Story By: JORDAN WOOD / WOOD BROTHERS RACING – STUART, VA – Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team are headed to Daytona International Speedway for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, one of the wildest of the wild-card races on the Cup Series schedule.
With the way races usually play out with the draft at Daytona and its sister track Talladega Superspeedway, nearly every driver in the field has as good a chance as any to take a win. And a win at Daytona on Saturday night brings with it a coveted berth in the 10-race, season-ending, championship-deciding Playoffs.
Only Saturday’s race at Daytona, and next week’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway remain on the regular season schedule.
“When it comes to the final weeks of the Playoffs, the Daytona race is truly the wild-card event,” said Jeremy Bullins, crew chief of the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang Dark Horse. “There are so many things out of your control, and no matter how hard you try you can easily get caught up in a wreck like we did early in the Daytona 500.
“At the same time if you can keep yourself out of trouble and position yourself near the front at the end, anything can happen.
“That’ll be our goal this weekend – be there at the end with a shot to get a win with our DEX Mustang.”
Per NASCAR rules for races on the drafting tracks, there will be no pre-race practice. Qualifying is set for Friday at 5:05 p.m. Eastern Time, with USA Network broadcasting the event.
Saturday night’s 160-lap, 400-mile race is scheduled to get the green flag just after 7:30 p.m., with Stage breaks planned for Laps 35 and 95.
NBC will carry the live TV broadcast Saturday night.