TAMPA, Fla. — The NASCAR Cup Series will wrap up its regular season at the Daytona International Speedway on Saturday.
The top 16 drivers in the Cup Series standings qualify for the playoffs.
Ryan Preece, the driver of the No. 60 Ford, is on the bubble, but that can change quickly with a victory at Daytona.
“Daytona, to me as a race car driver, we all just grew up watching the Daytona 500, we want to win,” Preece said.
A win in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona would lock Preece into a playoff spot. But so far, his luck at the famous speedway on our East Coast has not been kind.
“For me, on the flip side, I’ve had some pretty bad wrecks there,” Preece said. “With a massive flip in 2023, and the flipping again earlier this year, it’s kind of like that love/hate relationship. I’m a believer in the law of averages, and I feel like that will change here when we come in August.”
Avoiding the big wreck is the key to winning at a super speedway, like Daytona, where cars can reach speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour.
“If you’re going to be the guy that’s in the playoffs, or feel like you have a great shot at it, you just have to be aggressive and race like there is nothing to lose,” Preece said. “That’s what I’ve learned, how you succeed at speedway racing. That’s my intention. I intend to go there and bring that trophy home.”
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will take place on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
St. Pete Sunday Market to move from Ferg's ahead of football season
The St. Pete Sunday Market just relocated to Ferg's Sports Bar & Grill back in June. A change that brought more opportunities for local vendors and more support for Ferg's following Hurricane Helene's displacement of the Tampa Bay Rays.
