
As if a NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway wasn't going to be crazy enough, Saturday's Coke Zero Sugar 400 is also the final race of the regular season.
And if that wasn't enough to pique fans' interests, the race will feature a new rules package with less horsepower and a shorter spoiler that won't have been tested for a single second before the green flag on Saturday evening.
The package is the latest effort from NASCAR to fix a superspeedway package that has produced lackluster racing in the Next-Gen era.
"I think this weekend has potential to be absolute f---ing chaos," Denny Hamlin said on the latest episode of "Actions Detrimental." "What I'm getting in the data I'm seeing from this new package, I think the cars could be far more out of control when they're trying to push each other.
"I think lots of someone's [are] going to get caught off guard by how unstable these cars are when they're getting shoved around."
Daytona + this new package = chaos? pic.twitter.com/n6Xq9cj0GE
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) August 25, 2026
Recent races at Daytona and Talladega have featured plenty of fuel saving. When cars are at full song, drag prevents drivers from making moves and pulling out of line, lest they drop like a rock through the running order.
What is certain ahead of Saturday's race is that nobody fully knows what to expect. Teams can simulate all they want, but without a single lap of practice and only one circuit in single-car qualifying, how the cars react in the draft with the new rules package will be a mystery until Lap 1.
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