Top Dog: Justin Haley
You’ve probably heard it all week, but the aura and electricity surrounding the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway finally reached a breaking point under the lights.
And boy, oh boy, did the race live up to the hype.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 served as a prime moment in time for an underdog to produce another wrinkle in the track’s storied chronicles. And with a potential playoff spot on the line, it illuminated the stage even more for the dark horses to step on.
In the closing laps, it looked as though Alex Bowman‘s early crash would come back to haunt him as the driver holding the final playoff position on points. Several underdogs paced the field as the energy built up, increasing the likelihood that an invader would wreak havoc on the playoff grid.
Justin Haley, Cole Custer and Erik Jones all saw stars in their eyes on the final lap with victory within reach.
Then, in a flash, the mere presence of a black machine roaring past saw those hopes dashed in an instant.
Like Batman swooping in at night, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney served as The Dark Knight in Daytona, going on an incredible drive from 13th to first in the final two laps to score the victory and shut a surprise winner out of the playoffs.
You could see the anguish in the expression of each of the faces of the defeated, especially Haley, who led the underdog pack in third.
So much has been made of Haley’s future in recent weeks, as the temperature on his seat has increased along with the summer heat. Daytona was an opportunity to silence the doubters and potentially secure his future. Instead, those questions will continue to likely swirl in his mind for days.
The 2019 Daytona summer winner was a threat all night, making his presence known with a fifth-place stage one result. A quiet second stage was the calm before the storm, as Haley roared back into the top five in the final stage.
With the leaders throwing haymakers at each other, Haley remained fixed in the top five, switching between pushing Jones and Chris Buescher. But after both of those drivers were shuffled out, as well as Joey Logano going for a spin with 12 laps remaining, Haley found himself with a golden opportunity to win.
While the outside lane jockeyed over the final three laps, Haley led the charge on the bottom, keeping his No. 7 Chevrolet in the mix. On the final lap, a shove from Blaney to Custer was met with a block from Haley, then counteracted by a Custer crossover. Haley moved down to block again, nearly causing the two to collide. After sliding back to the second row, Haley made one last push with help from Kyle Larson, coming up too little, too late in a four-wide finish.
A dejected Haley was met with encouragement from his crew and a hug from his wife, but the pain of missing out on both a victory and Spire Motorsports’ first win since that 2019 upset will take time to heal for a driver who absolutely raced his heart out.
Notable Underdog Runs
For a moment, it looked as though career win number two was coming for Custer, who received strong pushes from Blaney to reach the lead. And even as the field approached the tri-oval for the final time, Custer’s No. 41 was within a few feet of striking distance.
As NBC Sports commentator Leigh Diffey said coming to the finish, “This would be epic for Haas Factory Team!”
With all of the drama from the shuttering of Stewart-Haas Racing, the shell left in the form of the newly re-branded team, and the struggles faced this year, it would have been a moment for the storybooks.
Instead, his night concluded with him spinning after giving his all coming to the checkered flag, finishing fourth.
It’s another brutal blow to a driver who was in a similar position to win the season-opening Daytona 500 before getting caught up in a crash on the backstretch. And you can argue that if he hadn’t had the backstretch dispute with Haley this time, the playoff field might look drastically different.
Despite coming up short of the win, it’s a step in the right direction for Custer and the team. It was also the 27-year-old’s first top five since his first career Cup win at Kentucky Speedway in 2020.
Then, to keep the trend of heartbreaking defeats going, there’s Jones, who was looking to recapture the magic he found en route to his first career victory in this race back in 2018. In doing so, the colors of the Richard Petty era looked to be on route to victory lane with Jones and the No. 43.
Jones rocketed to the lead in the final stage, swapping the position with Logano a handful of times, as well as leading for 10 laps. Jones also avoided disaster when Logano got loose in front of him, spinning out without contact from the No. 43.
On the final restart, Jones pulled the top lane, looking to gain the advantage over Haley. But with six laps to go, it all came undone when Larson didn’t push Jones’ bumper square, sending him out of line and down the leaderboard. Jones made a valiant attempt to recover by riding in the same line that got Blaney and Custer to the front, but he was ultimately landlocked from any attempt at the win.
The progress continues to come for Legacy Motor Club, who ran 1-2 between John Hunter Nemechek and Jones at one point in stage two. Jones reached his third top five of the season also, the first time he’s done that since 2022. Yet, like Haley and Custer, those statistics are all for the records, and an empty spot in the trophy case will be magnified this week.
Underdogs cluttered the remainder of the top 20, with former Front Row Motorsports teammates Todd Gilliland and Michael McDowell finishing 11th and 12th. Gilliland’s result in particular was impressive after he collided with Tyler Reddick on lap 19, sending both for a spin.
However, “the pickle car” never seemed sour afterwards, as Gilliland also avoided Casey Mears when the No. 66 suffered a flat tire in the final stage. It is his first top 15 since Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
McDowell was on the upset favorites for the night, and he appeared to have the speed to deliver on those expectations throughout the race, especially after finishing stage one in fourth. Yet, McDowell lost his track position at the beginning of the final stage and never could recover, reaching the top 10 late but failing to advance forward before settling for 12th.
With each passing week, it feels like the potential of Shane van Gisbergen advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs increases more and more. Entering Daytona on the heels of a win at Watkins Glen International and a 14th at Richmond Raceway, van Gisbergen brought another top 20 home in 16th.
Why’s that significant? Well, consider the fact that SVG had never finished better than 35th at Daytona. Not only did he nix that stat, but he also reached the lead in stage two, pacing the field for six laps. The Kiwi kept his car clean, avoiding the Big One on lap 27 en route to his seventh top 20 on an oval this season.
With the playoffs set to fire off now, keep an eye on the Kiwi to make more noise than expected. And should he advance past the Round of 16, the Round of 8 becomes a legitimate possibility with the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL sitting in the Round of 12.
Last, but certainly not least, give a nod to Cody Ware and Rick Ware Racing in 20th. Ware didn’t come to ride around or avoid all of the wrecks, but to give everything he had at the sport’s stars.
With fuel-saving mode ruling stage two, Ware decided to take his shot and go for the lead, successfully doing so. The Greensboro, N.C. native led 23 laps on the night, trailing only Blaney and Logano (27 each) for the most. That number also exceeds all of the laps led in his career cumulatively (11).
Ware had to pit before the end of stage two for fuel, which coughed up all of his track position, something he couldn’t recover. Despite that, it was a memorable night for a driver who has been through many trials this season, and it was a feel-good story to see the No. 51 up front for so long.
Stat to Chew On
Underdogs held a heavy presence at the front of the field in Daytona. Eight different underdogs from this column led a lap in the Coke Zero Sugar 400, combining for 67 laps led overall, the most on a superspeedway this season. The next closest instance was at Talladega Superspeedway in April, when seven underdogs paced the field for a total of 43 laps.
Small Team Scheme of the Week
This was was set in stone as soon as it was released.
LMC and Jones broke out the nostalgic day glow orange and Petty blue colors that were synonymous with ‘The King’ himself in Petty. Not only did the colors match, but Dollar Tree was able to collaborate with STP to bring Petty’s longtime sponsor back aboard its rightful place, producing one of the more memorable schemes of the season.
Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.