NASCAR O'Reilly Series

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series travels to Daytona International Speedway this weekend for the Coke Zero 400 while the XFINITY Series will hit the track for the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250.

The No. 98 Fresh Form Florida Ford team looks to return to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway with Casey Mears behind the wheel. Mears will once again fill in for the injured Aric Almirola in Saturday's XFINITY race after subbing at Pocono Raceway. As defending winners of the Daytona Firecracker 250, Biagi DenBeste Racing and Fresh From Florida are looking to repeat their 2016 victory. Fresh From Florida will return to its home state for the second time this year to promote locally grown produce and seafood.

On the heels of three very strong finishes for B.J. McLeod Motorsports (BJMM) last weekend at Iowa Speedway, the sophomore NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) team hopes the momentum propels them forward to another string of solid finishes in Friday night’s Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Richard Childress Racing's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series history at Daytona International Speedway ... Dating back to 1976, Richard Childress Racing has won 11 poles and collected five points-paying victories at the most-storied race track on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit. RCR owns two Daytona 500 wins (Dale Earnhardt - 1998, Kevin Harvick - 2007), three Coke Zero 400 trophies (Earnhardt - 1990, 1993 and Harvick - 2010) and 14 qualifying races, including 10-consecutive victories with Earnhardt (1990 - 1999). In addition, RCR has earned the Advance Auto Parts Clash trophy a total of eight times, with drivers Harvick (2009, 2010, 2013) and Earnhardt (1986, '88, '91, '93, and '95).

Chastain finished fourth in last week’s Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway, marking the best run of his young career in NASCAR’s No. 2 series. He hopes the momentum will carry over as the series moves from a short track to one of its biggest for Friday’s Coca-Cola Firecracker 250.

Harrison Rhodes has a fun history at Daytona International Speedway, site of Friday’s Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 Xfinity Series race. In three appearances at the World Center of Racing, Rhodes has two top-10 finishes – a ninth in 2015 and a 10th in this year’s season-opener.

In February, in the Xfinity Series season-opener, Smithley recorded what has been his best finish of the season – an eighth place. He roared along in the tight draft at the finish of the race and scored one of the top finishes of his NASCAR career.

As part of the continued efforts to show appreciation for the United States Armed Forces through NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola, NASCAR XFINITY Series™ drivers will bear the names of active military units and installations on their race car windshields during Friday’s Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

"I think there is going to be a big difference with how we handle in the draft from February to July at Daytona (International Speedway). With this lower downforce package, every ounce of downforce matters. When the temperature starts to rise 20 to 30 degrees that's a pretty significant change and the track will start getting greasier and people start slipping and sliding more. It's crazy but for Daytona being a plate track it isn't that big. It's tight to begin with and when you get cars slipping and sliding there isn't any room for mistakes. Hopefully, we can avoid the wrecks and get ourselves some stage points."

Today Earnhardt Jr. announced his version of a final act – a five-month campaign called JR Nation Appreci88ion.  It will start this weekend at Daytona and carry through the end of the 2017 season, his last as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver.