MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 26, 2026) – Daytona is where it’s at for Cody Ware.

The 2.5-mile superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, is home to Ware’s best career NASCAR Cup Series finish and it’s where the driver of the No. 51 Super.com Chevrolet has led the most laps.

The Coke Zero Sugar 400, in particular, has been his best race at Daytona. Ware finished fourth in the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 and in the Cup Series’ summertime stop last year at the “World Center of Racing,” he scored the third-highest laps-led total. And when Ware wasn’t leading the 40-car field, he was a constant presence among the top-10.

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

That confidence was on display in last year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, where despite starting 35th, Ware was leading by lap 39.

“It was definitely a cool experience for me, the team and our partners,” Ware said. “It was a little surreal. Being up there on merit and having the pace to lead and command the field was exciting, stressful and fun – a slew of different emotions.

“I’ve always enjoyed the superspeedways. They’re one of the great equalizers for the Cup Series. After what we learned at Daytona the last time we were there, now’s the time to capitalize and not just focus on a good result, but be right where we want to be when the checkered flag falls.”

Racing at Daytona means being part of a 200 mph freight train. The resulting draft creates pack racing, and drivers can’t outrun the pack on their own. They have to rely on others, specifically the gaggle of cars around them and their collective aerodynamics, to gain speed. By tucking in tightly behind one another, drivers reduce the amount of air resistance on their cars. It’s a high-speed chess match where side drafting, bump drafting and strategic line selection determine who moves forward and who gets shuffled back.

“Every time we go to Daytona, we inch that much closer to really being in contention for the win,” Ware said. “The last couple of races, the end result didn’t reflect our work. Leading laps and being up front – that’s become more consistent each time we’ve been out on track. It’s momentum, and it’s grown my confidence and grown the team’s confidence.”

Confidence is as necessary as horsepower, especially when drivers spend as much time looking in the rearview mirror as they do looking out the windshield.

“I’d say you’re looking more at your rearview mirror when you’re leading than out the front,” Ware clarified. “When you’re wide open and leading, you’re looking to see when the guys behind you are starting to get aggressive and impatient to make their moves. You’re relying on your spotter to tell you what’s going on while also driving off your mirror.”

Brent Wentz is Ware’s spotter, a seasoned veteran who has been in the ear of drivers across Cup, IndyCar and IMSA and counts a 2020 Indianapolis 500 win with Takuma Sato among his accomplishments.

“Brent’s letting me know what lines are gaining, forming or dissipating, and really kind of keeping me abreast of not just who’s running where, but when the aggression level ramps up,” Ware said. “Are people saving fuel? Has the pace picked up? Is action starting to happen? Are there potential wrecks that are about to unfold? I have a very limited view of what I can see myself, but he can see the entire pack. His job is to quickly paint a picture of what’s going on in front of me, behind me, and around me, and tell me how the race is evolving.”

There will be another evolution to this year’s race. Cup cars come into the Coke Zero Sugar 400 with a different rules package than they had seven months ago for the season-opening Daytona 500.

A 4-inch rear spoiler, down from 7 inches, and 465 horsepower, reduced from 510, will debut at Daytona. The idea is that less drag will allow drivers to move through the field by passing rather than relying on track position gained through various fuel-saving strategies.

“I had some time in the simulator to emulate what all these changes are going to be like, and my gut tells me there’s going to be more attrition than we’ve seen at the recent superspeedway races,” Ware said.

“I think the cars are going to be harder to drive, but it’s going to be easier to make passes. So I think that you can run a more conservative race because the idea behind this package is that you can make your own line and you can make passes – you don’t have to have as much momentum on the guys around you to make and complete a pass. That opens up the strategy book a little bit. It’s an opportunity to take advantage of because it puts the race up for grabs by anyone.”

The Coke Zero Sugar 400 goes green at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday 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 his 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.

Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400
Date/Time: Saturday, August 29, 2026, 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Layout: 2.5-Mile Superspeedway
TV/Radio: NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

After finishes of seventh at Indianapolis, fourth at Iowa, eighth at Richmond and third at New Hampshire over the past four races, Josh Berry and the No. 21 eero team carry a four-race streak of top-10 finishes into Daytona International Speedway, where they opened the season with another top-10 effort – a ninth-place finish in the DAYTONA 500.

Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 presents a much different challenge than the previous four races, with the high-speed, pack-style racing at Daytona bringing the constant threat of multi-car incidents.

Berry has managed to avoid the trouble in two of his three Daytona starts in the No. 21 Mustang Dark Horse. He finished ninth in last year’s summer race but was collected in an incident in the 2025 season opener.

Berry said he’s proud of how the team has performed during its recent run and is optimistic heading back to Daytona.

“We’ve put together a really solid stretch over the last month, and I think that says a lot about where this team is right now,” he said. “I feel like we’ve done a really good job of putting complete weekends together and capitalizing on the speed we’ve had.

“To have four top-10 finishes in a row and come off a weekend like we had at New Hampshire, where we qualified up front, led laps and had a chance to win, gives us a lot of confidence.”

