NASCAR Cup Series: Top 5 races to watch in 2020

5 of 6

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – JULY 07: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Kickin’ Ranch Ford (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images) /

2. Coke Zero Sugar 400

Daytona International Speedway
Race 26/36 (Regular season finale)
Saturday, August 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC

Before I continue, yes, I know; I’m hearing the haters act like Stephen A. Smith and shouting “What?!” and “Blasphemy!” when they are reading that the other Daytona race, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the race that is NOT on Fourth of July weekend anymore, is now a bigger race than the Daytona 500.

Allow me to explain.

Remember in the first two years of the current playoff format in 2014 and 2015 when Talladega Superspeedway was the venue of the cutoff race in the round of 12? It was the wild card race to watch, because at a track like Talladega, anything is possible — a big wreck, a photo finish, an underdog coming to the front, etc.

One moment you could be in, the next moment you could be out. Kasey Kahne can give you that example when in the 2014 cutoff race at the track, he was in at the white flag, but at the finish, he was out by three points to then-teammate Jeff Gordon.

Brad Keselowski was out at the white flag and could only advance to the round of 8 by winning. He won to advance and keep his championship hopes alive. And Jimmie Johnson, the man whose stock was high at restrictor plate tracks, led the most laps in the race at 84, but he fell back late and couldn’t get back to the front.

This year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 has a bigger cutoff. Instead of from 12 to eight, the field is cut from 30+ down to 16.

You could have several stories that come down to the final laps of the race: the battle for the win, the battle for the 16th and final spot in the playoffs and a last-second prayer by an underdog.

Speaking of underdogs, it seems to me that more underdogs have a chance to win at the end of these superspeedway races than ever since NASCAR implemented the damage policy rule in 2017.

Following the “Big One” at Talladega this past October, the drivers who got through included Michael McDowell, Daniel Hemric, Austin Dillon, Parker Kligerman, Ty Dillon and Corey Lajoie. Imagine if we get that late-race “Big One” and those underdogs miss it; they could potentially change the playoff picture and get in.

This race will be wild, and you cannot miss it.

Home/NASCAR Cup Series