Daytona International Speedway is the venue for this week’s Xfinity race, the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250. Like the Monster Cup Series race on Saturday, it’ll be held under the lights at Daytona as the series switches from the short-track styles of Iowa Speedway to the monster that is Daytona, the most famous track on the schedule. Aric Almirola won last year, although he won’t be back to defend his title because of a broken back. You can expect a green-white-checkered finish: this race started in 2002 and it has had overtime
each year since 2005 except for one, and that was Joey Logano’s win in 2003. Only one driver has won this event multiple times and that is Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won three times.
Details
Event: Coca-Cola Firecracker 250
Category: Monster Energy Xfinity Series
Date: Friday, June 30th – 7:30 PM ET
Location: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach FL
Rookie William Byron scored a win for the Xfinity regulars as he dominated at Iowa, leading a race-high 78 laps en route to his first-ever win in this series. He was followed across the line by Ryan Seig, Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain and Dakoda Armstrong as the Xfinity regulars got a chance to shine with the Cup drivers over at the road-course race in Sonoma. Elliot Sadler and Justin Allgaier finished eighth and ninth, respectively, and they’re still first and second in the standings at 502 and 477 points. Byron’s win put him third at 445 points, while fellow rookie Daniel Hemric is next with 356 points, and Ryan Reed is at 347 points.
Past Five Winners
2016: Aric Almirola
2015: Austin Dillon
2014: Kasey Kahne
2013: Matt Kenseth
2012: Kurt Busch
What To Know About The Track
Daytona is 2.5 miles long and is heavily banked at 31 degrees in the corners, then 18 degrees in the tri-oval and two degrees down the backstretch. Because of the restrictor plates that they have to use, the field is going to be in a pack or straight line basically all day, and the latter will be the way that they’ll drive for the first 75-80% of the race. Then, the pack racing really starts as the laps tick down and that is where the accidents happen. This can knock a lot of big drivers out of the way.
The Field
Joey Logano is our favorite for the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250. Logano is fairly low in terms of the Xfinity standings as he hasn’t raced a lot on the circuit this year. He has made four starts and has won once and finished in the Top 3 three times. However, he won this race back in 2011 and finished fourth a year ago. Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones round out the top five. Sadler finished second in this race back in 2015, but keep in mind that he also finished outside of the Top 10 in both 2016 and 2014. He is the current points leader while Allgaier is just 17 points back.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Daniel Suarez over Erik Jones
Both moved up to the Monster Energy Cup Series this season, but both struggled in this Xfinity race to start the season. Jones finished 32nd, and Suarez came in 34th, so both will be hungry. Give the edge to Suarez, who finished 29th at the Daytona 500, and Jones finished 39th.
Top-Five Pick: William Byron
Why not? Byron is red-hot right now with three top-six finishes in his last four starts and he did very well on his first trip to Daytona, where he finished ninth in the season opener. This race is so hard to handicap because the Cup drivers will be back and they’ve dominated Victory Lane here, as they do at so many other tracks, and it’s Daytona, which is a mess to begin with. But Byron is confident and as long as he gets some help in the draft, along with keeping his car clean, he should be there at the end.
Odds To Win Coca-Cola Firecracker 250
Joey Logano +375
Elliott Sadler +750
Justin Allgaier +750
Daniel Suarez +900
Erik Jones +900
Brennan Poole +1100
Ryan Reed +1100
Ty Dillon +1400
William Byron +1400
Brendan Gaughan +1600
Daniel Hemric +1600
Matt Tifft +2200
Tyler Reddick +2200
Ben Kennedy +2800
Cole Custer +2800
Casey Mears +2800
Brandon Jones +3300
Field +1400
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