Coke Zero Sugar 400 Driver Grades: How Every Driver Scored at Daytona International Speedway

August 30, 2026

Every driver from the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, graded on what the scoring loops actually recorded: where they started, where they finished, how many laps they led, and whether they were still running at the end. Ryan Preece grades out best with a A+.

How the grades are calculated

The grade is a formula, not an opinion. Each driver starts from their finishing position, gains credit for passing cars and for leading laps, and loses credit for not finishing:

Finish: the single biggest factor, scaled from the win down through the field.
Positions gained: starting position minus finishing position, capped so a deep starting spot cannot buy a top grade on its own.
Laps led: share of the race led, worth up to a full letter grade.
Did not finish: a fixed penalty if they were not running at the checkered flag.

Driver grades

Grade	Driver	Car	Start	Finish	Laps led	Points
A+	Ryan Preece	60	4	1	5	67
A+	Daniel Suárez	7	23	2		38
A+	Tyler Reddick	45	17	3	5	34
A+	Michael McDowell	71	18	4		33
A+	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	47	32	5	1	32
A+	Austin Dillon	3	29	7		30
A+	Josh Berry	21	24	9	1	28
A+	Alex Bowman	48	20	8		29
A	Denny Hamlin	11	30	11		26
A	Austin Cindric	2	8	6	6	32
A-	Cole Custer	41	16	10		27
A-	John H. Nemechek	42	27	15	2	24
B+	Christopher Bell	20	35	17		20
B+	Brad Keselowski	6	21	14	10	23
B+	Todd Gilliland	34	33	19	8	24
B+	Chase Briscoe	19	12	13	10	34
B	Harrison Burton	35	5	12		0
B	Ty Dillon	10	31	21		16
B	Bubba Wallace	23	26	20		21
B-	Corey Heim	67	11	16		0
C+	Noah Gragson	4	37	26		12
C+	Joey Logano	22	9	18	2	27
C+	Chase Elliott	9	22	23	19	16
C+	Daniel Dye	78	39	29		0
C	William Byron	24	13	22	14	22
C	AJ Allmendinger	16	36	30		7
C-	Ross Chastain	1	1	24	12	13
C-	Connor Zilisch	88	7	25		12
D	Austin Hill	33	3	27	27	0
D	Shane Van Gisbergen	97	6	28	6	19
D	Joey Gase	44	40	36		0
D	Casey Mears	62	38	37		1
D	Kyle Larson	5	10	31	2	16
D	Zane Smith (Accident)	38	34	32	15	13
F	Chris Buescher	17	2	40	6	1
F	Ryan Blaney (Accident)	12	19	33	5	14
F	Cody Ware (Accident)	51	25	35	8	2
F	Ty Gibbs (Accident)	54	14	34	1	12
F	Gray Gaulding ()	66	41	41		0
F	Carson Hocevar (Accident)	77	28	38	1	1
F	Erik Jones (Accident)	43	15	39		8