On Saturday night under the lights, NASCAR will be racing at Daytona for the Coke Zero Sugar 400! The Daytona summer race is always one of the wildest of the year and it’s also the regular season finale before the Chase. This weekend, NASCAR is debuting a new superspeedway racing package, untested and unpracticed, so buckle up. The spoiler is slightly tweaked and shorter (7 inches down to 4 inches), and the horsepower is reduced to ~465. In theory, it should improve the quality of the racing but it’s a big unknown.

This weekend, no practice sessions were held. Here’s a look at the Daytona Starting Lineup/ Qualifying Results.

Daytona Full Field Fantasy Rankings

1) Ryan Blaney
Start 19th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Daytona Outlook – Defending Daytona summer champ and 5-time big superspeedway winner, Ryan Blaney will be tough to beat and the road to victory lane might very well go thru him. Blaney consistently runs up front at big superspeedways, and his drafting prowess is second to none. At Daytona, Blaney’s a 2-time winner, he’s flirted with victory lane on numerous other occasions, and he’s never lacked when it comes to performance. Since 2020 minus his DNF level crashes (5 of 13), Blaney has 2-wins, a 5.5 average finish and he’s 7 for 8 at finishing in the top 8. In this year’s Daytona 500, Blaney looked good but finished 27th. In the race, Blaney finished 3rd in Stage #1, was damaged in the lap 124 “Big One”, finished 2nd in Stage #2, led 2 laps, was stalled back in mid-pack for much of the last Stage when Toyota’s jammed up the field 3-wide, was in 16th on lap 199 but then on the last lap, I’m assuming he crashed, since he DNF’ed and didn’t complete it. Last summer, Blaney had a “Where did he come from win” with a last lap pass. In the race, Blaney started on the pole, led 27 laps, finished 3rd in Stage #1, finished 7th in Stage #2, earned the 17th best Driver Rating and had a 16.0 average running position. In last year’s Daytona 500, Blaney was a standout performer. In the race, Blaney finished 3rd in Stage #1, won Stage #2, earned the best Driver Rating, had the 2nd best average running position, led 22 laps, was running in 4th on lap 185 but then that very lap, he was collected in the Logano/ Stenhouse “Big One” and got a ton of damage which dropped him back to the high 20’s. Somehow, Blaney finished 7th thanks to a ton of attrition. In summer 2024, Blaney ranked among the best, but finished 29th after crashing late. In the race, Blaney finished 5th in Stage #1, finished 2nd in Stage #2, was running in 11th on lap 150 but then on lap 151 he was collected in the “Big One.” In the 2024 500, Blaney was one of the best but finished an asterisk mark 30th. In the race, Blaney won Stage #2, led 12 laps and was running in 6th on lap 190, but then the next lap he was collected in the “Big One.” In 2023, Blaney crashed while leading in the summer (36th) and then crashed twice in the “500” but finished 8th.
DraftKings $10,500/ FanDuel $14,000

Further Recommended Reading = Daytona Finish Projections, DraftKings Daytona Scoring Projections, FanDuel Daytona Scoring Projections, Daytona Next Gen Average Finishes, Daytona Next Gen Driver Ratings

2) Joey Logano
Start 9th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – High
Daytona Outlook – Joey Logano is a super-elite performer at Daytona who’ll be tough to beat. Picking him is volatile but when it comes to “Performance”, nobody has been better. In the Next Gen, Logano ranks #1 for Driver Rating, #1 for average running position but his average finish is a highly misleading 18.7. Recently, times have been tough and in 4 of the last 5 he’s finished 27th or worse. In February, Logano dodged trouble for once and came home 3rd. Last year, Logano could’ve went 2 for 2 at winning but had major problems in both races. Last summer, Logano was arguably the best, but he finished an asterisk mark 27th. In the race, Logano finished 6th in Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, was tied for leading the most laps (27), had the best average running position (8.6) and earned the 3rd best Driver Rating. Late in the race on lap 148 while leading, Logano was spun and then got stuck in the grass, dooming him to a 27th. In last year’s Daytona 500, Logano had a rocket that I would argue was the best, but multiple problems led to his asterisk mark 35th. In the race, Logano won Stage #1 and led 43 laps, but the rest of his afternoon was basically full of problems which included engine issues and then wrecking late while running near the top 5. In 2024, Logano had a near series worst 31.5 average finish but take note he ranked #1 for Driver Rating, average running position and led the most laps in both races. Since 2025 at big superspeedways, Logano has the best Driver Rating, the best average running position but a 20.8 average finish.
DraftKings $10,000/ FanDuel $13,500

3) Chris Buescher
Start 2nd / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Daytona Outlook – Chris Buescher, the 2023 Daytona summer winner will be a driver to be reckoned with. Buescher’s an elite superspeedway racer and in the Next Gen at Daytona over the combined races, Buescher ranks #1 for average finish (11.1) and #2 for Driver Rating. Since 2023, Buescher has an even better 8.1 average finish, he’s 6 for 7 at finishing in the top ten and in 4 of those races he’s ranked in the top 2 for Driver Rating. Over the last four, he’s 4 for 4 at finishing between 7th to 10th. In this year’s 500, Buescher finished 6th in Stage #1, finished 7th in Stage #2, was tied for the best average running position (11.7), earned the 2nd best Driver Rating and then finished 7th overall. I’ll also note, before the final caution came out, he was running in 3rd. Last summer, Buescher was fast and finished 7th, which might very well underrate him since Logano spun across his nose in the closing laps while battling for the lead, which appeared to do a little damage to the #17. Additionally, Buescher earned the best Driver Rating and had the 4th best Average Running Position (11.0). In last year’s Daytona 500, Buescher earned the 8th best Driver Rating and then finished 10th overall. In summer 2024, Buescher placed in the two opening Stages (3rd and 9th), led 10 laps, had a 10.7 average running position and then finished 10th overall. In the 2024 Daytona 500, Buescher finished 18th (15.6 average running position). In 2023, Buescher was 2 for 2 at earning the best Driver Rating and came home with results of 1st and 4th. At big superspeedways since 2025, Buescher is 4 for 6 at finishing in the top ten and in the two outliers, he was 2 for 2 at wrecking while leading/ battling for the lead (both 2025 Talladega races).
DraftKings $8,500/ FanDuel $8,200