Berry said the team is ready to take on the unique challenge Daytona presents.

“Daytona is obviously a completely different challenge, but we know what we’re capable of,” he said. “We just need to keep executing, put ourselves in position late in the race and fight for everything we can.”

In addition to the opportunity to extend their top-10 streak to five races, Berry and the eero team will take to the track with added meaning as they honor a Cancer Hero through a program initiated by The NASCAR Foundation, the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation and AdventHealth.

At Daytona, the No. 21 Mustang Dark Horse will carry the name of Kyle Dillon of DeKalb, Ill., who is participating in honor of his late mother, Tammy.

In his application, Dillon wrote: “I am a fan of NASCAR and enjoy watching the sport. My favorite car is the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford…

“My mom (Tammy) passed away to cancer. I just wanted to raise awareness and celebrate my Mom!”

Per NASCAR rules for drafting tracks, there will be no practice session this weekend. Qualifying is set for Friday at 5 p.m. ET with television coverage on truTV.

Saturday’s 160-lap, 400-mile Coke Zero Sugar 400 is scheduled to take the green flag shortly after 7:30 p.m., with television coverage on NBC.

Stage breaks are planned for Laps 35 and 75.

Josh Berry

Age: 35 (Oct. 22, 1990)

Hometown: Hendersonville, Tennessee

Crew Chief: Miles Stanley

IG: @joshberry88

X: @joshberry

About eero
eero was founded to make wifi and networking the way they should be—fast, reliable, secure, and, most importantly, easy to use. After introducing the first home mesh wifi system with a high-quality design that blends into its environment and technology that intuitively works behind the scenes, eero became known for sweating every single detail and delivering award-winning hardware and software for homes, businesses, communities, and service providers. Founded and headquartered in San Francisco in 2014, eero is an Amazon company. For more information, visit eero.com.

Casey Mears’ Experience and Beard Motorsports’ Superspeedway Prowess Converge for Saturday Night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400

MT. PLEASANT, Mich. (Aug. 26, 2026) – At Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, sometimes the smartest move a driver can make is knowing when not to make one at all.

For Casey Mears, 28 career NASCAR Cup Series starts around the 2.5-mile superspeedway have provided plenty of opportunities to learn that lesson.

There is the speed, the drafting and the side-by-side racing at nearly 200 mph. But there is also something less tangible – learning to read the room.

“You know, it’s a lot of reading the room in real time,” said Mears, who’ll be back behind the wheel of the No. 62 Gracie Foundation Chevrolet for family-owned Beard Motorsports in Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400. “When guys are getting a little crazy or you feel like the pack is prime for a crash, sometimes you just back out of it and try to leave yourself out of it to the best of your ability.”

That instinct has served Mears well at a track where he posted four consecutive top-10 finishes and five straight top-12s from 2013 through 2015. He finished second to Jimmie Johnson in the 2006 Daytona 500 before returning later that summer to finish seventh.

More telling is his ability to survive. Mears has finished 25 of his 28 Cup races at Daytona. The key to just three DNFs, he said, is understanding how to avoid turning someone else’s wreck into his own.

“When you’d see a crash, you’d get on the brakes really hard to try to avoid it,” Mears said. “Well, yeah, there’s somebody else behind you going 200 miles an hour.”

Instead, whenever possible, Mears tries to maintain momentum after clearing an incident, reducing the chance of being collected by a driver behind him.

“You just kind of have to read the crash,” he said. “As soon as I’m roughly clear, I try to keep momentum up and not get taken out from behind.”

It is a philosophy that could serve him particularly well behind the wheel of the Beard Motorsports Chevrolet.

Founded as a family passion project by the late Mark Beard Sr., Beard Motorsports has built its NASCAR identity around doing more with less. Since its Cup Series debut in the 2017 Daytona 500, the Michigan-based team has become a fixture at Daytona and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where its limited-schedule approach has repeatedly produced results that belies the organization’s size.

The No. 62 has five top-10 finishes in 13 starts on the Daytona oval, including a seventh-place run in the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400. Noah Gragson’s fifth-place finish in the August 2022 race stands as the team’s best Daytona result. That history gives Mears confidence.

“The Beard family has always brought a fast racecar to the superspeedways,” he said. “Anytime you have a little bit more speed, it just makes it easier to do your job at the superspeedways.”

Mears already experienced Daytona once this season, driving for Carl Long in February’s season-opening Daytona 500. After qualifying 17th, he had to race his way into the field through his Duel qualifying race, surviving a last-lap scramble to earn his place in The Great American Race.

“It was pretty amazing to make it the way we did,” he said.

Race day ended with a 32nd-place finish after an early incident damaged the car, but the experience added another chapter to his Daytona notebook.

Mears believes the closing laps are where that experience can become most valuable. With 15 to 20 laps remaining, he wants to be inside the top-10 – preferably the top five – where he can take advantage of the runs developing through the pack. Even then, he said patience can be the better strategy.

“If you’re not inside that top-10 with that many laps to go, sometimes it’s best just to be toward the rear of the field, dodge the last crash, and then pick off a good result at the end,” Mears said.

