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Daytona draws largest summer crowd in seven years for NASCAR Cup regular season finale

Daytona International Speedway drew its largest summer-race crowd in seven years for Saturday's NASCAR Cup regular-season finale

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Ally Chevrolet Camaro, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro, start

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Ally Chevrolet Camaro, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro, start

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Daytona International Speedway president Frank Kelleher has revealed that the NASCAR Cup regular season finale has attracted the largest crowd in seven years for the summer race in Florida.

Heading into the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, William Byron has already clinched the regular season title, but the playoff picture is yet to be finalised. 14 drivers have secured their spots in the playoffs with at least one race win, but Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman sit 15th and 16th in the playoff standings on points.

The regular season finale often brings a chaotic race with multiple drivers speaking out on 'desperation mentality' leading up to the event. This, combined with the excitement of finalising the playoff picture, has led to an impressive crowd arriving at the circuit.

Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford; Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing Ford

Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford; Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing Ford

Photo by: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Byron claimed that this sort of approach can lead to early wrecks as drivers and teams work together to fight for the playoff positions.

"I think the best decisions come from having the right thought process to get yourself to the end of the race and see the chequered flag," Byron explained to the media on Friday.

"I think a lot of times, you see desperate moves with 10-15 laps to go and it's just like - man, just get to the end of the race first.

"But I think there's definitely a lot of that throughout the field. For us, we can go out there and race freely and not really have to worry too much about the outcome. And I think in some ways, the guys that can do that are going to be able to have a freer mindset out there. But yeah, there's definitely a lot of desperation throughout the field that I think causes probably some early wrecks that probably don't need to happen."

Photos from Daytona - Race

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

General view

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

General view

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Multi-car wreck

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Multi-car wreck

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

Multi-car wreck

Daytona - Saturday, in photos

NASCAR Cup
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