NASCAR Cup Series
Ryan Blaney Wins in Four-Wide Finish to Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona
Aug 24, 2025
After a hard-fought race weekend at Daytona International Speedway, AJ Allmendinger took home his third Xfinity Fastest Lap award of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, while Aric Almirola snagged his first Fastest Lap Award of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
Allmendinger, the driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series, set the Xfinity Fastest Lap in Saturday's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, with a lap time of 45.751 seconds (196.717 mph) on the 17th lap of the 160-lap event on Saturday evening.
Unfortunately, Allmendinger suffered a mechanical issue mid-race, which caused him to lose a lap to the leaders. In the end, Allmendinger would fight back to a 26th-place finish. The No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet was the first car one lap down in the event won by Ryan Blaney.
By failing to secure the win on Saturday evening, Allmendinger joined the list of 20 full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers who were officially eliminated from Playoff contention in Saturday night's regular-season finale at Daytona. However, the three points that Allmendinger has accrued this year by winning Xfinity Fastest Lap Awards could pay major dividends down the stretch as he will look to finish as high in points as possible.
In Friday night's NASCAR Xfinity Series Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway, Aric Almirola set the Xfinity Fastest Lap of the race with a lap time of 46.608 seconds (193.100 mph) on Lap 74 of the 104-lap race, which ended in a single-overtime finish.
Almirola, who is highly regarded at superspeedways, finished a disappointing 24th. Almirola, who was behind the wheel of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra, was involved in the last-lap melee, which erupted down the backstretch on the final lap of the race.
While neither of the Xfinity Fastest Lap recipients this weekend went on to accomplish excellent finishing-order results, we got a reminder of just how important the Xfinity Fastest Lap Award can be to a driver's championship hopes this week.
Kyle Larson was able to secure the third-overall slot in the final NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship battle, which netted the driver an additional eight Playoff Points. The margin for Larson taking third in the regular season championship standings was three points over Chase Elliott, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.
Larson has secured four Xfinity Fastest Lap Awards this season in the NASCAR Cup Series, including at Circuit of the Americas, Kansas Speedway, Mexico City, and Watkins Glen International.
Interestingly, Larson suffered early problems at Mexico City, which led to a __ finish, and Watkins Glen, where he finished 39th. But after his crew worked on his car behind the wall in both events. After the mechanical repairs, Larson was able to come back out on track and recorded the Xfinity Fastest Lap in each race, which ultimately netted him eight Playoff Points for finishing third in the regular season standings.
This weekend, the fight for the Xfinity Fastest Lap Award sees the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heading to Darlington Raceway. The NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 will take place on Sunday, August 31, while the NASCAR Truck event will take place on Saturday, August 30.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers and teams are back in action this weekend as well, and will race at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, August 30.
-Photo Credit: Jared Bokanoski | TobyChristie.com
