Yahoo Autos Takeaways from the NASCAR Cup Regular Season Finale at Daytona
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin on Sunday with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway but Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway was a preview of things to come.
William Byron won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 to clinch a place in the Round of 16 with Matt DiBenedetto outlasting seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson for the final spot in his final full-time season.
It was brilliant drama, with the three drivers exchanging the final two spots between themselves on stage points throughout the evening until Johnson was involved in a multi-car 'Big One' that ended his pursuit of a record-breaking eighth Cup Series championship.
At the same time, a cast of unlikely winners that included Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. threatened to unravel the entire dynamic as an upset would have bumped two of Byron, DiBenedetto and Johnson out of the playoffs.
It personified everything NASCAR strives to be these days -- social media consumable clips of Game Seven moments.
The Round of 16 is now set and all that remains is to crown a champion over the next 10 weeks. Takeaways from the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona can be found below.
STAYTONA
Who knows when the pandemic delayed 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule will be released but let’s hope Daytona remains the final race of the regular season.
The races all count the same, right? So, it’s not as if Daytona as the 26th race changed the statistical complexion of the playoffs, but it certainly injected some much-needed energy into the 'One Last Race to Make The Chase.'
It also made the old Firecracker 400 a must-see television event in ways that not even the tradition of Independence Day weekend could muster.
It was reminiscent of the inaugural regular season finale at Richmond back in 2004 when Jeremy Mayfield won his way into the 10-team showdown.
While there have been a handful of dramatic moments since, and one controversial one in 2013, NASCAR has been unable to consistently replicate that 2004 Richmond atmosphere in the ensuing 15 seasons.
Saturday’s race began with DiBenedetto and Byron in; Johnson out. The first stage ended with Byron and Johnson closing the gap with the Hendrick Motorsports drivers both scoring stage points with DiBenedetto mired outside of the top-10. The three then traded the provisional playoff sports between then throughout the remaining laps.
Simultaneously: Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chris Buescher all took turns near the front of the field, a upset win by any of them threatening to eliminate two of DiBenedetto, Byron and Johnson rather than one.
That was a dynamic that NASCAR just couldn’t replicate at Richmond or Indianapolis.
Daytona as the final race led to some desperate decisions by some desperate drivers, such as Reddick throwing a late block in front of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Bell to retain the lead inside 20 to go, resulting in the first multi-car 'Big One.'
Whereas most regular season 'plate races' are largely procedural until the very end, there were very real stakes with the stage finishes and the points they paid out on Saturday night. Since the advent of stage racing in 2017, the July Daytona race just didn’t produce that same energy until the end.
Sure, it feels a little wrong to not have Daytona serve as the season’s midway point, but that date doesn’t feel as sacrilege as taking the Southern 500 away from Labor Day weekend.
And if what we watched on Saturday was wrong, I don’t want to be right.
DAYTONA BREAKTHROUGHS
William Byron and Matt DiBenedetto really needed this.
While seemingly everyone wanted Jimmie Johnson to make the playoffs during his final full-time season, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion’s legacy was secured no matter what transpired on Saturday.
On the other hand, it was about time for Byron to win.
