With the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 going to Chris Buescher, the field for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is set.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Joey Logano, Kyle Reddick, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Bubba Wallace will compete in the coming weeks for the right to call themselves the 2023 series champion.
With a finish of fourth Chase Elliott will not be part of the playoffs nor will teammate Alex Bowman who finished sixth.
Chase Briscoe began the day on the pole while Martin Truex Jr. would go on to win the first stage of the race. A big crash on the final lap of the second stage saw numerous cars eliminated as Brad Keselowski earned the stage win.
BIG CRASH.
Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs and many more involved. #NASCAR
📺 : @peacock pic.twitter.com/0pKkJJ6Io4
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 27, 2023
Near the end of the race Ryan Preece went for a scary ride in his No. 41 Ford and was placed on a stretcher after exiting his car.
When the race returned to the green flag Keselowski would give teammate Chris Buescher all the help he needed in winning his third race of the season and third win in the last five races.
The 1-2 finish of Buescher and Keselowski marked the first time Roush Fenway Keselowski has had such a finish in nine years.
NASCAR Cup Series Daytona Results
August 26, 2023
POSITION
|
START
|
LED
|
BEHIND
|
|
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
C. Buescher#17
|
11
|
2
|
Winner
|
2 |
B. Keselowski#6
|
12
|
6
|
0.098
|
3 |
A. Almirola#10
|
2
|
3
|
0.178
|
4 |
C. Elliott#9
|
23
|
2
|
0.206
|
5 |
J. Logano#22
|
14
|
9
|
0.254
|
6 |
A. Bowman#48
|
31
|
0
|
0.269
|
7 |
K. Busch#8
|
18
|
5
|
0.306
|
8 |
W. Byron#24
|
27
|
1
|
0.352
|
9 |
K. Harvick#4
|
10
|
14
|
0.380
|
10 |
C. LaJoie#7
|
37
|
0
|
0.452
|
11 |
T. Dillon#77
|
30
|
0
|
0.469
|
12 |
B. Wallace#23
|
4
|
0
|
0.511
|
13 |
M. McDowell#34
|
39
|
0
|
0.546
|
14 |
A. Hill#62
|
26
|
0
|
0.582
|
15 |
C. Smith#13
|
36
|
0
|
0.639
|
16 |
C. Bell#20
|
15
|
0
|
0.692
|
17 |
R. Chastain#1
|
25
|
19
|
0.725
|
18 |
E. Jones#43
|
24
|
0
|
0.766
|
19 |
J. Yeley#51
|
33
|
0
|
0.860
|
20 |
D. Suárez#99
|
22
|
1
|
0.915
|
21 |
J. Haley#31
|
28
|
0
|
1.013
|
22 |
J. Berry#42
|
29
|
0
|
1.069
|
23 |
B. McLeod#78
|
38
|
0
|
1.497
|
24 |
M. Truex Jr#19
|
13
|
4
|
3.013
|
25 |
T. Reddick#45
|
20
|
0
|
7.762
|
26 |
D. Hamlin#11
|
19
|
12
|
1 Lap
|
27 |
K. Larson#5
|
7
|
0
|
2 Laps
|
28 |
H. Burton#21
|
3
|
5
|
3 Laps
|
29 |
A. Allmendinger#16
|
17
|
8
|
3 Laps
|
30 |
C. Briscoe#14
|
1
|
68
|
|
31 |
R. Preece#41
|
9
|
0
|
|
32 |
T. Gilliland#38
|
35
|
0
|
32 Laps
|
33 |
A. Dillon#3
|
21
|
0
|
|
34 |
R. Stenhouse Jr#47
|
32
|
1
|
|
35 |
T. Gibbs#54
|
5
|
0
|
|
36 |
R. Blaney#12
|
8
|
4
|
|
37 |
A. Cindric#2
|
16
|
0
|
|
38 |
R. Herbst#36
|
6
|
0
|
|
39 |
B. Poole#15
|
34
|
0
|