This weekend also brings an added unknown. NASCAR has introduced a horsepower and spoiler change for the Daytona race, with teams having limited opportunity to learn exactly how the cars will respond over a full run.

“Nobody really knows how these cars are going to respond and react at the end of a run,” Mears said. “There could be some surprises. You’ve just got to think on your feet.”

Saturday also carries a different kind of significance.

The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will mark Mears’ 498th career Cup Series start, followed by No. 499 at Talladega on Oct. 25, and the milestone 500th at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8.

When Mears stepped away from fulltime Cup Series competition after the 2016 season, reaching 500 starts was hardly a certainty. His return to selected races has now put the milestone within reach, thanks in large part to the opportunity created through Beard Motorsports and longtime friend and former car owner Bob Germain.

With that milestone approaching, Mears also recognizes that Daytona represents one of his final Cup Series starts at a track that has been part of his career for more than two decades.

“This stretch could be the last three races that I ever run,” he said.

That realization has not diminished the competitive fire. Instead, he said, it has allowed him to appreciate racing in a different way.

“I’ve had a really good time just being at the racetrack, working with the guys, being a part of motorsports again and relearning what I’ve always loved my whole life,” he said.

Still, he has no intention of simply soaking in the atmosphere Saturday night. Mears believes a top-10 is a realistic goal for the No. 62 Chevrolet – and if experience, speed and timing all converge in the closing laps, perhaps something more.

“There’s no doubt that going to Daytona, the way the pack racing works, I think the experience that I have there, if we can dodge the bullets and not be somebody that’s caught up in the carnage, we have a great shot of having a top-10 and an outside chance of winning,” he said.

No. 62 Beard Motorsports Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Casey Mears

Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Crew Chief: Darren Shaw

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Car Chief: Drew Mickey

Hometown: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Spotter: Rick Carelli

Hometown: Arvada, Colorado

President: Linda Beard

Hometown: Mt. Pleasant, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Shiloh Windsor

Hometown: Ada, Oklahoma

Rear Tire Changer: Michael Russell

Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia

Tire Carrier: Lamar Neal

Hometown: Halifax, Virginia

Jack Man: De’Quan Hampton

Hometown: Los Angeles

Fuel Man: Douglas Warrick

Hometown: Hamilton, New Jersey

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Jack Gagnon

Hometown: Quebec, Canada

Mechanic: Mark Sanders

Hometown: Springfield, Ohio

Tire Technician: Mike Harrold

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Brian Trevino

Hometown: Statesville, North Carolina

Interior Specialist: Nic Hill

Hometown: Fort Myers, Florida

Engineer: Mack Kanupp

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Transporter Driver: Roger Lankford

Hometown: Lexington, North Carolina

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
Daytona International Speedway
August 28-29, 2026

Heading back to where it all began, NASCAR will close out the regular season this weekend at “The World Center of Racing”, Daytona International Speedway, as the Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will face a pair of high-stake superspeedway races to officially complete their respective Chase fields. Friday night’s Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola will set the O’Reilly Series postseason field, while Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 caps the Cup Series regular season – both of which could dramatically reshape the tightly bunched battle for the final few Chase positions that remain up for grabs. Setting up for its title-defending run in both divisions, Chevrolet will arrive at Daytona with several drivers having already solidified their spots in the championship hunt.

Chevrolet Chases More History at “The World Center of Racing”

No manufacturer has a deeper well of history at Daytona International Speedway than Chevrolet. In Feb. 2024, the Bowtie brand became the first manufacturer in history to reach 100 all-time NASCAR national series wins at the track. Chevrolet has since only extended that record with the manufacturer heading into this weekend’s doubleheader with 106 all-time victories including 52 Cup Series wins, 50 O’Reilly Series wins and four Craftsman Truck Series wins.

At the Cup Series level, William Byron’s 2025 DAYTONA 500 triumph stands as Chevrolet’s 52nd all-time win at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, with 22 of those victories coming in the track’s summer race. The most recent of those summer wins belongs to Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, who drove the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet to a walk-off victory and a playoff berth in the Aug. 2022 event.

 
CUP CHASE FIELD LARGELY SET AS THE BUBBLE HEADS TO THE BEACH

The Coke Zero Sugar 400, the 26th and final race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, will set the seeding order for the 16-driver Chase field. For the handful of drivers still fighting for the final three transfer spots, it will present one last chance to point their way into the postseason on a track where the results are rarely predictable. Heading into the weekend, Chevrolet ties Toyota in early Chase berths with five, accomplished by a trio of Hendrick Motorsports drivers – Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron – and the Spire Motorsports duo of Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez.

 
Five Team Chevy Drivers Roll into Finale with Chase Spots Secured

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron all enter Daytona with their Chase berths clinched, freeing up the trio to race for seeding rather than survival. With a top-five finish and an overall strong points day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the reigning champion, Larson, was able to climb one position to lead the Bowtie brigade in the points standings. Despite a challenging outing at “The Magic Mile”, the No. 24 team will enter the finale weekend with Daytona pedigree on its side. Byron owns three career Cup Series victories at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, including his first career win at NASCAR’s highest level (Aug. 2020) and back-to-back DAYTONA 500 titles (2024-25).

