NASCAR completed its regular season finale event—the 2025 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 23. Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney claimed his second win of the season in a dramatic, four-wide finish and is heading into playoffs with momentum.Daniel Suárez of Trackhouse Racing finished second, ahead of Spire Motorsports driver Justin Haley; Cole Custer came home in fourth. Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, and Chase Elliott wrapped up the top 10.While the aforementioned drivers had a decent outing this past Saturday at Daytona, a few drivers had the opposite. Let’s take a look at five NASCAR Cup Series drivers who paid the highest price at Daytona’s 2.5-mile-long track.Five NASCAR drivers who paid the highest price in the 2025 Coke Zero Sugar 400#5. Daniel SuarezDaniel Suarez, the Trackhouse Racing driver, was not riding the playoff bubble but nearly delivered the Cinderella story. The #99 Chevrolet driver came close to the race win but was held off by Ryan Blaney, costing him possible entry into the playoffs. He lost the Daytona regular season finale race by just 0.031 seconds and missed the chance to claim the first-time-season-win glory—and a playoff ticket.#4. Ryan PreeceRyan Preece started his NASCAR Cup Series race from 31st place. In 18th place in the points table and needing to win outright, the RFK Racing driver faced the challenge of staying grounded. After going airborne multiple times in recent superspeedway races, the 34-year-old finally brought his car down but failed to reach the victory lane in the must-win race. He finished the race 14th, which shattered his playoff dreams.#3. Chris BuescherLike the other RFK Racing drivers, Brad Keselowski and Preece, Chris Buescher’s playoff hopes also ended when he failed to take the checkered flag at Daytona’s regular season finale. He was sitting 17th, one spot below the playoff cutoff line, and needed a win to break into the postseason. The 32-year-old drove the fast machinery from RFK Racing, but it was not good enough to cross the finish line in P1. He started in 24th place and finished the race in the P7 position.#2. Kyle BuschKyle Busch, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, who came into the regular season finale winless and desperate, had another unfortunate outing at Daytona. His #8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was damaged in an early crash on Lap 95 and ended up finishing 33rd. He missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season, and his winless streak goes to 83 races.#1. Denny HamlinNASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin, driving the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, started from sixth position, but unfortunately his car was damaged in an early wreck that hindered his performance, and he ended up finishing P25. The result dropped the 44-year-old to third place in the playoff points standings, behind Kyle Larson and William Byron.However, Hamlin still is in a good position to claim his first NASCAR Cup title.