Cup Series teams are back in action Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
This race marks the 155th Cup event at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Bob Welborn won the inaugural Cup race at Daytona back in 1959.
Saturday night's race marks the first time since 2019 that Daytona has not hosted the Cup Series regular-season finale. It also marks the debut of NBC Sports' "nonstop" coverage where no full-screen commercial breaks will take place during green flag laps.
Daytona International Speedway Saturday, Aug. 24, schedule (Eastern Time)
- 4 p.m. -- Cup Series garage hours
- 7:30 p.m. -- Cup Series race (160 laps, 400 miles. NBC, streaming on Peacock. Radio coverage on Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Weather forecast: The WeatherUnderground forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies with the possibility of a stray rain shower. A high of 83 degrees and an 18% chance of rain at the start of the Cup race.
Pre-race: Driver introductions will take place at 7 p.m. Pre-race coverage begins at 7 p.m. with "Countdown to Green" on NBC and Peacock. Race coverage continues at 7:30 p.m. on NBC and Peacock.
Starting lineup: As a superspeedway, Daytona will not have practice ahead of the summer race. Drivers will go straight into qualifying on Friday at 5:05 p.m. (USA Network).
Stages: Saturday's race will feature three stages. The first stage will end on Lap 35. The second stage will end on Lap 95. The scheduled race end is Lap 160.
Past winners: The entry list is filled with drivers who have won at least one race at Daytona International Speedway. This includes Daytona 500 winners Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano, William Byron, Michael McDowell, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
The list of Daytona summer race winners includes Dillon, Byron, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Justin Haley, Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, and Ryan Blaney.
Playoff picture: Four spots remain in the 16-driver playoff field after the appeals panel upheld penalties issued to Austin Dillon after Richmond. The Richard Childress Racing driver won the race, but he is not eligible for the playoffs.
Martin Truex Jr. is in the best position of the four currently winless drivers above the cutline. He has a 77-point cushion between him and the cutline. Ty Gibbs is 39 points above the cutline after finishing third at Michigan last Monday.
Chris Buescher entered Michigan with no cushion to the cutline. He is now 16 points to the good after he recovered from being collected in a crash and finished 16th. Ross Chastain, who spun during the first overtime attempt, is now one point above the cutline.
Bubba Wallace is the first driver out of a playoff spot. He entered Michigan with a three-point advantage, and he had one of the fastest cars. However, he was collected in a crash after Kyle Larson spun and lost control. He finished 26th.