Meanwhile, Elliott might still be chasing his first Cup Series win at Daytona itself, but he does own four career Cup Series victories on the circuit’s drafting-style tracks.

It will be a postseason of ‘firsts’ for Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez. Currently competing in just his third full-time season, Hocevar is set to make his first appearance in the postseason in NASCAR’s premier series. Looking to close the regular season on a high note, a superspeedway race plays right into the Michigan native’s favor with the No. 77 team already earning three top-fives, including a win, on drafting-style tracks this season. For Suarez, while it will be his third career postseason appearance, this will mark his first campaign for the championship title under the Spire Motorsports banner. Also looking to maximize his seeding position this weekend, Suarez has found success in this style of racing in recent years, including a trip to victory lane at EchoPark Speedway in 2024. At Daytona, his career-best finish of second came one year ago in the track’s summer race.

 

VAN GISBERGEN REPRESENTS IN FINAL CHASE BATTLE

Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen will represent the Chevrolet camp in the battle for the final three positions in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase. The New Zealand native heads into Daytona occupying the 16th and final transfer position, having survived New Hampshire to hold his ground with a sizeable 31-point cushion over the cutline. It has been a season of growth for Van Gisbergen, including a steep progression in his superspeedway craft. The Team Chevy driver’s career-best finish on a drafting-style track is sixth – a result that was earned in both of this season’s visits to EchoPark Speedway.

 
CHEVROLET SET TO CAP-OFF STORYBOOK REGULAR SEASON IN THE O’REILLY SERIES

It’s been a regular season for the record books for Chevrolet in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series with the manufacturer heading into the finale weekend hoisting a 20-win campaign. The Bowtie brand is setting itself up for a strong run to defend its championship title, occupying seven of the eight Chase positions that have been clinched. Already accomplishing a career season, Team Chevy veteran, Justin Allgaier, leads the field with a guaranteed spot as the No. 1 seed. His JR Motorsports teammate, Carson Kvapil, enters the weekend on a roll, having swept the last two O’Reilly Series races including his first career win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as a comeback win over Allgaier in the series’ last outing at Iowa Speedway. Fellow Chevrolet drivers Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Corey Day and Sammy Smith have also punched their tickets into the postseason.

Among those whose title hopes will be determined at “The World Center of Racing”, Team Chevy’s Parker Retzlaff and Sam Mayer lead in the remaining provisional points positions – both sitting at a double-digit cushion over the cutline with Retzlaff at +46 points and Mayer at +19 points.

 

Caruth Chasing One Last Shot

One Chevrolet driver on the outside looking in but still in the postseason fight is Rajah Caruth, who trails the cutline by just 15 points entering Daytona – a margin that a strong run, or simply staying out of trouble amid the pack racing, could easily erase. Caruth has put together a solid rookie campaign, which has seen the young driver compete under the banner of two different Chevrolet organizations. On drafting tracks this season, he’s tallied top-10 results in three of the four events. But it’s the momentum from his career-best runner-up finish at Iowa Speedway, the series most recent race, that might just be what he needs for a boost into the Chase picture.

 
BOWTIE BULLETS:

· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Daytona International Speedway:

William Byron – three wins (Aug. 2020, Feb. 2024 & Feb. 2025)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – two wins (July 2017 & Feb. 2023)

Austin Dillon – two wins (Feb. 2018 & Aug. 2022)

Michael McDowell – one win (Feb. 2021)

· In 158 NASCAR Cup Series races at Daytona International Speedway, Chevrolet has recorded 52 wins, with 22 of those victories coming in the series’ summer event at the track – most recently by Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team (Aug. 2022).

· Chevrolet has earned 106 points-paying wins at Daytona International Speedway across all three NASCAR national series, making Chevrolet the winningest manufacturer in NASCAR history at the “World Center of Racing”.

· With Grant Enfinger’s win at Lime Rock Park, Chevrolet sits just two wins away from its milestone 300th all-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win.

· With seven-straight victories to start the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Chevrolet set the record for the longest season-opening streak by a single manufacturer in the division’s history.

· In 168 points-paying races in the NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 73 victories – a winning percentage of 43.5%.

· Chevrolet is coming off its 29th all-time sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series championship titles – capturing its 34th driver championship and 44th, and fifth consecutive, manufacturer championship in 2025.

· With its 44 NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer championships, 34 NASCAR Cup Series driver championships, and 887 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

· Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Chevrolet Injector and Chevrolet Experience Center at Daytona International Speedway, featuring a variety of vehicles including:

Chevrolet Injector: Trax 2RS, Silverado 1500 RST, Colorado Trail Boss, Silverado 1500 High Country, Silverado EV, Traverse Z71, Silverado 2500 LTZ, Tahoe Z71, Equinox EV, Corvette Z06 Blazer EV SS, Trailblazer ACTIV, Silverado EV RST, Corvette ZR1, 250th Anniversary Edition Silverado 2500, 250th Anniversary Edition Colorado Trail Boss, 2027 Corvette Z06, 2027 Corvette Stingray, 2027 Equinox ACTIV, 2027 Corvette Grand Sport.

