Breaking down the Daytona starting lineup

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR added to the spoiler for the race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway in hopes of increasing drag and slowing down the car.

The question will be whether that will also increase the potential for wrecks during the 160-lap Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:00 pm/ET on NBC).

The spoiler went from 53 inches long to 58 inches long. With that change, NASCAR kept with restrictor plates that had holes 56/64ths of an inch in diameter.

At Talladega, the cars went so fast in practice – Jamie McMurray turned a lap at 203.975 mph before his car turned on him and he flipped wildly following contact with another car — that NASCAR opted to use plates with holes 55/64ths in diameter. With engine builders better prepared for the original restrictor plate, NASCAR hoped to slow the cars down enough with the bigger spoiler instead of changing the restrictor plate for Daytona.

No driver cracked 201 mph in practice, which is what NASCAR wanted to see. One byproduct, though, is the drivers possibly being able to draft closer together in the pack.

“You could actually get to someone’s bumper [in practice] even in a four-car pack,” said Denny Hamlin. “So I think it’s going to be a crash-fest, which will be exciting. Hopefully, we’re not part of it.

“It’s going to be so close competition that we’re going to leave each other no room for error and more than likely, it’s going to lead to big wrecks.”

Hamlin said the cars punch a little bigger hole in the air and they can run closer side-by-side.

“All the same techniques to get to the front are going to be the same – making sure you put your chess pieces in the right place,” Hamlin said. “Holding the lead will be a little bit harder. The leader will punch a little bigger hole for the cars behind him [to draft].”

Brad Keselowski has been the master of weaving and blocking when he gets in front of the field. He said a driver will have to choose wisely on the moves when trying to stay out front.

“Without a doubt, it’s going to be harder to lead, easier to run over each other,” Keselowski said. “You’re going to try [to stay as leader] and see what happens.

“A big part of plate racing is knowing when to hold them and when to fold them.”

Joey Logano has no problem with that.

“That’s the way it should be,” Logano said. “It was too hard to pass the leader the way the package was before.”

Here’s how the drivers will line up Saturday night in the Coke Zero Sugar 400:

1. Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet): Elliott sprained his right ankle horsing around Wednesday so he is walking a little gingerly. He seeks his first top-10 Cup finish at Daytona, but he won the February 2016 Xfinity race at the track.

2. Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet): He has four Cup starts at Daytona and still seeks his first top-10. A pole for the 2018 Daytona 500 and an eighth-place finish at Talladega shows it’s possible.

3. Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford): He won this race two years ago when he led 115 of the laps. Don’t be surprised if he has the ability to lead that many Saturday.

4. Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet): In his nine Daytona races since sweeping Daytona in 2013, Johnson has three top-5s and four DNFs.

5. Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford): He has finished outside the top-20 in his last four Daytona starts – in three of those races, he’s failed to finish. He only failed to finish in three of his first 30 Daytona races.

6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford): Stenhouse won this race a year ago, his second consecutive win in a restrictor-plate race. He crashed out of two consecutive restrictor-plate races after that but then finished fifth at Talladega in April.

7. Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet): Newman has a fifth and eighth in his last two Cup starts at Daytona.

8. Michael McDowell (Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford): McDowell has finished in the top-15 in each of his last five Cup starts at Daytona, including a fourth and ninth in his last two races.

9. Clint Bowyer (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford): He’s a good restrictor-plate racer with 12 top-10s – but no wins – in 25 career Daytona starts.

10. Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet): If only the rest of the season had gone half as well as his 2018 Daytona 500, Dillon would be higher than 19th in the points.

11. Joey Logano (Team Penske No. 22 Ford): Logano won the 2015 Daytona 500. And he’s been good at Daytona since then with four top-six finishes in his six starts.

12. Ryan Blaney (Team Penske No. 12 Ford): He has the image of wounded veteran Marcus Hayward, who has run marathons, on his car. He has two top-10s in six Cup starts at Daytona.

13. Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota): Truex has just three top-10s in 26 career Cup starts at Daytona.

14. Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet): Larson says qualifying means nothing at Daytona. He has backed that up – finishing better than he started in four of his last five Daytona starts.

15. Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota): Busch has one Cup win at Daytona, in July 2008. He has two top-10s (both top-5s) in his last 12 Daytona races.

16. Brendan Gaughan (Beard Motorsports No 62 Chevrolet): Gaughan has finishes this year of 28th and 22nd for this team, which is running only the restrictor-plate events.

17. Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota): The 2016 Daytona 500 winner was third in the 2018 Daytona 500. He has six top-10s in his last nine Daytona starts.

18. William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet): The good news is he finished the Daytona 500. But he came in 23rd. Byron won the Xfinity race at Daytona a year ago.

19. Ty Dillon (Germain Racing No. 13 Chevrolet): Still looking for his first top-15 Cup finish at Daytona. He has five starts at the track.

20. Trevor Bayne (Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford): This is his last start until Michigan. Matt Kenseth will drive at Kentucky, New Hampshire, Pocono and Watkins Glen.

21. David Ragan (Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford): Ragan won this race in 2011 and since then, he has had one top-10 and five DNFs in 13 starts.

22. Darrell Wallace Jr. (Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Chevrolet): Wallace returns to the site of his biggest racing moment when he finished second in the 2018 Daytona 500.

23. Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford): The good news: Busch is racing at the place of one of his biggest accomplishments, winning the 2017 Daytona 500. The bad news: That was his most recent Cup win.

24. AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Chevrolet): Allmendinger hates restrictor-plate racing, but he has finished top-10 in his last three Cup starts at Daytona, including a third in the 2017 Daytona 500.

25. Chris Buescher (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 37 Chevrolet): He has finished 10th and fifth in his last two Daytona starts.

26. Aric Almirola (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford): Almirola’s lone Cup win came in the July 2014 race at Daytona. He nearly won the Daytona 500 but was spun when leading while trying to block Austin Dillon on the last lap.

27. Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet): Since winning the 2010 Daytona 500, he has just one top-10 (a seventh) in 15 starts.

28. Kasey Kahne (Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Chevrolet): Kahne has two top-5s in 29 career Cup starts at Daytona.

29. Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota): He led 11 laps in the Daytona 500 but his day ended in a wreck. He has finished only one of his three Cup races at Daytona.

30. Paul Menard (Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford): He has a fifth, third and sixth in his last three Cup starts at Daytona.

31. Matt DiBenedetto (Go Fas Racing No. 32 Ford): DiBenedetto has a ninth and 13th among his finishes at Daytona.

32. Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota): Suarez’s best finish at Daytona in three career Cup starts is 17th.

33. Ross Chastain (Premium Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet): This will be his first career Cup start at Daytona.

34. Jeffrey Earnhardt (Premium Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet): Earnhardt and his Nine Line Foundation sponsorship landed this ride. He has competed in one of the last 13 races.

35. D.J. Kennington (Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 Toyota): Kennighton has made seven starts for this team, including finishes of 24th and 20th at Daytona and Talladega.

36. Joey Gase (StarCom Racing No. 00 Chevrolet): He finished 23rd in the 2017 Daytona 500.

37. Landon Cassill (StarCom Racing No. 99 Chevrolet): Cassill needed qualifying to happen as he would have been the driver out of luck if it was rained out. Fortunately for him, he qualified his way in, knocking out Timothy Peters.

38. Corey LaJoie (TriStar Motorsports No. 72 Chevrolet): LaJoie is looking for a better finish than the Daytona 500, where he finished 40th.

39. Ray Black, Jr. (Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Chevrolet): Black is making his first start of the season. He will have two female tire changers, the first time two Drive for Diversity female graduates will work side-by-side.

40. J.J. Yeley (BK Racing No. 23 Toyota): Yeley and former Cup team owner John Cohen are working together and have sponsorship, which they brought to BK Racing for Daytona.