NASCAR: The Daytona conundrum nobody really knows how to deal with

Daytona International Speedway is scheduled to host the Coke Zero Sugar 400 this Saturday night, and another spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is up for grabs should a new winner emerge.

Though the race is set to be contested on the same weekend it has been contested since it was moved from its traditional Independence Day weekend slot after the 2019 season, it is no longer the season finale like it was each year from 2020 to 2023.

However, many drivers believe that this is their last real chance to win their win into the four-round, 10-race playoffs.

There have been 12 drivers who have locked themselves into the 16-driver playoff field with wins though the first 24 races of the 26-race regular season, so barring an encumbered victory like we saw from Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon at Richmond Raceway a few weekends ago, a win from somebody who hasn't yet won this year will indeed lock that new winner into the playoffs.

There is no longer a requirement that a race winner needs to be inside the top 30 in the point standings for a win to count toward playoff eligibility, and plenty of drivers from outside of the top 30 have run well at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval in the past.

One of those drivers is Spire Motorsports' Corey LaJoie.

LaJoie's nine career top 10 finishes have all come in superspeedway races, including five at Daytona. He tied his career-high finish with a fourth place effort in the season-opening Daytona 500 back in February.

Asked what it is going to take to finally seal the deal and secure his first win, LaJoie went into detail about the conundrum faced by drivers in a superspeedway race that can be as chaotic as the Coke Zero Sugar 400 usually is.

"Sometimes you don't have to cross the [finish] line," LaJoie told Beyond the Flag. "There's just, I was thinking about it – I've been thinking about it non-stop since Monday – because this is our one opportunity to probably get a win. We finished fourth in the 500, some of my best finishes and best runs have been at Daytona.

"It's like a 4D game of chess where everybody else, instead of one other opponent, you're playing against 39 other opponents, and the finish line, essentially the distance of the race, it's fixed off the laps, right?"

That, however, doesn't always mean the entire last lap needs to be run to decide a winner, something that proved true in the Daytona 500 both this and last year.

"But once the white flag flies, the next flag ends the race," LaJoie continued.

With a lap at Daytona being one of the longest laps in the series, and with the pack racing at the track lending itself to the "big one" at any given moment, that's a relatively long stretch of uncertainty, a long stretch of not knowing whether or not your current running position could change – for better or for worse.

It's technically true anywhere, but especially in a pack race.

"Your position over the course of two and a half miles can change multiple times within that span," LaJoie said. "And for all intents of purposes, the finish line could be anywhere in that two and a half miles, once you take the white [flag]."

So when do you want to lead, and what lane do you want to be in? It all depends, and what it really boils down to is the fact that nobody can predict the future.

That very sentiment could send a driver to the playoffs – or keep somebody on the outside looking in.

"You're trying to play your chess piece at the right time, while you can also block a lane, and that guy has a decision whether to push you or to leave you hanging, and then you can make a move thinking it's the right one," he continued.

"Depending on who it is, if they push you or leave you out to dry, it could make the right move the wrong move. You have to take all those things into consideration, and I think we've done a good job of as a team and as a spotter in how we approach those races and the intensity, how we kind of position ourselves with the ebbs and flows of the race to be there at the end when it matters."

But simply being there doesn't guarantee anything. Everything has to come together to create a perfect storm.

"Even then, you can be there when it matters and something not bounce your way," he concluded. "You need a little bit of luck to make it happen. So a lot of strategy, a lot of tact, and a lot of luck as well is what it's going to take to be able to try to find the CELSIUS Camaro in victory lane Saturday night."

It might not necessarily take a race to the checkered flag. Nobody knows.

Tune in to NBC at 7:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, August 24 for the live broadcast of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!