Chevrolet Experience Center: Corvette Z06, Suburban High Country, 2027 Corvette Grand Sport, 2027 Corvette Grand Sport X, C2 Corvette, 1990 Suburban, Cheyenne, 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Camaro ZL1 show car.

 
TUNE-IN:

NASCAR Cup Series

Coke Zero Sugar 400

Saturday, Aug. 29, at 7:30 p.m. ET

NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola

Friday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m. ET

CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90

 
QUOTABLE QUOTES:

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

You’ve had success at Daytona International Speedway, both in February and in the summer race. What are you looking forward to for this year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400?

“I’m looking forward to getting to Daytona with the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Deer Season XP Chevrolet. It’s always an opportunity to try and bring home a trophy. Speedway racing with our ECR Engines is a lot of fun. The night race is usually pretty interesting. It gets wild out there. I thought our last speedway race at Atlanta Motor Speedway went well, so hopefully we can capitalize on what we’ve learned.”

How important is teamwork at Daytona?

“Teamwork is very important. I’ve got a great teammate in Austin Hill. He’s won a lot of races at Daytona, so I’m looking forward to working with him. Hopefully we can push our Chevys to the front.”

Do you embrace the chaos of Daytona International Speedway or is it something you can’t stand?

“I definitely try to embrace it, because if you don’t, I feel like you’ll be part of the chaos. You’ve got to get in there and mix it up and try to put yourself in the best position possible. There’s a lot of luck involved in getting through some of those wrecks, but it can be very rewarding when you make it through.”

What’s it like entering Daytona International Speedway?

“Anytime you go through that tunnel, you see the sights and the scenes of Daytona, you kind of get excited, because you know where Victory Lane is located. You just want to get back there and visit it.”

Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

The No. 7 team is in the Chase for the first time ever. What does that accomplishment mean to you and this team, and what will it feel like to race at Daytona Saturday night, one of your favorite tracks, with the Coke Zero Sugar on the car?

“I’m really proud of this team. Making the Chase for the first time ever is a huge accomplishment for the No. 7 team, and it’s something everyone here should be really proud of. We’ve worked so hard all year to put ourselves in this position, and to finally accomplish that goal means a lot to all of us.

Daytona is one of my favorite tracks, and having Coke on the car makes Saturday night even more special, especially after winning the Coca-Cola 600 earlier this year. That was such a special moment for me and this team, and obviously I’d love to add another trophy to the garage. We can celebrate making the Chase, but we’re still going to Daytona to race hard and hopefully have another big night.”

Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

What is the difference between racing Daytona in February and Daytona in August?

“The summer race here is just a whole different beast. You enter the second half of the season knowing every point and position matters, especially if you’re fighting for a playoff spot or trying to build momentum for your team. You see a lot more aggression because guys know the regular season deadline is closing in. Also, the temperatures are a lot hotter in August, so the track is slippery. Handling becomes even more important.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

What do you think of the rules updates to the NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway package for Daytona?

“Daytona is an unknown with the new rules package and we’re not going to know without practice. We’ve just got qualifying on Friday so we’ll wait and see how it goes Saturday night in the race I guess. We know NASCAR is trying to create more opportunities to pass and give drivers more ability to make moves. But until we get out there and see how the cars react, it’s tough to know exactly what we’re going to have. It could open things up and create more passing. At the end of the day, it’s Daytona and you’re just trying to be there at the end and avoid the mayhem.”

Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

What are the expectations of the new superspeedway package?

“Honestly, no one really knows at this point. Folks think that the drafting affects should be similar to the O’Reilly (Auto Parts Series) car. If that is the case, then I feel very good about it. But will it actually end that way? We aren’t sure because the Cup car is so much different with the diffuser and the way that the air flows. The O’Reilly car has the bubble effect, but we’ve never had that with the Cup car. The purpose of these changes is to make it have a bubble effect. Based on all the data that NASCAR has shown us, it should be closer to the O’Reilly car. Having a bubble creates better opportunities for guys who are not up front to be able to pull out of line and make something happen. You can position yourself with the air, get a run, pull out of line, and not stall out as easy. You should still have the momentum to move forward, which is what the Cup car has been missing in the few races I’ve done so far. That should be a positive for our Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet

“Daytona is always unpredictable, but that’s what makes it exciting. We’re glad to have Onin Staffing back with us, and the goal is to stay in the mix all night and give ourselves a shot when it counts.”

Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet

“I’ve built up a lot of confidence at Daytona and its sister track, Talladega. Superspeedway racing just suits my driving style. 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. I think you either want to be at the very front or the very back. Anywhere else is kind of no man’s land. My goal is get up front and run in that top-10, and I think as long as we execute and don’t make mistakes, we’re going to be in a good place to do just that.”

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

What do you think you’ll see with the new package at Daytona, are there any concerns?

