So to break down what we have for you tonight, we have a situation in which…
- It’s NASCAR’s regular season finale.
- One playoff spot is still up for grabs.
- It’s a marquee race—one of the handful of the biggest in the sport.
- The playoff spot is open to whoever wins OR, if someone who’s already won (or a non-top 30 driver) wins, whoever finishes ahead in the standings between Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon (Reddick leads entering the race).
- Reddick and Dillon are teammates.
- It’s happening at a racetrack known for last-lap fiery crashes.
In other words, if you’ve ever said, “Maybe I should get into NASCAR,” or, “Maybe I’d like NASCAR,” tonight would be a good night to try it out.
Where It Is
Daytona!
When It Is
Green flag at 7:45 PM EDT.
How to Watch
NBC
Who to Watch
It’s a big race for everyone—one of NASCAR’s “majors,” if you will (not the majorest but up there). I believe Josh Bilicki is too far beyond thirtieth to be in the hunt, so the guys racing for the last playoff spot are (with their Bovada odds to win):
- Reddick (30-to-1)
- Dillon (14-to-1)
- Matt DiBenedetto (25-to-1)
- Chris Buescher (40-to-1)
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (20-to-1)
- Bubba Wallace (25-to-1)
- Chase Briscoe (66-to-1)
- Erik Jones (50-to-1)
- Daniel Suárez (66-to-1)
- Ryan Newman (40-to-1)
- Ryan Preece (80-to-1)
- Cole Custer (66-to-1)
- Corey LaJoie (66-to-1)
- Anthony Alfredo (150-to-1)
Reddick is the favorite to take the last spot, given his advantage over Dillon and given that it’s maybe 70% or 75% likely the winner comes from outside this group. But those are the guys racing for playoff spots. Denny Hamlin’s the favorite at 7-to-1. The Penske Boys (Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney) and The Hendrick Boys (Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman) and Kyle Busch are also among the favorites.
How NASCAR Should Script It
Let it happen, it’s Daytona (but a series of overtime restarts over which Bubba Wallace climbs up the field and eventually wins on a last-lap pass might be the most exhilarating situation).
Xfinity
The Xfinity race was rained out last night and will be run this afternoon. Thankfully, only about a 20% chance of rain today/tonight, so hopefully that doesn’t become an issue for the Cup race.
