Races September 3, 2026 7 Team Finishes Only One Position Shy of Earning Their Second Season Win. Date: Aug. 29th, 2026 Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Round 26 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval) Format: 160 laps, broken into three stages (35 laps/60 laps/65 laps) Start/Finish: 23rd / 2nd (Running, completed 166 of 166 laps) Point Standing: 11th with 2025 points Notes: Spire Motorsports ended the NASCAR Cup Series regular season with two top-five finishes in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Daniel Suárez finished second with Michael McDowell close behind in fourth. Suárez will begin his hunt for a championship next weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and will start The Chase seeded 11th. After starting 23rd, Suárez needed clean air in Stage 1 to find the right balance in his No. 7 Coke Zero Sugar Chevrolet. The team continued to make adjustments throughout the race, and the 34-year-old driver earned three stage points with an eighth-place finish in Stage 2. Despite briefly taking over the top spot thanks to a push from McDowell, Suárez was ultimately passed by eventual race winner Ryan Preece prior to the caution on the final lap that brought the race to an end. He was scored second at the time of caution, becoming the highest-finishing Chevrolet driver in the race and earning his third top five of the season. The NASCAR Cup Series begins The Chase next Sunday, Sept. 6 at Darlington Raceway. The Southern 500 will be broadcast live on USA beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 27th of 36 points-paying races on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 7 Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Chevrolet Camaro for Spire Motorsports: “I felt like we were a solid top-10 car, and then we put ourselves in position to race for the win. My team is really strong right now. The car raced well all day, it was just a little sensitive with the aero when we got around other cars. We kept making adjustments and kept fighting, and I couldn’t be more proud of this team. We executed well, and to finish second and be the top Chevrolet is something we can all be proud of.”