“There is always going to be concern when something new comes around, but it’s the same for everybody, so you’re trusting your team, you’re trusting your tools and you’re trusting your experience. We’ve had some big package changes at Daytona in the past and they didn’t change the racing product a whole lot. I think everybody, in their mind, is telling themselves not to overreact, because more than likely, it’s not going to be as we expect. I think that’s kind of the mindset a lot of people will have. We are expecting to have a good run and make up for what could have been during the 500 in February.”

Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

What are you anticipating with the updated rules package?

“I am excited for it. There really isn’t anything to look at. No data or anything. I think that will play to our advantage. You have to just go out there and adapt. We are going to have to try everything as the race plays out and see how the car reacts. Luke (Lambert, crew chief) and Tyler (Green, spotter) are very data driven and so are my teammates Michael (McDowell) and Daniel (Suarez). But none of them really have any idea on what to expect or what to talk about. It is kind of an interesting dynamic going into the weekend.”

Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

There is a new rules package for Daytona. How do you think that is going to change the racing this weekend?

“I’m really excited for Daytona Obviously with the new package things are going to be a lot different just go around and we don’t have any practice so there’s a lot of question marks surrounding that. I think everybody’s in the same boat so I’m super curious to see how it races. The speedways haven’t quite gone the way I’ve wanted them to this year so hopefully we can get that turned around and have a good showing. It’s exciting to have WeatherTech back on board this week. They have been a big sponsor of mine and we won the Daytona race with them last year so hopefully we can do that again this go around.”

Do you embrace superspeedway racing?

“Superspeedway racing hasn’t been nicest to me. I haven’t had the greatest record at those tracks, but I enjoy the craft of superspeedway racing. It’s tougher than people realize and it’s certainly a skill. You can say it’s luck, but at some point, it becomes the driver doing their job and putting themselves in the right spots to win races and stay out of trouble. That’s something that I haven’t quite figured out yet it seems by my track record but I’m doing everything I can to continue to learn and try to find myself fin the right spot at the end of one of those races.”

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

You are 31 points above the cutline, how do you approach this weekend at Daytona?

“It’s really hard to know, it’s such an unknown track. It’s typical Daytona, but also the rule package change as well. Just a lot of unknown. Would have loved to leave New Hampshire last weekend with more of a cushion of course, like we entered with. But the 60 (Ryan Preece) did a great job. The team and I will be working all week to have a plan heading into Saturday night’s race, just have to focus on executing.”

You’ve won championships before, does it benefit you at all to have that background and experience heading into a high-pressure race?

“I guess in some ways. I try to maximize all the bad days, I think. Every point counts, so when we are having a bad day, we still have to get the most out of it. So maybe in that part it does help, being in season long championships all my life. It’s a cool feeling knowing that we have a shot at making The Chase. It’s a cool pressure to feel.”

 
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturer Championships:

Total (1949-2025): 44

First title for Chevrolet: 1958

Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Most recent: 2025

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

Driver Championships:

Total (1949-2025): 34

First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)

Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

Most recent: Kyle Larson (2025)

Driver and Manufacturer Championship Sweeps: 29

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2025

Event Victories:

Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

2026 STATISTICS:

Wins: 6

Poles: 5

Laps Led: 1,769

Top-Fives: 40

Top-10s: 83

Stage Wins: 17

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:

Total Chevrolet race wins: 887 (1949 to date)

Poles won to date: 771

Laps led to date: 258,503

Top-fives to date: 4,476

Top-10s to date: 9,234

Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:

       General Motors: 1,221

       Chevrolet: 887

       Pontiac: 154

       Oldsmobile: 115

       Buick: 65



       Ford: 853                                                                               

       Ford: 753

       Mercury: 96

       Lincoln: 4



       Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467

       Dodge: 217

       Plymouth: 191

       Chrysler: 59



       Toyota: 217

 

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future.

GM Motorsports, including the Cadillac Formula 1® Team develops and proves advanced technologies in the most demanding environments, accelerating innovation in performance, safety, efficiency, and electrification for its production vehicles. Cadillac Racing is one of the leading manufacturers in the IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championships (WEC). Chevrolet competes in single seaters in the US IndyCar series, and in NASCAR with multiple team partners and drivers. Corvette customer teams compete in GT series across the globe including IMSA and WEC. Learn more at GM.com.

Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Ford Racing Media Zoom Call
Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse, goes into this weekend’s regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway 15th in the standings, 44 points above the cut line to make this year’s Chase. Additionally, he’s 31 points behind Bubba Wallace for 14th and 39 behind Daniel Suarez in 13th. Cindric spoke about his situation earlier today on Ford Racing’s weekly Zoom call.

