2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Race 26 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series
The 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400 program.
Date	August 29, 2020 (2020-08-29)
Location	Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4 km)
Distance	164 laps, 410 mi (656 km)
Scheduled Distance	160 laps, 400 mi (640 km)
Average speed	153.766 miles per hour (247.462 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing
Grid positions set by competition-based formula
Most laps led
Driver	Joey Logano	Team Penske
Laps	36
Winner
No. 24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Nielsen Ratings	3.869 million[7]
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth Announcers	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers	Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Jason Toy (3 & 4)

The 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400 was an NASCAR Cup Series race held on August 29, 2020 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 164 laps -- extended from 160 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) superspeedway, it was the 26th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, and the final race of the regular season before the playoffs.

Report

Background

The race was held at Daytona International Speedway, a race track located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, the track is the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross. It features multiple layouts including the primary 2.5 miles (4.0 km) high speed tri-oval, a 3.56 miles (5.73 km) sports car course, a 2.95 miles (4.75 km) motorcycle course, and a .25 miles (0.40 km) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder William "Bill" France, Sr. to host racing held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998 and today, it is the third-largest single lit outdoor sports facility. The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved twice — in 1978 and in 2010.

On January 22, 2013, the track unveiled artist depictions of a renovated speedway. On July 5 of that year, ground was broken for a project that would remove the backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation to the speedway is being worked on by Rossetti Architects. The project, named "Daytona Rising", was completed in January 2016, and it cost US $400 million, placing emphasis on improving fan experience with five expanded and redesigned fan entrances (called "injectors") as well as wider and more comfortable seating with more restrooms and concession stands. After the renovations, the track's grandstands include 101,000 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000.^[8][9] The project was completed before the start of Speedweeks.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

Qualifying

Kevin Harvick was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.

Starting Lineup

Race

Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 50

Stage Two Laps: 50

Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 60

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 35 among 16 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 6 for 21
• Red flags: 2 for 15 minutes and 47 seconds
• Time of race: 2 hours, 39 minutes and 59 seconds
• Average speed: 153.766 miles per hour (247.462 km/h)

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 2000 Coke Zero 400 winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and two-time Coke Zero 400 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. covered the race from the booth at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties on site, and Rutledge Wood handled the features from his home during the race.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings after Playoffs reset Pos Driver Points 1 Kevin Harvick 2,057 2 Denny Hamlin 2,047 (–10) 3 Brad Keselowski 2,029 (–28) 1 4 Joey Logano 2,022 (–35) 2 5 Chase Elliott 2,020 (–37) 2 6 Martin Truex Jr. 2,014 (–43) 1 7 Ryan Blaney 2,013 (–44) 4 8 Alex Bowman 2,009 (–48) 5 9 William Byron 2,007 (–50) 8 10 Austin Dillon 2,005 (–52) 8 11 Cole Custer 2,005 (–52) 4 12 Aric Almirola 2,005 (–52) 2 13 Clint Bowyer 2,004 (–53) 5 14 Kyle Busch 2,003 (–54) 5 15 Kurt Busch 2,001 (–56) 3 16 Matt DiBenedetto 2,000 (–57) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 964 2 Toyota 914 (–50) 3 Chevrolet 871 (–93) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.