NASCAR at Daytona: A culmination of close-but-not-quites, how to watch, starting lineup

The NASCAR Cup Series gets back to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday night. The normal season finale's green banner will drop a brief time after 7 p.m. excepting harsh weather conditions and will be communicated on NBC with radio inclusion from MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR. Everyone's eyes will be on 15 drivers specifically in the 37-vehicle field. Why 15? Since that is the number of vehicles — after Kurt Busch left the Cup Series end of the season games as a result of his waiting head injury — can snatch one of two excess season finisher billets available to all with an excursion to Victory Lane. What's more, for essentially those 15 drivers, Daytona will be the climax of a season loaded with close-however not-exactly results. (Also, what preferable spot to do it over at The Great Equalizer?)

Ryan Blaney, who's third in the series in focuses yet at the same time without a success, has had his reasonable part of near fiascoes. He's scored eight top-five completions. Twelve top-10s. He's driven a seventh-best 417 laps. He's had shots at wins consistently, however misfortune was generally on time: Take his run on Indy's street course in July, whenever he had a quick vehicle and an opportunity to battle with Tyler Reddick on a late-race restart prior to being turned out by an unruly field of drivers. The driver of the No. 12 vehicle even had a unique eruption post-race: "That is all individuals do toward the finish of these things, simply make a plunge there and (exclamation) wreck you," he said. "I don't have any idea who pushed who and I couldn't care less." The rundown goes on. There's Martin Truex Jr., who's 6th in the field in focuses and who has driven a fifth-best 455 laps.