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WILL YOU PLAY IT CONSERVATIVELY ON SATURDAY OR DO YOU TRY TO EARN STAGE POINTS AND TRY TO LOCK YOURSELF IN? “I think that’s a great question. If it was up to me, I know exactly what I would want to do. I’m the guy who begged my crew chief to let me race after being on the front row in the Daytona 500, but, obviously, there’s a lot at play for the race and a lot of factors to come in. I think qualifying will probably play a factor in some of those decisions, maybe, and maybe some of those decisions have already been made and I just haven’t been informed yet. I think there’s a lot of important things, but when you have the package change as much as I think we’re anticipating it – at least changing how the car drives, from my seat you definitely learn a lot more by racing. So, I think there are pros and cons to both and I think we have a couple days left in the week to really understand what our best move forward is.”

DO YOU THINK MOST DRIVERS WILL BE WILLING TO AT LEAST EXPERIMENT WITH THIS PACKAGE AND TRY TO MAKE MOVES? “Absolulely. I think that’s the only way that you learn. I think the way that first stage especially is set up with it only being 35 laps, there’s really not much of a threat of anything else. I mean, even with our other package easily can make 35 laps on fuel, so there’s no reason not to really race hard. I think regardless of how strategy or fuel mileage or anything looks, I think you’re gonna see the drivers trying to learn what the cars have, what the tires do over the course of a run, what the balance of their car is and what adjustments need to be made, so I think if you’re racing, you are experimenting, especially when you’re speedway racing even if you know the package. So, I think the way that first stage plays out is kind of a perfect warm-up, a perfect playground for trying to figure out what we’ve all got.”

YOU ARE AN UNDER THE RADAR KIND OF GUY WHO DOESN’T GET INVOLVED IN A LOT OF DRAMA. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT GOING INTO A RACE LIKE THIS AS AN UNDER THE RADAR DRIVER? “I appreciate what you said and I think, for me, I don’t spend any massive amount of time considering how I am perceived. I kind of just want to do my job and represent our partners and our team well and, most importantly, perform at an extremely high level. I think my commitment to that is maybe what would give that impression, and I guess my focus on what those things would be, so I think it’s really quite that simple. But, I think winning races also puts you in the storylines, so from that standpoint we definitely want to be doing that. Past that, it’s a super important weekend for us to get to business and do what we need to do for the remainder of the season.”

WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING WITH THIS PACKAGE AND THE CHASE SITUATION BEING WHAT IT IS? “That’s a great question and it’s something that every driver, every crew chief, even every spotter is currently debating and, obviously, with no practice or any testing with this package, and I say that in the thought of it being a drafting package because it’s essentially the same package that we race on intermediate tracks, so it’s not like we don’t have sufficient aero data and all these other things to help crew chiefs and teams make decisions, but you put the cars in much different positions and spots and situations that you wouldn’t normally otherwise experience – maybe at Michigan in the middle of a pack on a restart, but, otherwise, I think at a bare minimum you take downforce off the car it’s gonna drive worse. It’s never gonna drive better, so I think understanding to what degree those things are, I think that’s been more of mine to date is all the things that I think will be different, it’s more of scaling what degree they’re gonna be and you’re not really gonna know that until you go out there and race. So, I think it’ll be very interesting for everyone and how that affects your approach and how you can work together with your teammates. I think approaching this race very open-minded. Really, the last time I feel like we were able to do that, I’m not trying to foreshadow by any means, but the last time I feel like we had to approach a speedway this open-minded was the first Next Gen speedway race at Daytona for the 500. It’s a challenge for sure, but I also think given the opportunity to go out there and figure it out between myself and my teammates that I’ll be working with all night, I think we all have the tools to be able to be at the forefront of that learning curve.”

IS THERE A BENEFIT TO BEING AN UNDER THE RADAR GUY AT DAYTONA? “I’m not sure. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. I’ve always debated though, because I’m driving the Menards car for the weekend, and it’s a night race and I’m very easy to see, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing at a night race. Am I easier to block because my car is easier to see? I have honestly had that debate because what does your eye pick up on? I can promise you that your eye will pick up on that bright yellow Menards/Maytag Ford Mustang.”

HOW HAVE THE CHANGES MADE THIS WEEKEND IMPACTED YOUR PREPARATION? “Yeah, I’ve definitely been a bit looser and open-minded in my preparation in kind of just focusing on the keys of what makes Daytona Daytona. What makes parts and pieces of this car this car. It’s the same tire, so trying not to get too lost in the sauce of the down and dirty of the real specific details because I feel like that can be distracting, but it’s also things that even if I didn’t do any prep for coming back with the same package, I would have a pretty general understanding if you just had to throw me in the car today. I think with that just trying to remind yourself of what things are still gonna exist regardless of the changes and from there kind of keep an open mind and make sure that as a team we have the things that we think are going to be points of debate throughout the race or areas in which we’re trying to understand the varying degrees of change that we’re experiencing versus the package that we’ve raced pretty much since the inception of the car.”

IS IT EVEN WORTHWHILE TO WATCH THIS YEAR’S DAYTONA 500 WITH THE CHANGES? WHAT KIND OF VIDEO HAVE YOU PREPPED WITH? “The bulk of the film that I’ve prepared for this week is the summer race from last year at Daytona. It’s just a hotter event than what the 500 was and, obviously, kind of just more looking at general handling and trends from lanes usage and then always you’re getting a sense of watching other drivers and the decisions that they make or other OEM’s and how they work together. That type of communication that happens between team’s drivers and spotters that you kind of just build up a notebook of how other people operate for better or for worse. It’s no different than I feel like I might operate slightly different than Joey or Ryan, but we have to continue to collaborate on certain ideas. I think those are things that you can usually pick up on by watching and those will be things that won’t change.”

