DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- When you talk to Cup Series drivers about Daytona, some highlight the differences between the two races. The Daytona 500 is all about the prestige while the summer race is all about the desperation.
The summer race, which returns to its slot as the regular-season finale, is the last opportunity for winless drivers to punch their ticket to the playoffs. After Saturday, points are mostly meaningless for those who failed to make the 16-driver field.
"I think when you compare and contrast the two (Daytona races), one, I think it's probably a different brand of desperation that is throughout the field," Austin Cindric said on Friday.
"I think for the 500, there's probably a higher respect for what the win means, where here it's all-out, whatever it takes for a good half of the field."
Cindric sits in a favorable position -- he's already won his way into the playoffs. At this point, he's just looking for more playoff points and his first win at Daytona since the 2022 Daytona 500.
Many other drivers in the field, however, are in a difficult spot. Those below the cutline can only win their way into the playoffs. Points don't matter to them.
Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick, the two drivers above the cutline on points can only hope that a new winner doesn't take the checkered flag.
How does this must-win scenario change the race? According to multiple drivers, it creates a rash of cautions and wild decisions.
"We saw it last year in Richmond, that's for sure," Christopher Bell said about desperation to AltDriver. "So yeah, you can tell. You can tell."
What happened in Richmond last season? Austin Dillon wrecked Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap to get a playoff-sealing win. NASCAR responded by letting him keep the win but taking away his playoff eligibility.
Dillon redeemed himself by winning outright last weekend at Richmond. This put him into the playoffs from below the cutline and increased the pressure on drivers who are winless this season.
Desperate moves are possible as the Cup Series drivers close out the regular season with a Saturday night race. However, the style will differ from Richmond. The desperate and aggressive moves at Daytona usually involve blocks with a low percentage of success.
"It's going to be a mess, right? We all know it," Michael McDowell, a driver in the must-win situation, said. "We've all lived it and seen it. It's not like that's going to be a big shock to us, and that's why this race is so unpredictable. Just because the desperation is high for everybody.
"And so those moments where you're like, 'Yeah, I'll give a little bit because whether I'm second or third in line here isn't going to really matter,' it does matter in this race. And so the intensity just ramps up. I think some of the decision-making, the processing, changes here with everything on the line."
William Byron, the regular-season champion, knows the feeling of needing a perfect performance at Daytona to get into the playoffs. He entered the 2020 cutoff race as one of three main drivers battling for spots. He went out and won, which eliminated Jimmie Johnson.
As Byron sees it, he didn't make any moves out of desperation. He didn't block the same driver two or three times in a row to kick off a big wreck.
He just executed when he and his team faced the most pressure. He hopes that other drivers use this strategy on Saturday night while battling for playoff spots.
"I understand the mentality, but I don't see a lot of people make better decisions being desperate," Byron said. "I think the best decisions come from having the right thought process to get yourself to the end of the race and see the checkered.
"I think a lot of times you see desperate moves with 10, 15 laps to go and it's just like man, just get to the end of the race first. I think there's definitely a lot of that throughout the field."