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Auto Racing Glance

[August 27, 2020] NASCAR CUP SERIES: COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 (160 laps, 400 miles around a 2.5-mile oval), Daytona International Speedway; Daytona Beach, Fla.

TV: Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET (approximate green flag 2:49 p.m. ET) -- Fox (Radio: Motorsports Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: Back at Daytona for the third time this year, it's the D-shaped track hosting what has traditionally been the July 4 weekend race. ... The series has run 25 of 36 events this season and this is the cutoff race for the playoffs. ... Denny Hamlin won last Saturday at Dover, with Kevin Harvick taking the checkered flag in Sunday's race. ... Hamlin won the Daytona 500 earlier this season, with Justin Haley winning the summer race in 2019. ... This will be the 147th series race utilizing the oval course. ... 16 drivers will make the playoffs, with Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron and Jimmie Johnson on the bubble. ... *Harvick leads the points with 1,041 followed by *Hamlin (907), *Brad Keselowski (881), *Martin Truex Jr. (845), *Joey Logano (836), *Ryan Blaney (818), *Chase Elliott (809), Aric Almirola (740), Kyle Busch (719) and Kurt Busch (700) rounding out the top 10. *Austin Dillon and *Cole Custer are in the playoffs with their wins despite being outside the top 16 at 18th (561) and 19th (469), respectively. Clint Bowyer is 11th (6850, followed by *Alex Bowman (662), DiBenedetto (637), Byron (632), Johnson (628) and Erik Jones making the top 16 in points, but at least two winless drivers -- likely from Bowyer through Jones -- in the top 16 will miss the playoffs.

BEST BETS: Denny Hamlin is the 5/1 favorite in the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, followed by Team Penske Ford teammates Joey Logano at 19/2 and Brad Keselowski at 10/1. Ryan Preece at 100/1 is a great flyer, as is Daniel Suarez at 150/1.

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth. Standings per NASCAR.com.

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: WAWA 250 (100 laps, 250 miles around a 2.5-mile oval), Daytona International Speedway; Daytona Beach, Fla.

TV: Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET (approximate green flag 7:49 p.m. ET) -- NBCSN (Radio: Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: In the 22nd race of the season, the drivers go from the high-banked concrete "Monster Mile" to the higher-banked asphalt of Daytona. Justin Allgaier won Saturday at Dover, with Chase Briscoe winning Sunday. ... This will be the 58th series race on the Daytona oval course, with Noah Gragson winning earlier this year and Ross Chastain winning last summer. ... 12 drivers qualify for the Xfinity playoffs, and if you win -- you're in. They will start Sept. 26 at Las Vegas. No driver outside the top 12 has won yet this season. ... *Austin Cindric (929) leads the standings, followed by *Briscoe (867), *Gragson (832), Chastain (811), *Allgaier (739), *Harrison Burton (716), *Justin Haley (699), Michael Annett (627), *Brandon Jones (626), Riley Herbst (539), Ryan Seig (511) and Brandon Brown (454) to round out the top 12.

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth. Standings per NASCAR.com.

NASCAR GANDER MOUNTAIN TRUCK SERIES: WWT RACEWAY 200 PRESENTED BY CK POWER (160 laps, 200 miles around a 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval), WWT Raceway; Madison, Ill.

TV: Sunday, noon ET (Green flag approx. 12:16 p.m. ET) -- FS1 (Radio: Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: Drivers are coming off of Dover -- a race won by Zane Smith -- and face the unique challenge of the track once known as Gateway Motorsports Park, a challenging 1.25-mile track with Turns 1 and 2 higher banked and with a tighter radius than Turns 3 and 4. ... This will be the 19th series race at the track, Ross Chastain winning here last year. ... This will be the 14th of 23 races this season, with the playoffs starting at Bristol (Race 17) on Sept. 17. ... 10 drivers make the Trucks playoffs. ... *Austin Hill leads the Truck points (515), followed by *Smith (474), Brett Moffitt (468), Christian Eckes (450), Ben Rhodes (450), *Sheldon Creed (426), *Matt Crafton (420), *Grant Enfinger (393), Tyler Ankrum (383) and Todd Gilliland (378).

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth. Standings per NASCAR.com.

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NTT INDYCAR SERIES: BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP RACES 1 &2 (248 laps, 310 miles around a 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval), WWT Raceway; Madison, Ill.

TV: Saturday and Sunday, 3 p.m. ET (approx. green flag 3:10 p.m. ET) -- NBCSN (Radio: Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 214, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app).

THIS WEEK: Coming off the biggest race of the season, the Indy 500 won by Takuma Sato, the series heads to Illinois for the fourth straight year. ... This will be a doubleheader, the seventh and eighth races at the track under IndyCar sanction and Sunday's race will be held after the NASCAR Trucks race. ... These are the eighth and ninth races of a truncated 12-race season and the last races before a month-long break before the series heads back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to run a twin bill on the road course Oct. 2-3. ... Sato won this race last year, leading the final 61 laps. ... Scott Dixon is running away in the standings, with 335 points, followed by Josef Newgarden (251), Pato O'Ward (218), Graham Rahal (214) and Simon Pagenaud (212).

*Stats and standings per IndyCar.com.

FORMULA ONE: BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (44 laps, 191.488 miles around a 4.352-mile 19-turn permanent road course), Spa-Francorchamps; Spa, Belgium.

TV: Sunday, 9 a.m. ET (Green flag approx. 9:05 a.m. ET) -- ESPN2 (Radio: SiriusXM Radio Channel 132).

THIS WEEK: Spa is on tap for the seventh of 12 races this season. ... What awaits is a long, technical race course with hills and sweeping turns -- and unpredictable weather -- that has seen thrilling battles through the years. This will be the 76th Belgian Grand Prix with the current course configuration set up in 1981, but with periodic slight changes, the last in 2007. ... Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago, his fourth win in six races and it's looking like another World Championship is coming the six-time champion's way, which would tie him with the legendary Michael Schumacher atop the list. ... Great Britain's Hamilton (132) leads the points in his Mercedes, with Belgian Max Verstappen (95) second in his Red Bull, Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas of Finland third (89), Monaco's Charles Leclerc fourth (45) for Ferrari, with Canada's Lance Stroll and his Racing Point Mercedes and Thai/British driver Alexander Albon in his Red Bull tied for fifth (40).

*Stats and standings per F1.com.

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION

THIS WEEK: The series will get back in action Sept. 3-6 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis for the fourth straight event at the revered strip. ... Five events have been run this season, with nine still on the schedule ... Doug Kalitta leads the Top Fuel points with 436, followed by Torrence (353) and Leah Pruett (347). ... Tommy Johnson Jr. leads Funny Car (416) with Jack Beckman (403) and Matt Hagan (388) giving chase. ... Jeg Coughlin Jr. leads Pro Stock (414) with Jason Line (370) and Erica Enders (337) behind him. ... Ryan Oehler leads Pro Stock Motorcycle (172), followed by Sampey (168) and Matt Smith (165).

Standings per NHRA.com.

--K. Lee Davis, Field Level Media

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