NASCAR News – Sunday, August 24, 2025

Today, there was no Cup Series race. The regular season of the NASCAR Cup Series wrapped up Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway with the Coke Zero Sugar 400. No points-paying NASCAR national series events took place on Sunday, August 24. Teams are now focusing on next weekend’s playoff opener.

Saturday Recap: Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona

Qualifying on Friday was called off due to steady lightning. This meant the starting lineup would rely on the metric formula. Ryan Blaney was awarded the pole position for Saturday’s race, joined on the front row by Alex Bowman.
William Byron won the 2025 Regular Season Championship last week. However, he was penalized after inspection for changing his splitter without approval. He dropped to the rear of the 40-car field and served a stop-and-go penalty after the green flag flew.
The 160-lap race ran without delay under mostly clear skies. Superspeedway pack racing caused many lead changes and late-race incidents. This set up a wild final lap.
With the checkered flag, the 16-driver Playoff field was locked in. Fourteen drivers secured spots by winning earlier in the season. Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman came to Daytona hoping to advance. They needed a strong finish or for no new winner to emerge.

Playoff Picture Set

The list of 16 drivers going to the postseason was set by Saturday night’s results. Every race winner, from William Byron (the Regular Season Champion) to the Coke Zero Sugar 400, has earned a spot. Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman raced for the last playoff spot. The one who finishes higher at Daytona gets the ticket. The other will need to hope no first-time winner shows up this weekend.

Looking Ahead

Teams will meet again next weekend at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500. This marks the start of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The traditional Labor Day weekend classic kicks off on Sunday, August 31, at 6:00 p.m. ET on USA Network.