5 Things You Missed at the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway

On Saturday, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 concluded, bringing the NASCAR Regular Season to an end. With that, all the 16 Playoff contenders are officially locked in and ready for the championship battle. As always, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 was held at the Daytona International Speedway, the Cup Series’ second visit this year. The 163-lap race was plenty exciting, with lots of thrills and spills,

Interestingly, there were a number of storylines, as per news-journalonline.com, that played out during the race. In other words, there is a lot to unpack about this race, in the build-up to the Playoffs.

The dominant storylines revolved around Hendrick Motorsports duo, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott missing the cut. For Elliott, it is a big blow because it is the first time in his career that he has missed the Playoffs. Meanwhile, Bowman is missing the Playoffs for the first time since joining Hendrick Motorsports full time. However, there are other plotlines that have flown under the radar.

Chris Buescher is a dark horse after the Coke Zero Sugar 400

As is often colloquially said, do not sleep on Chris Buescher’s prospects. The 30-year-old has been in the form of his life at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Well, the signs were there in 2022 when he won at the Bristol Motor Speedway. This year though, he proved that it was no flash in the pan, with three wins, at Richmond, Michigan, and last weekend at Daytona.

Safe to say, the #17 driver could be one to watch in the coming races.

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For a long time, the Stewart-Haas Racing team had not been performing well. This season alone, veteran driver Kevin Harvick has been a one-man army and is the sole SHR driver in the Playoffs. However, at the Coke Zero Sugar 400, it seemed like a fire had been lit under all four drivers.

It all started when Chase Briscoe snatched pole position, with teammate Aric Almirola alongside him on the front row. Meanwhile, Ryan Preece and Kevin Harvick were at the tail end of the Top 10. Admittedly, Preece’s frightening accident and Briscoe got caught up in another wreck. However, the other two drivers performed admirably, with Almirola 3rd and Harvick in 9th place.

Hendrick Motorsports trying to salvage their season

It is no secret that Hendrick Motorsports has not been having a great season. This Daytona race was the last chance for the organization to get at least three cars into the Playoffs. Sadly, it was not meant to be, and Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman missed out.

As a result, poor old Kyle Larson and William Byron will battle it out on their own. However, at the Coke Zero Sugar 400, three of the Hendrick cars finished in the Top 10. Larson was the only hiccup, finishing down in 27th, but the likes of Elliott, Byron, and Bowman were right up there.

Brad Keselowski is no slouch

Chris Buescher may be regarded as one of the dark horses, but don’t rule out teammate Brad Keselowski. The #6 driver had a rough start when he first joined the RFK Racing as a driver/owner last year. However, in 2023, he has really come into his own.

Although the 2012 Cup Series champion has yet to win a race this season, he has qualified for the Playoffs. In addition to that, he was right up there along with teammate Buescher.

Kyle Busch is a big threat

Kyle Busch is another driver who’s on a bit of a redemption arc. The Richard Childress Racing driver is in his first season with the team and has hit the ground running. His final year with Joe Gibbs Racing was nothing to write home about, despite one win. However, he has really come into his own in the #8 machine.

At the Daytona International Speedway, he finished in 7th place, and will be a solid Playoff threat.

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