NASCAR playoff picture shifts to Daytona for regular-season finale

Dale Earnhardt forged the black No. 3 Chevrolet into a powerhouse behind the sponsorship of Goodwrench, but current driver Austin Dillon reached into his toolbox at Richmond and produced something a little more radical.
A monkey wrench.
The 35-year-old Dillon got his redemption Saturday night after an unpopular, wreck-filled win a year ago on the 3/4-mile track, owning the best car and leading 107 laps to reshape the points standings.
Alex Bowman and Chris Buescher wish it had been just another mediocre showing by Dillon instead of his sixth career Cup Series win in 433 starts.
Getting to the checkers first made him the 14th different victor of the season, pushed winless Tyler Reddick to 15th — where he is safely in the field of 16 title-seeking wheelmen — and put Bowman and particularly Buescher in serious peril.
Simply, 16th-place Bowman is in if no first-time winner pops up Saturday at Daytona International Speedway in the regular-season finale, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, a 160-lap summer sizzler that is as hot and uncomfortable as Florida’s muggy nights.
The defending race winner is Harrison Burton, who was a 23-year-old lame duck driver last summer at Wood Brothers Racing. Burton handed the legendary Ford organization its 100th career win by passing Kyle Busch on an overtime restart in a thriller that had 16 leaders, 40 lead changes and featured polesitter Michael McDowell in a wild wreck while leading with nine laps left.
The son of Jeff Burton, Harrison Burton managed his first-ever win on the way out the door of Wood Brothers and left Buescher and Bubba Wallace in 16th and 17th, respectively, ahead of the regular-season finale at Darlington.
Buescher finished sixth at Darlington, but Chase Briscoe won the Southern 500 and broke a 73-race winless skid along the way to eliminate Buescher’s No. 17 RFK Racing Ford. So Buescher is plenty familiar with life on the playoff bubble.
Bowman finished runner-up to Dillon last week. Currently 60 ahead of Buescher, Bowman cannot lose to him on points, but a 15th first-time winner would deprive him of a title shot because of Reddick’s position in front of him.
“(I needed) a couple of favors, and I certainly complained about it on the radio,” Bowman said of the Richmond finish. “That’s just part of what we do — vented a little bit. … (Daytona) will certainly be stressful on a lot of fronts. It’s a must-win, and you’re likely going to have a new winner.”
The 32-year-old Buescher would like to be that guy, like he was two years ago when he won three of five races, including Daytona in late August.
“We are in a must-win heading into Daytona,” said Buescher, who finished 30th at Richmond. “It’s a terrible spot to be in for a plate race. I know we’ll be fast, but so many wild things can happen. We won it before, and we’ll certainly regroup from this one and get ready to go.”
NASCAR released its 2026 schedule Tuesday, and of note: Mexico City and the Chicago Street Race are gone, while San Diego’s road course and Chicagoland, which last raced at the Cup level in 2019, are additions.
North Wilkesboro Speedway’s short track will host its first points race since 1996 on July 19. The All-Star exhibition event will move to Dover the Sunday before Memorial Day Weekend, likely a day race.