NASCAR 2023 Daytona II/Milwaukee Recap

Race 26, Daytona International Speedway, a race that decides who gets to compete for a championship and who misses out. The 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 was a race of thrill, shock, and the willpower to win.

Before the big Saturday night race was the Xfinity Series Wawa 250, which that season is nearing the end of the regular season, as in two races the 12-driver playoff field will be set. For a veteran like Justin Allgaier, who continues to chase that elusive Xfinity Series Championship, winning at Daytona was a special one and one that he will cherish for the rest of his life.

Allgaier overcame failing pre-qualifying inspection three times, starting from the rear of the field, and being forced to serve a pass-through penalty with four other cars after the first lap. It came down to a photo finish at the end of the race, as he edged out Sheldon Creed by 0.005 seconds.

“I’ve been coming to this place for a long time,” said Allgaier. “I wanted to win here so bad-we’ve been so close. I just can’t say enough about (crew chief) Jim Pohlman and everybody on this 7 team.”

“We had an oversight yesterday when we brought a car to the track and put it through inspection, and it wasn’t where we wanted and that cost us a pass-through, but the team never quit, never gave up, and we rallied, and obviously we put ourselves in a good position. The strategy was awesome.”

A late wreck resulted in an overtime restart that led to the photo finish between Allgaier and Creed. For Creed, the 2020 Truck Series Champion has been itching to get his first career Xfinity Series win, as he’s been coming close time and time again. This one ended up being the closest yet.

“Another great run for us, my best speedway race,” said Creed after the race. “I hated speedway racing two years ago. My teammate (Austin Hill) was kicking my butt at it, and I had to get it together, right?”

“So asking him questions, just trying to learn and watch and get better at this stuff because speedway racing is so hard mentally. It’s probably harder than any kind of racing mentally, just knowing where to go and what moves to make.”

2021 Champion Daniel Hemric ended up in third, Parker Kligerman took home fourth and moved into the final spot for the playoffs. Cole Custer finished fifth, while  Ryan Sieg, Parker Retzlaff, Alfredo, Gray Gaulding, and Justin Haley rounded out the top ten.

Riley Herbst now sits 20 points behind Kligerman for that final spot, as Daytona did not do him any favors. At the end of stage one, he blew a left front tire that damaged the fender as well. The crew was able to repair it enough and beat the damaged vehicle policy clock, as Herbst clawed back to a 24th-place finish.

The Craftsman Truck Series had a rare Sunday event with a triumphant return to the historic Milwaukee Mile for the first time since 2009. While it was announced that GMS Racing would be closing its doors at the end of the season, they proved that they weren’t done just yet.

Grant Enfinger led 95 of the 175 laps in the Clean Harbors 175 to win his third race of the season, and the tenth of his career. On the final restart on lap 148, Carson Hocevar led the field and was gambling on older tires, but was passed by Enfinger on lap 159.

“I don’t think anybody’s going to ask if we’re going to lay down again,” Enfinger said after the race. “(Crew chief) Jeff Hensley’s been focused the whole year. There’s been distractions going on all year long. So, if anything, this has clarity.”

“None of these guys, including me, have a job next year, but I feel like we proved we deserve one.”

While Enfinger punched his ticket to the round of 8 in the Craftsman Truck Series playoffs, alongside Ty Majeski who won at IRP, Hocevar felt bummed that he fell just one spot short of his fourth win of the season.

“It’s kind of a bummer to run second,” said Hocevar who holds a 56-point cushion above the cut line with one race left in the Round of 10. “I haven’t done this in quite a while.”

“Luckily, I’ve been fortunate enough to win three races, so it’s close.”

Christian Eckes and Corey Heim were able to clinch their places in the Round of 8 by finishing third and fourth respectively. Matt Crafton finished fifth and thanks to that moved nine points above the elimination line for the next round.

Ty Majeski went on to finish seventh but may be facing penalties in the coming week, as the right rear tire from Majeski’s No. 98 was confiscated by NASCAR resulting in crew chief Joe Shear Jr. being ejected. Majeski had to start from the rear of the field and serve a pass-through penalty on the opening lap. Any further penalties will be announced soon.

The NASCAR Cup Series concluded its regular season at the Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 as one spot remained for the taking in the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs. While this year there was a repeat winner, it also could serve as a major momentum boost for RFK Racing, as Brad Keselowski pushed his teammate Chris Buescher to his third win of the season and his third of the last six races.

Thanks to the repeat win from Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace was able to gather enough points to secure himself into the playoffs with the 16th and final spot. This also showcased the amount of frustration that was on the minds of Chase Elliott and his team, as Elliott had to win to make his way in but failed. Elliott finished fourth as he was unable to get to the front in enough time. This is the first time in his career that the 2020 Cup Series Champion will miss the playoffs.

Buescher felt like it was more of a win for RFK in general, as this marked the first time since 2014 that Jack Roush’s team had finished 1-2 in a race. On the final restart, Keselowski was quickly able to hook bumpers to Buescher’s No. 17 Ford that helped elevate to the win.

“That’s as much Brad’s win as ours right there,” Buescher said. “That was the right help, aggressive, sticking with us. I was waiting for him to do something there coming to the finish. I figured we’d be side by side. Looked like it stalled out a little behind there.”

“Just so thankful for Brad for all those pushes at the right time. Found each other here and there throughout the race, lost each other, and got back on it when it counted.”

Bubba Wallace was able to gather enough points from the stages where as long as there wasn’t a new winner, Wallace would be in no matter what.

“That was the most stressed, but also the most locked in I’ve ever been,” said Wallace. “Knowing that this place is mostly out of your control, I just tried to focus on doing the things that I could do. Missing that wreck (a pileup in Turn 4 on Lap 95) was massive.”

The wreck that forced the overtime restart was one of the scarier crashes in recent memory involving Stewart Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece. Preece’s No. 41 Ford was turned on the backstretch, causing him to slam into his teammate Chase Briscoe. Preece’s car then picked up completely off the ground and barrel-rolled half a dozen times before coming to a stop on the wheels. Preece got out of his car and stood talking to medical personnel before being placed on a stretcher and taken to a local medical facility for further evaluation. He stayed overnight and was discharged the next morning. Preece’s car was also taken to R&D for safety evaluation.

Martin Truex Jr. went on to clinch the Regular Season Championship, earning himself 15 bonus playoff points.

Here are the 16 drivers that will compete for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: