Cody Ware buoyed after "best race of the year" Daytona charge

After leading 23 laps - the second-most on the night - Cody Ware finished 20th at Daytona but hailed it as Rick Ware Racing’s best run of the year

Rick Ware Racing driver Cody Ware finished Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in 20th position. After an impressive run, including leading a number of laps, the driver came away with confidence as he called it the team's "best race of the year".

Following the NASCAR Cup regular season finale, the North Carolina driver was disappointed to finish so far back, but looks forward to his next opportunity at the superspeedway.

"It was definitely not the result we wanted, but I think we showed the guys today that we're gonna keep showing up at these races and keep trying to do our best to win," he said. "We're gonna get one some day soon here. It's gonna come sooner rather than later."

The 29-year-old led 23 laps of the 160-lap race - the second-highest tally on Saturday - commanding the field for several portions of the evening and enjoying a duel with Ty Dillon.

Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota, AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, Cody Ware, Rick Ware Racing Ford

Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

"I'm super glad to get up front," he continued before voicing his confidence in his car. "Ford Performance and our Roush Yates Engines was fast all day. I learned a lot running up front and I think we're gonna get one here once we can dial it in and get some track position."

The final restart was difficult for Ware as he found himself out of track position.

"Even at these races now you've got to be up front to stay up front. I tried to manoeuvre around a little bit, but unfortunately on that final restart that third line formed while we were already kind of married to the bottom, so we couldn't get our way up there.

"Still, I think we had our best race of the year and our result doesn't show that," the Rick Ware Racing driver finished.

While not making it into the playoffs, he will want to continue this newfound momentum into Darlington Raceway next week.