Kyle Larson looks for NASCAR Cup pole, again, while Trevor Bayne returns for Xfinity race

Saturday night will bring the Cup Series’ Coke Zero Sugar 400, but the busiest day of racing at Daytona International Speedway will be Friday.

Cup Series qualifying is set for 5:05 p.m. and will be sandwiched between Xfinity Series qualifying (3 p.m.) and the Wawa 250 (7:30 p.m.).

Saturday will bring the end of the Cup Series regular season, but the Xfinity Series will still have two races remaining even after Friday with events at Darlington and Kansas finalizing the playoff field. However, that shouldn’t take away from the intensity in an event that dates back to 2002, when Joe Nemechek went to Victory Lane.

Since then, winners include some of the sport’s biggest stars, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. (three times), Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson.

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Last year's running of the Wawa 250 was as wild as any in recent memory, with Jeremy Clements prevailing as the surprise winner in a race that was delayed for three hours due to rain and didn't finish until the wee hours of Saturday morning thanks to three overtime attempts.

So, what can race fans expect from a packed day at Daytona?

Here are five things to watch:

Can Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports beat Mother Nature and the Cup Series field?

Just getting qualifying in for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 has been impossible in recent years.

In each of the past four summers, qualifying has been canceled due to weather and the COVID-19 pandemic with the pole sitter and the starting lineup being determined by formula, or by points.

That's been good for Larson, who started from first place in each of the past two 400s. Combined with a pole for Larson in the 2022 Daytona 500, that’s three of the last four races at Daytona that Larson has started from the point. That advantage hasn’t exactly helped, however, as Larson finished 20^th, 32^nd and 37^th in those three races.

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Whether qualifying has been held or not at Daytona, Hendrick Motorsports has largely dominated the proceedings. In addition to Larson’s success, albeit of the formulaic variety, Alex Bowman claimed this year’s Daytona 500 pole and started first in the 2021 and 2018 Great American Races. Since 2015, a Hendrick driver has won qualifying in 10 of 12 sessions between the two events.

How will Trevor Bayne fare in his return to Daytona?

On Wednesday evening, Joe Gibbs Racing announced on Twitter that Trevor Bayne, a former Daytona 500 champion, would drive the team's No. 19 Xfinity Series entry on Friday in addition to a pair of future races as at Bristol and Texas this season.

Bayne became the youngest winner in NASCAR history in 2011, claiming victory in the sport's biggest race in only his second start. He drove part time for Wood Brothers Racing until 2014, eventually picking up a full-time ride in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 car.

That ended after the 2018 season and since has come part-time stints in the Craftsman Truck Series as well as in Xfinity, where he ran nine races for JGR a year ago, picking up five top-five finishes and seven top 10s. Friday will mark Bayne's first race at Daytona since the 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400. He finished 20th.

Can Sam Mayer avoid payback from Austin Hill?

Retribution at speeds of nearly 200 miles per hour is never a great idea, especially with cars held tight together in a pack.

But it has to be on Mayer’s mind, right?

Cup Series driver Ty Gibbs dominated last Saturday’s Xfinity race at Watkins Glen, but after some contact from Mayer, was taken out in Turn 1 on a late restart by the JR Motorsports driver. The incident also collected Hill, an innocent bystander who was none too thrilled and promised clean racing with Mayer would not happen in future races.

Mayer went on to win the race with Hill finishing 14^th after running in the top five all day. Gibbs came home 17^th after leading 70 laps.

Can Kyle Busch help Chevrolet, Kaulig Racing continue dominance?

While Clements’ win brought along the end of a string of three straight wins by Kaulig Racing in the Wawa 250, it just continued Chevy’s streak to six. The win also marked eight out of the last nine for the bowties with Aric Almirola’s win in 2016 in a Ford serving as the only outlier.

Kaulig went to Victory Lane with Ross Chastain in 2019 before Justin Haley piloted a Chevy to the win in 2020 and 2021.

Kyle Busch will drive the Kaulig No. 10 car on Friday night, joining Daniel Hemric and Chandler Smith. Busch will look for his first win in the event since 2007.

Can Parker Kligerman or a new winner crash the Xfinity playoff party?

While Saturday will feature plenty of storylines concerning the Cup Series playoff field, there’s plenty of drama to unfold in the Xfinity Series and its 12-driver postseason as well on Friday.

Currently, eight drivers are locked in via win, leaving four spots still open. Josh Berry figures to be in good shape in terms of points, 103 tallies above the cutline.

Where it gets interesting is from 10^th place on back. If the season ended today, Sheldon Creed, Daniel Hemric and Riley Herbst would be the final three in, but Kligerman, currently the first driver on the outside looking in, is just three points behind Herbst and 22 back of Creed in 10^th.

Certainly, it’s a bit of a logjam at the bubble with three events left to sort it out and there are also plenty of drivers behind them in a win-and-get-in scenario.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Xfinity Series race, Cup qualifying top busy Friday at Daytona