Two of the national NASCAR series are in action this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
Cup Series teams will close out the regular season with a Saturday night race. Xfinity Series teams will continue the steady march to the playoffs with a Friday night race.
This weekend, much like those at Talladega Superspeedway and EchoPark Speedway, will not feature practice sessions. Teams will just head directly into qualifying to set the lineups for the two night races.
The Cup Series battle for playoff spots will be the focus this weekend. Fourteen drivers have secured spots in the 16-driver field. Austin Dillon is the latest to join this group after he won last weekend at Richmond Raceway.
Only two spots remain, which Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman hold on points. However, a new winner from below the cutline would eliminate one of these two drivers from contention.
Daytona International Speedway forecast and weekend schedule
Friday forecast: The WeatherUnderground forecast calls for sunny skies in the morning and scattered showers in the afternoon. Thunderstorms will be possible. A high of 82 degrees and a 42% chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity Series race.
Saturday forecast: The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies throughout the day, as well as scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. A high of 82 degrees and a 41% chance of rain at the start of the Cup Series race.
Friday, Aug. 22, schedule (Eastern Time)
- 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. -- Cup Series garage hours
- 12 p.m. -- Xfinity Series garage hours
- 3 - 4:30 p.m. -- Xfinity Series qualifying (CW app)
- 5:05 - 6:30 p.m. -- Cup Series qualifying (truTV, Max. Radio coverage on Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- 7:30 p.m. -- Xfinity Series race (100 laps, 250 miles. CW. Radio coverage on Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday, Aug. 23, schedule (Eastern Time)
- 4:30 p.m. -- Cup Series garage hours
- 7:30 p.m. -- Cup Series race (160 laps, 400 miles. NBC, streaming on Peacock, in-car cameras on Max. Radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)