hard to find an outlier that is screaming at the door of success at Daytona. Regardless of skill level, most drivers ought to finish somewhere close to the top ten at Daytona once in a while.
Not Ryan Preece, though. In the past three seasons, he has visited Daytona beach five times and failed to finish four times. His best finish in Daytona came from his time with JTG Daugherty in 2021, with a sixth-placed finish.
Most times, if you see a consistent pattern of failure at one track with one driver, most wouldn’t pick said driver to even come close to the top 20. However, said rule does not apply to Daytona. So we choose Preece to pick up his first Cup Series win and squeeze out a playoff appearance at the buzzer.
Three things to look out for
Austin Dillon sets the record right
Most fans probably remember what happened at Richmond in 2024. That was one of the uglier sides of the sport, and it left a poor after-taste for most fans. Although there isn’t much Dillon could do to rectify the history or change some people’s thoughts of him, he certainly reconciled with himself of what should have been with a clean win this year.
He returns to the playoffs following two years of looking from the outside in, with an opportunity to make some noise as a dark horse candidate to make a push in the playoffs.
Byron wins regular season championship
Despite 2025 not being his most successful year in terms of appearances on pit road, no one could deny his consistency and strong performances all season brought him to the regular season championship.
He headed into Richmond needing only 20 points more than Chase Elliott to win the championship, and as luck had it, Elliott ended up DNF, and he cruised to the finish line in 12th place and brought home his first regular season championship. His next target? The Cup Series championship.
Justin Haley on the hot seat
In other news, Justin Haley was on the hot seat heading into Richmond, and his performance did not inspire confidence. A crash that marked his third consecutive result below 20th put his job security into question.
Spire Motorsports, for the most part, is not a patient organisation. They have shown that when they sent Corey LaJoie to Rick Ware Racing when they brought in Haley, they could certainly do that again.
Xfinity Series: Wawa 250 Preview
Written by Ashleigh McGregor
After a week off, the Xfinity Series returns and so does Connor Zilisch.
Last race at Watkins Glen, Zilisch won with an impressive second consecutive win at the track. It marked his sixth win of the season. The challenge of the weekend for him was supposed to be racing in all three series: Trucks, Xfinity and Cup. However, after a dramatic fall from his car in victory lane, he was left with a broken collarbone, thus putting a halt to his racing weekend. He has since undergone surgery and is cleared for tomorrow.
The 24th race of the season is back in Daytona with a night race. This iconic track marks the final three races in the regular season.
Race Weekend Guide
Race day comes on a Friday this week for Xfinity. Qualifying is at 15:00 EST (20:00UK). The race kicks off at 19:30 EST (00:30 UK). The sun will just be setting during this race, making it a cooler temperature track and stunning views for fans.
Drivers are covering 250 miles over 100 laps. Stages one and two are 30 laps each. The final stage will have the remaining 40 laps.
Drivers to watch
Seeing Connor Zilisch’s return will be very interesting. He’s been given the all clear but he should still be healing, and discomfort seems inevitable. All eyes will be watching him navigate this injury and seeing if he can get back to leading the pack.
Best friend of Zilisch, Jesse Love, has already won in Daytona at the season opener. The two of them have had a few battles on track already this season, with them fighting it out to prove which one is the better driver. Love is in a good position to take victory this weekend.
Sam Mayer has looked exceptionally strong after he finally secured his win this season. Just 17 points separate him from Justin Allgaier who is second in the driver standings. A repeat performance of Iowa could see him jump position.
Harrison Burton continues to hold the line on the bubble from his cousin Jeb Burton. 30 points separate the pair. Ryan Sieg is just eight points behind Jeb. He’ll be looking to get ahead, but with just three races remaining, it will be tight.
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