Coke Zero Sugar 400
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is this week’s 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.
The regular season started here with the Daytona 500 and will end here with this weekend’s 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.
How to Watch The Coke Zero Sugar 400
When: Saturday, August 29, 2026
Where: Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Channel: NBC
2026 NASCAR Cup Series Winners and Standings
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’s led the most laps in three of those races as well. He finished 27th in the Daytona 500, but he’s been pretty on point since then.
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.
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.
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 – Hamlin, Blaney, Gibbs, Reddick, Bell, Briscoe, Larson, Elliott, Logano, Chris Buescher, Hocevar, William Byron, Suarez, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, and van Gisbergen.
Coke Zero Sugar 400 Winners
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’ll pick up his first victory of the season. The nature of the track does create some pretty big crashes, so there aren’t a lot of guys who consistently finish high here.
To that end, Wallace is the highest average finisher with at least 10 starts in the last 10 races at Daytona. That’s 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.
Coke Zero Sugar 400 Predictions
For the latest odds and VSiN’s NASCAR Best Bets, head to our NASCAR Hub to see Steve Makinen’s simulation results and more stats on the drivers.
