The race for the postseason in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is going through some shakeups, and we’re headed to a track known for its share of shakeups. The circuit is back in Daytona, for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 (7:30 PM ET, TNT) and one of several notable developments in the push for the playoffs is that 23-year-old Joey Logano has moved into 10th place, the baseline for automatic qualification.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series marks its arrival at the halfway point of the season by returning to where it all began. The Daytona International Speedway is host to tonight’s Coke Zero 400, the 18th race on the 36-race schedule and once again Matt Kenseth is the top story.
Kenseth, who won the Daytona 500 back in February, hasn’t won a race since, but he’s put together a remarkably consistent season that includes a dozen Top 10 finishes, eight of those in the top five and he’s atop the standings. He’s made one of the year’s biggest splashes off the track with his plans to leave Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the season and now he’s grabbed the pole for tonight’s race—something of a surprise, given the leader’s usually shaky performance in the qualifying runs.