How One Tenth Could've Reinvigorated Four Teams' Seasons at Daytona

Mike Watters-Imagn Images

When it comes to racetracks such as Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, and even the newly reconfigured EchoPark Speedway, one tenth of a second can seem like an eternity.

Throughout the NASCAR Cup Series’ 2,822 points-paying events, only 62 times has the gap between the top two finishes been less than that, including Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, where Ryan Blaney beat Daniel Suarez to the line by 0.031 seconds (26th closest points-paying finish in NASCAR).

In this instance, though, a tenth of a second wouldn’t have just been the different maker for runner-up Daniel Suarez… Justin Haley finished third (0.036 seconds behind Blaney), Cole Custer was just behind in fourth (0.049 seconds back), and even fifth-place Erik Jones (0.091 seconds back).

The kicker? None of those four drivers (Suarez, Haley, Custer, and Jones) will be competing in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. To make the post-season, those drivers needed to win on Saturday, proving just how much a tenth of a second can make in not just a race, but a season.

Daniel Suarez was the closest of the four drivers, and like race-winner Ryan Blaney made a ferocious charge in the final laps to get himself in position to compete for the victory but came up just short.

The Monterrey, Mexico-native is currently on the hunt for a ride in the NASCAR Cup Series for 2026, after Suarez and Trackhouse Racing agreed to part ways at the end of the season, during the Summer. Connor Zilisch will move to the team as its third Cup Series driver.

Asked if there was anything he could have done differently, Suarez said: “I don’t know about the last few laps, but maybe 40 laps before the end, I felt like we didn’t set up ourselves up like we wanted to be, but that’s not an excuse the No. 12 (Blaney) was back there with us and he was able to make it work.”

Suarez was one of the drivers from the tail-end of the pack that was able to make a sneak attack from the third lane work, getting himself into contention along with Ryan Blaney and Cole Custer, but couldn’t quite get the momentum to get his Coca-Cola Chevrolet to the race, and victory.

“Proud of the effort. That was the fastest superspeedway car we’ve had in a few years,” said Suarez. "Our Playoff run ends here, but I’m positive we’re going to be in Victory Lane here very soon.”

Suarez enters Darlington Raceway, the first race of the post-season, sitting 27th in NASCAR Cup Series point standings, and on a streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes. It will be critical for the long-time Cup Series driver to finish the season strong, to attract future opportunities.

Justin Haley’s finish to Saturday’s race was a tad different, as the former winner of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 found himself at the front of the pack in the closing laps, choosing to block lanes as he saw runs coming, including a MASSIVE block down the backstraight on the final lap on Cole Custer, which allowed the No. 12 Ford Mustang to get to the outside.

“It obviously got shaken up there when [Kyle Larson] put whoever that was three-wide, and then I got too far out front and I tried to save it, but yeah, at the end of the day I just got too far out in front,” Haley said. “It hurts, especially with the year that the No. 7 has had, we’ve obviously had a rough season. You’re counting them down and just trying to play everything out, but super proud of everybody at Spire Motorsports. The Gainbridge Chevrolet was obviously fast… it stings, but obviously still a good night.”

It has been a tough season for Haley, to the point where the rumor mill has the Winamac, Indiana-native possibly on the hot seat after this season. After losing Rodney Childers earlier in the season, Daytona marks the teams second top 10 result of 2025, and the first top five.

For Haley, a victory may have allowed the team to regroup heading into these final weeks and attempt to make a run deeper into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs – considering Spire Motorsports has shown significant speed this season.

The 26-year-old driver finds himself sitting 30th in NASCAR Cup Series points heading into the Southern 500 at Darlington, five positions and 62 points behind his closest teammate, Carson Hocevar.

Cole Custer brought home a fourth-place finish in Saturday’s 400-mile contest from Daytona after leading that outside lane to prominence. On the final lap, though, a major dart to the inside lane to try and get around Justin Haley saw the No. 41 Ford Mustang drift slightly below the yellow line (with no penalty) and caused him to lose his momentum.

The Ladera Ranch, California-native was still in the four-wide battle to the start-finish line, but didn’t end up prevailing, and was the last of the drag race to get to the start-finish line. The first-year team was looking for a lifeline to make the postseason, but just couldn’t snag it in time.

“You’re definitely going to kick yourself and relive it, see what you could have done different. I tried to stay with the No. 12 [Ryan Blaney] because I knew he was going to have the momentum coming to the line from the top,” said Custer. “So, I wanted to stay with him, but the No. 7 was able to get around him and get clear, so I had to get around him and get disconnected from [Blaney].”

Custer has had an interesting first season with Haas Factory Team, one that has been filled with struggles to an intense degree. The team’s only top 10 prior to Saturday at Daytona was an eighth-place finish at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

“I thought we had it, I felt like we made the right moves to come up that short, just stings. It’s nice to get a finish that our guys deserve, they’ve worked so hard this year. Hopefully, we can keep this rolling and finish the year out strong.”

The Haas Factory Team driver finds himself in a disappointing 33rd-place position in the NASCAR Cup Series points, but has spent the Summer digging out of the hole that had him as low as 35th at times during the season.

Rounding out the top five, Erik Jones wasn’t involved in the four-wide photo finish for the victory at Daytona on Saturday, but the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver was certainly in contention for the win, until a bump from Kyle Larson had him shuffled out of line – knocking him way back in the running order.

Had a couple of moves played out differently, the day-glow orange No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE could have very much ended up in Victory Lane at Daytona, and the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs – a spot that earlier in the Summer, the organization looked like they could realistically find themselves.

“No, not that far up,” Jones said when asked if he thought he would be able to recover. “I’ve been in that situation a couple times in this car, it just seems like you're stuck. I think it was everything went right, we kind of got that third lane going enough where we got that middle lane nervous and they started shoving and kind of got themselves checked up, to where they were bouncing off each other, and we were able to just use that momentum to plug along.”

For Jones and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, the final 10 races continue to be about building a strong base, as the team currently sits 24th in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings. With how tight the points are, a top 20 result in final standings isn’t unattainable.

With one tenth of a second in their pockets, any of these four drivers could have found themselves in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, which for all parties involved would have been season-saving. Now, the reality of the situation is that these drivers (some more than others) will really have to fight to earn a victory in these final 10 races, and in some cases, prove they belong at NASCAR's top-level.

One thing is for sure, though... Alex Bowman is happy with how Saturday's event played out.