AJ Allmendinger

This has been a year in sports unlike any other. But Saturday night, NASCAR will hold its regular-season finale, on schedule, at Daytona International Speedway. The Coke Zero Sugar 400, moved this year from its traditional July 4th weekend, will still provide fireworks as the remainder of the sport's 16-driver field will be determined by the parity and unpredictability of a superspeedway draft.

The last time the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series visited Daytona International Speedway, the season-opening Daytona 500 turned into a game of Survivor. A series of late-race wrecks eliminated major contenders, including a surprising Matt DiBenedetto, and left the race sitting in Denny Hamlin's hands. Hamlin's second Daytona 500 victory came in his first race with new crew chief Chris Gabehart; it was also part of a 1-2-3 Joe Gibbs Racing finish.

Heading into the First Data 500, the 2018 NASCAR playoffs has been through a miserable stretch. Talladega was a four-car Stewart-Haas Racing freight train that gave us the fewest lead changes since 1973. Then, last Sunday a Kansas elimination race became notable for its unique ability to eliminate people from staying awake. The Round of 8 starts with some sluggish momentum in what’s been another difficult season for stock car racing. Pit road penalties? Pitiful passing? Zzzz.

As a NASCAR writer for more than 10 years, I’m supposed to give some sort of expert opinion entering this weekend’s inaugural race on the new Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. Instead, I offer with a smile one word this sport needs to inject some genuine interest back into stock car racing.

Unpredictability.

This past Sunday, Chase Elliott became NASCAR’s newest first-time winner in front of a sold-out Watkins Glen crowd. Outlasting Martin Truex Jr. in a thriller, the sport’s likely Most Popular Driver was pushed to Victory Lane by teammate and seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.