Overview
- Ross Chastain posted a 48.808‑second lap to win the Busch Light Pole in Friday qualifying and will lead the 40‑car field to green for the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
- Friday’s two‑round session set the full starting lineup for Saturday’s regular‑season finale at Daytona and left Gray Gaulding as the lone driver who failed to qualify.
- The final Chase positions remain unsettled with Austin Cindric 44 points above the cut line, Shane van Gisbergen 31 points above, and Ryan Preece the first driver out at 31 points below the cut line.
- NASCAR’s new superspeedway package reduces the rear spoiler from 7 inches to 4 inches and trims horsepower from about 510 to roughly 465, and officials ran qualifying with no practice which increases uncertainty about pack behavior and crash risk in the race.
- The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC with streaming on HBO Max and radio on MRN and SiriusXM, giving drivers one last chance to change the 16‑driver Chase field at a track where a single wreck can reshuffle the standings.