The 2017 Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 1, 2017 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 163 laps, extended from 160 laps due to overtime, on the superspeedway, it was the 17th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Roush Fenway Racing took his second victory of the season, having taken the lead from Front Row Motorsports driver David Ragan on the final restart.
Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Elliott Sadler (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 15 D. J. Kennington Premium Motorsports Toyota 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Bubba Wallace (i) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 75 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 83 Ryan Sieg (i) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Kyle Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 45.584 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 45.584 197.438 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 45.632 197.230 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 45.639 197.200Official first practice results
Final practice Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 46.553 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.553 193.328 2 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 46.572 193.249 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.577 193.228Official final practice results
Qualifying
Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 47.127 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 188 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 47.157 47.127 224 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 47.182 47.171 32 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 47.365 47.297 45 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 47.325 47.356 54 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 47.467 47.357 617 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 47.322 47.367 722 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 47.298 47.388 81 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 47.509 47.406 921 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 47.427 47.422 1010 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 47.445 47.460 1114 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas RacingFord 47.489 47.486 1248 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 47.538 47.506 1320 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 47.543 — 146 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 47.563 — 1541 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas RacingFord 47.569 — 1618 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 47.604 — 1777 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 47.624 — 1811 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 47.648 — 193 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 47.659 — 2019 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 47.730 — 2142 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 47.742 — 2231 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 47.756 — 2395 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 47.766 — 2427 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 47.803 — 2578 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 47.815 — 2634 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.817 — 2747 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 47.934 — 2832 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 47.957 — 2937 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 47.969 — 3038 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 48.041 — 3143 Bubba Wallace (i) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 48.145 — 3275 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 48.199 — 337 Elliott Sadler (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 48.201 — 3413 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 48.346 — 3572 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 48.484 — 3623 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 48.529 — 3755 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 48.747 — 3815 D. J. Kennington Premium Motorsports Toyota 48.790 — 3983 Ryan Sieg (i) BK Racing Toyota 49.063 — 4033 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 49.588 — Official qualifying results
Race First stage Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the field to the green flag at 7:58 p.m., but teammate Chase Elliott passed him in Turn 3 and led the first lap. After leading the first four, Elliott dropped to the bottom and allowed Brad Keselowski to pass him on the high-side going into Turn 1 to take the lead on the fifth lap. Ryan Sieg and Cole Whitt suffered engine failures on lap 10, bringing out the first caution of the race.
The race restarted on lap 13. Denny Hamlin made an unscheduled stop a lap later for a loose wheel, which was a result of having only one lug nut. Fortuitous for him, caution #2 flew two laps later when D. J. Kennington spun out moments after blowing his engine in Turn 4.
Back to green on lap 20, Kevin Harvick – heading up the bottom line of cars – caught up to and edged out Keselowski at the start/finish line to take the lead on lap 30. The next lap, Earnhardt charged up the extreme outside and inched out both Keselowski and Harvick to lead his first lap of the night. Keselowski reestablished his lead on lap 33, but Earnhardt and Harvick bypassed him on lap 34, with Harvick leading it. Keselowski regained the point on lap 35 and Earnhardt took over on lap 37. Finally, Keselowski gained the upper hand on lap 38 and won the first stage on lap 40, with caution #3 flying moments later for the conclusion of the stage. Erik Jones took over the lead when the others pitted, as he opted not to pit.
Second stage A lap after resuming action on lap 47, Hamlin took over the lead. Exiting Turn 4 on lap 49, Michael McDowell and Daniel Suárez made contact and both wound up on the apron. But rather than blend back into the field and risk causing a wreck, both dove full speed down pit road – which NASCAR allows drivers to do to avoid a wreck/avoid causing a wreck – and rejoined the field at the tail-end. Earnhardt cut down a tire and hit the wall in Turn 1 on lap 51, a result of contact with Paul Menard. Caution flew for the fourth time when Jeffrey Earnhardt blew an engine on lap 59.
The race returned to green on lap 64. Matt Kenseth took the lead from teammate Hamlin on lap 69. Rounding Turn 2 on lap 71, Kyle Busch suffered a left-rear tire failure and spun out in front of most of the field, resulting in a 10-car wreck, which brought out the fifth caution. Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. took the heaviest damage in the melee. The failure was a result of Busch making contact the lap prior with McDowell heading into Turn 1. Logano's comments after he was released from the care center verified supported this, saying he saw McDowell get "into the side of (Busch). I didn't see any smoke off (Busch's car), just a near miss. Then four or five laps later I think, the left-rear popped on and around (Busch) started going and we were there."
Racing resumed on lap 76 and Kenseth drove on to win the second stage. Caution #6 flew moments later for the end of the stage. Harvick elected not to pit and usurped the lead under the caution.
Final stage
On the lap 86 restart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. passed Harvick heading down the backstretch to take the lead. Brendan Gaughan made contact with the wall in Turn 2 on lap 90, bringing out the seventh caution. Suárez took the lead when Stenhouse pitted.
Back to green on lap 96, Elliott and McDowell made contact exiting Turn 2 on lap 98, which sent Elliott spinning down the backstretch, collecting Trevor Bayne in the process. This brought out the eighth caution.
On the ensuing lap 102 restart, Kenseth took back the lead from teammate Suárez, only to lose it two laps later to Jimmie Johnson. Caution #9 flew a lap later when Harvick suffered a rear tire blowout and spun out in Turn 2, collecting Earnhardt and three others. Earnhardt said afterwards that he wished he "had had a good finish tonight if not a win. We were working up in there and having a good time and being aggressive and wearing out the sides of that race car. It just wasn't to be." Clint Bowyer took the lead when Johnson pitted.
Restart flew on lap 111. The next lap around, Stenhouse was back in front. Caution flew for the 10th time on lap 117 when Keselowski spun out in Turn 4. Stenhouse and Bowyer pitted, handing the lead back to Kenseth.
When the field reached the backstretch on the lap 121, Kasey Kahne was turned by David Ragan and spun down onto the apron, bringing out the 11th caution.
The race restarted on lap 125. Ryan Blaney made a crossover move on Kenseth on the backstretch to take the lead with 33 laps to go. Caution flew for the 12th time a lap later when Matt DiBenedetto when he suffered a right-front tire failure and slammed the wall.
The race resumed with 28 to go. Stenhouse worked his way back to the front with 25 to go, with Kahne taking over the following lap. From 22 to 20 to go, he and Suárez battled side-by-side for the lead, with Kahne taking sole control with 19 to go. With 11 to go, Stenhouse side-drafted him down the backstretch to retake the lead. Ty Dillon was credited as the leader with nine to go. Coming to the line with eight to go, Kyle Larson got turned into the tri-oval wall, lifting his car into the air for a few seconds. After his car landed back on the ground, it was t-boned by Blaney and made contact with Kenseth. This triggered a multi-car wreck that brought out the 13th caution, as well as an eight-minute and 41-second red flag.
Dillon lacked draft help on the ensuing restart with three to go, while Ragan got an excellent push to take the race lead. But a 2-car spin on the backstretch involving Jones and Hamlin sent the race into overtime and brought out the 14th caution.
Overtime Heading down the backstretch in overtime with two to go, Ragan jumped to the high line and left the bottom open. Stenhouse pounced on the opening, took the lead going into Turn 3 and drove on to score the victory.
Post-race Stenhouse said in victory lane that his win validated "what we did at Talladega. We have been working hard at Roush Fenway and this pushes us further along. This Ford Performance team has been amazing. Ford has been dominant.”