Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez finished second, and teammates Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen finished 15th and 16th in Saturday night’s 400-lap Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Suárez staged a frantic rally, driving from 19th to second with four laps remaining before finishing just 0.031 seconds short of his third career victory and an automatic playoff berth. The finish equaled a season’s best and marked his third consecutive top-10 finish.
Chastain and Van Gisbergen ran up front much of the race, each leading laps, but both struggled in the closing laps to work through traffic amid some frenetic racing.
“It was awesome,” said van Gisbergen. We set out and achieved what we wanted to do. I wasn’t quite a good enough pusher to help the No. 99 (Daniel Suárez). I would just get tight and bound up, and I couldn’t stay attached. But when we were out front, it was good.
“It was good to lead some laps and control some lanes. I learned a lot. We just have to keep building. It’s another solid result for this No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet team.”
In the first stage, Chastain finished second, Suárez, who led six laps, finished 12th, and Van Gisbergen finished 20th. All three Chevrolets dodged a 12-car accident on lap 27 that eliminated several cars.
In the second stage, Chastain led three times for four laps and earned his 14th career stage victory. Suárez raced in the top five, while Van Gisbergen led twice for five laps before they finished 18th and 20th.
Rain cancelled qualifying on Friday, and NASCAR set the field by the rulebook.
Daytona marked the 26th and final regular season race before the 10-race, 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series playoffs that begin Sunday, Aug. 31 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Four of the 16 playoff drivers will be eliminated after three races. After three rounds, the four remaining drivers will compete in a winner-take-all race for the championship at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 2.
Van Gisbergen will begin the playoffs in sixth, 16-points ahead of the final transfer position. Chastain begins the playoffs in 11th, one point ahead of the final transfer position.
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