DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — There’s one guy Tyler Reddick doesn’t expect any help from at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night: His teammate.
Reddick and fellow Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon are essentially battling each other for the 16th and final spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. And that makes teamwork at the 2½-mile superspeedway downright tricky, maybe even unthinkable, for the duo.
“Anything I do to help him, hurts me. Anything he does to help me, hurts him," Reddick said. "So we really can’t work together at all, unfortunately. It’s kind of a weird spot.”
Fourteen drivers have a shot at the last postseason berth, each of them needing a win at Daytona to clinch. Reddick and Dillon, though, are the only ones who can get in on points without a win. They need a repeat winner – 13 drivers have at least one victory this season – or a win as shocking as Michael McDowell's stunner in the Daytona 500 to advance that way.
Reddick and Dillon would prefer to take all the guesswork out of the equation by winning themselves. And given their history at NASCAR’s birthplace, no one would be surprised to see them in victory lane amid fireworks Saturday night.
Although Reddick is winless in 63 Cup starts, he has two victories at Daytona in other series. He won the 2015 Truck Series opener at Daytona while driving for Brad Keselowski Racing and won the 2018 Xfinity Series opener at Daytona with JR Motorsports.
He took the lead with nine laps to go at Daytona last August in another win-and-you're-in scenario, but seconds later crashed trying to block Kyle Busch. Reddick, in fact, has crashed in three of four Cup starts at Daytona and never finished better than 27th.
“We’ve just got one more hurdle and, unfortunately, it’s a big one,” Reddick said. “One with a lot of uncertainty, not just with who’s going to be running at the end but how much different the car is going to drive with the different horsepower and so many drivers below the cut line that are all out of options and desperate going into Daytona to do whatever it takes to win and lock themselves in as well.”
Dillon isn’t ready to panic.
After all, he’s been at his best at the birthplace of NASCAR. The 2018 Daytona 500 winner finished third here in February and won the 2015 Xfinity race at Daytona. He has a 10 top-five finishes and 15 top-10s in 26 races (Cup and Xfinity) at the famed track.
“For me, we’re in a little bit of a nothing-to-lose attitude right now because we’ve got to gain on our teammate, and if not, we’ve got to win somehow,” he said, citing Daytona as a place his No. 3 Chevrolet shines because of the strong horsepower in the engines built in partnership with Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports.
“We’ve just had the ability to keep that No. 3 at the front when we go to Daytona," he added. "It’s a magical place and I’ve had some great runs there. I’m pumped that it’s the last race of our regular season.”
Fifteen drivers already clinched postseason spots: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex, Jr., Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Christopher Bell, McDowell and Aric Almirola.
Given the unpredictability of racing at Daytona, teamwork is as paramount as it is practical on the high-banked oval. But normal alliances are sure to be tested given the stakes, and even friends and teammates like Reddick and Dillon won’t be able to help each other.
“It’s a difficult thing,” Reddick said. “As much as we would love to work together, be upfront and control the race, it’s just not really an option for us. I can’t push him to the win and still make the playoffs. And he can’t push me to the win and still make the playoffs.
“It’s just an unfortunate spot for us to be in right now.”
REGULAR SEASON TITLE
The regular season title will be decided Saturday night between Kyle Larson and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. It's not a meaningless award, either.
In addition to a trophy, the regular season champion earns 15 additional playoff points to be applied when the field is reseeded. Hamlin held the regular season lead for 22 weeks until Larson claimed it two races ago at Indianapolis.
Hamlin now sits 28 points behind Larson for the title and he'd need Larson to have a bad night not to clinch those critical points. But Hamlin desperately needs additional playoff points — he has just five (compared to Larson's 37) headed into Daytona.
“We seem to put ourselves in contention each and every year at Daytona, so we always look forward to racing there,” said Hamlin, "and because my playoff spot is clinched, I can go on offense. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
ODDS AND ENDS
Hamlin is the 17-2 betting favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, with Larson, Byron, Elliott, Logano, Blaney and Dillon close behind. ... There are 14 drivers who can earn the final playoff spot with a victory, but for 12 of them a win Saturday night it there only shot. They are: Matt DiBenedetto, Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Newman, Ryan Preece, Cole Custer and Anthony Alfredo. ... There have been 22 drivers who earned their first career victory at Daytona, including William Byron last August to earn the final playoff berth and Michael McDowell in this year's season-opening Daytona 500.
WDUN will carry live MRN Radio coverage of Saturday night's NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 6 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
WDUN will also carry live MRN Radio coverage of the rain postponed NASCAR Xfinity Series Wawa 250 from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 12:30 pm on 102.9 FM and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Coke Zero Sugar 400 – August 28, 2021
Saturday Night’s Starting Line Up
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 5 Kyle Larson Valvoline Instant Oil Change Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
2. 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
3. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Shaping Black Futures Toyota 0.000 0.000
4. 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 0.000 0.000
5. 9 Chase Elliott UniFirst Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
6. 12 Ryan Blaney BodyArmor Ford 0.000 0.000
7. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 0.000 0.000
8. 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
9. 21 Matt DiBenedetto Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 0.000 0.000
10. 2 Brad Keselowski Pirtek Ford 0.000 0.000
11. 4 Kevin Harvick Unibet Ford 0.000 0.000
12. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Funfetti Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
13. 17 Chris Buescher Fifth Third Bank Ford 0.000 0.000
14. 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 0.000 0.000
15. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
16. 14 Chase Briscoe # Mobil 1 Ford 0.000 0.000
17. 8 Tyler Reddick Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
18. 34 Michael McDowell CarParts.com Ford 0.000 0.000
19. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 0.000 0.000
20. 23 Bubba Wallace Columbia PFG Toyota 0.000 0.000
21. 43 Erik Jones Columbia PFG Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
22. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 0.000 0.000
23. 6 Ryan Newman Coca Cola Zero Sugar Ford 0.000 0.000
24. 37 Ryan Preece Kroger/Coca-Cola Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
25. 41 Cole Custer Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford 0.000 0.000
26. 99 Daniel Suarez CommScope Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
27. 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
28. 77 Justin Haley(i) FOE Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
29. 42 Ross Chastain Clover Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
30. 78 B.J. McLeod(i) Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures Ford 0.000 0.000
31. 51 Cody Ware(i) Nurtec ODT Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
32. 38 Anthony Alfredo # Speedy Cash Ford 0.000 0.000
33. 7 Corey LaJoie Built bar Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
34. 53 Garrett Smithley(i) True Brand Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
35. 00 Quin Houff UNITIS Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
36. 52 Josh Bilicki Jacobs Companies Ford 0.000 0.000
37. 15 Joey Gase(i) ProMaster Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
38. 16 Kaz Grala(i) Goettl Air Conditioning Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
39. 96 Landon Cassill(i) Carnomaly Toyota 0.000 0.000
40. 66 David Starr(i) Meidwest Mobile Tech Toyota 0.000 0.000