DO YOU THINK PEOPLE THINK YOU’RE BLANEY WHEN YOU’RE IN THE MENARDS CAR? “Good question. Actually, I don’t know if you guys noticed, but last week was one of the craziest double paint scheme weekends of the year. My spotter and I keep track of that. Like, if we see something on social media, we’ll send it to each other. There were two Trackhouse cars that looked the exact same. We had the two Monster cars. I feel like there were two others, but that’s very much a real thing. Obviously, Doug and I will sometimes walk the garage to make sure we know paint schemes just so we’re calling out the right cars and understand the right things because it is super important. The Coke 600 is always one of the hardest ones because everyone is in a red, white and blue paint scheme and when the cars are a mile away from you on the spotter’s stand, it’s easy to mix up a 54 and a 35 just because one has a green banner on the top and the other one doesn’t. I think those are all very important, but I run a Menards car half of the schedule. I think the other guys on the roof are good enough to figure it out.”

WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF MANUFACTURER TEAMMATES WORK TOGETHER IN THIS RACE. WITH TWO FORD DRIVERS BEING BELOW YOU IN THE STANDINGS, WILL THAT AFFECT YOUR STRATEGY? “I’m not sure that it does. I think from a Ford context, there’s a total reality that we get two in, so I think Brad is far enough back from me that he can mathematically pass the 97, but he can’t mathematically pass me. Obviously, they have to have a standout day and you could be easily done by the first stage and know that the 6 car wouldn’t be able to advance, but as far as the 60 and myself and how we work together as a group, I think the more Fords we get in the Chase, the better. That’s my mentality going into it is there’s no reason why we both can’t get in.”

DO YOU FEEL WE’RE GOING TO SEE SOMETHING SIMILAR TO ATLANTA THIS WEEKEND OR SOMETHING ELSE UNIQUE TO THE BIGGER SPEEDWAYS? “Yes, no and yes. I definitely feel that handing will be more important than it’s been in the past. I always feel like the summer race, for obvious reasons, requires more handling needs. I think the biggest differences between Atlanta and Daytona at the moment is the length of the straightaways and the radius shape of the corners. So, for us, how does that impact your ability to race? I feel like the corner happens quite quickly at Atlanta, whereas in Daytona you’re sustained in the corner for quite a while, so are there gonna be factors that apply in a handling limited environment? Sure, that you would have to utilize at Atlanta or actually drive the car a certain way, yeah, perhaps. But I do think the corner shape definitely will I guess drive the most difference between the two. Like I said, it’s hard to know yet until we go out there and race to know how handling limited it is or it isn’t.”

WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN OR WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE HOW THE CARS WILL BE AFFECTED WITH BUMP DRAFTING OR GETTING CLOSE THE CAR IN FRONT OF YOU? HOW HESITANT OR SELECTIVE DOES THAT MAKE YOU IN TERMS OF DECIDING WHEN TO PUSH? “All great questions that I have no answers to. We will learn at the same time. I’ll probably learn a little sooner than you will, but we will all learn at the same time.”

DARLINGTON SEEMED TO BE A TURNING POINT FOR YOU. WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THE TRACK THAT GOT YOUR TEAM GOING AND WHAT IS YOUR OUTLOOK FOR THE SOUTHERN 500? “It definitely was a good event for us for the year. I think that Darlington provides a ton of challenges. I don’t think there’s a more mentally challenging race – maybe the Bristol Night Race – than the Southern 500 and having a clean start there and being able to execute a race, I think there’s really no single area that isn’t important in your race car to be able to have to be able to run well at Darlington, so it’s a good race for us to have a great notebook on and looking at it from a Chase perspective, you’re just trying to get out on the right foot. I mean, every single racing point and all that makes the most difference there, so I think for us it’s definitely one that we’re looking forward to getting back to. It’s a very fun racetrack and a very rewarding place to get a good result.”

HAVE YOU BUSTED BLANEY’S CHOPS ABOUT YOUR CAR LOOKING LIKE HIS? “I guess Ryan and I are probably quite used to that. I think the only thing that I bust Ryan’s chops about is that there are many times, and it’s becoming increasingly less since I’ve been in the Cup Series now for a little while, but there are maybe some casual race fans who think that I am Ryan Blaney. They will yell at me and they will come up to me with a Ryan Blaney trading card and ask me for my autograph while I’m wearing the firesuit, or like the ride around truck when they’re all yelling – ‘I love Blaney.’ I’m like, ‘OK, cool. I do too, but that’s not me.’ So, anyway, we do joke about that from time to time.”

DO YOU SIGN IF ASKED WHEN IT’S NOT YOU? “I show them the belt on my firesuit that says Cindric on it.”