Daytona 500 – The Low Tier & Super Low Tier

Daniel Suarez
Daytona 500 Bottom Line – Daniel Suarez has been a DNF machine at Daytona. He’s had a DNF in 8 of his 9 starts, and currently his accident DNF streak stands at 7. Perhaps he’s due to finally avoid the carnage, but you probably could’ve said that a few races ago. Pick Suarez at your own risk but prepare for the worst. That said, he’ll likely have a ton of “out of sync” potential since who won’t be wary!
Daytona Track History – Daniel Suarez has been a prolific crasher at Daytona and only once over his 9 starts has he been running at the end. Statistically, Daytona ranks as his very worst track among venues visited more than once (30.2 average finish). Last summer, it looked like Daniel Suarez would end his bad luck streak, but on the last lap in the back straightaway while he was running in 3rd he crashed. In last year’s Daytona 500, Daniel Suarez completed just 13 laps before getting caught up in the early “Big One” which led to his 36th place finish. In summer 2020 in the #96, Suarez had one of his better races of the year. In the event he led 19 laps (used pit strategy) and was running in 13th with 16 laps to go before all the late mayhem ensued. Then at the end with 2 laps to go he was caught up in the carnage which led to his 26th place finish. In the 2020 Daytona 500, Suarez missed the race. In the four Daytona races prior to that, Suarez had results of 40th, 33rd, 35th and 37th.

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Kaz Grala
Daytona 500 Bottom Line – The Floyd Mayweather Money Team is real, and Kaz Grala will be attempting to make the Daytona 500 driving the #50 Chevy. Kaz Grala hasn’t been bad at superspeedways, but I kind of feel like there’s some bad mojo to this team. They’re not locked in, so don’t sign any Kaz Grala dotted lines until after the Duel 150’s.
Daytona Track History – Last year at superspeedways, Kaz Grala was in three races. He finished 6th at Talladega and then at Daytona he had a pair of DNF’s having finished 28th in February and then 35th in the spring. In the Truck Series, Grala won at Daytona in 2017. (NOT LOCKED IN)

Todd Gilliland
Daytona 500 Bottom Line – Todd Gilliland will be making his top series debut in the Daytona 500 driving the #38 which was previously piloted by Anthony Alfredo. If Gilliland is going to sneak in any good results this year, it will likely be at a superspeedway. In the Truck series since 2019, Gilliland has a pair of top 3 finishes, but in his other four races he’s finished 16th or worse. Also, none of those good finishes were at Daytona.
Daytona Track History – Last year at superspeedways in the Truck series, Gilliland finished 31st at Daytona but 3rd at Talladega. In 2020, neither of his results were good on this track type and he finished 16th at Daytona and 28th at Talladega. In 2019, Gilliland finished 19th at Daytona and then 2nd at Talladega.