NASCAR returns to action Saturday night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway with just one race remaining in the regular season before the 16-driver, 10-race playoffs begin at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on 31 August 2025.
Trackhouse drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Ross Chastain have clinched playoff spots and hope to use a good points race or victory to climb higher in the playoff seedings. Daniel Suárez joins about a dozen drivers who know they must win Saturday night to gain entry into the 2025 playoffs.
Van Gisbergen also has two Xfinity Series starts at the 2.50-mile superspeedway. Last season, in the August Cup Series race, Van Gisbergen was in position to post a top-10 place finish before a mechanical issue ended his race.
“On an oval, I don’t fully know what area the car needs speed, which part to try and focus on yet,” said van Gisbergen. “I can describe what the car’s doing, but I don’t have that notebook of myself, I don’t know what to ask for yet.
“Just trying to learn every week; trying to see what the setup is and what’s different to every other week, helping my crew point the car in the right direction, whereas on a road course this year, we’ve kind of trended one way on setup, and I feel like as a team and driver combination it’s been really good and has shown that it’s made us better.”
Last Weekend in Richmond: Van Gisbergen turned in one of his most impressive oval races in his first Cup start at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. He flirted with a top-10 late in the race before finishing 14th, matching his best finish on a oval this season.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 marks the 157th time the NASCAR Cup Series will race at Daytona. With 31 degrees of banking in the turns and 18 degrees in the tri-oval, the track always brings excitement.
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