Ryan Preece pulled off a miraculous first career NASCAR Cup Series win in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway. The driver of the No. 60 earned his first victory in his 249th career start, but the triumph came with major Chase implications.
Preece entered Saturday’s race, the final of the regular season, 31 points behind Shane van Gisbergen for the final spot in the Chase.
Ultimately needing a win to make the cut, Preece overtook Zane Smith on the final lap of the race and led at the caution flag as a massive pileup ensued behind him. Preece made the Chase with the win, while SVG did not make the cut.
Also clinching Chase spots were Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric. With a sixth-place finish in Stage 1, Wallace earned enough points to secure his spot. Meanwhile, Cindric finished sixth in the race to clinch a Chase berth.
The end of Stage 1 saw Chris Buescher smack the outside wall and spin out from the lead after contact with Kyle Larson. Buescher collected Larson and Preece, allowing Shane van Gisbergen to win Stage 1.
The crash coupled with SVG gaining 10 stage points set Preece back further in his chances of making the Chase. However, the driver of the No. 60 was fortunate to gain three stage points of his own in Stage 1 as well as nine points in Stage 2 for finishing second.
Carson Hocevar suffered a violent crash in the closing laps while running in third position. The driver of the No. 77 collected Ty Gibbs and Erik Jones in the process of tallying his second DNF of the 2026 season.
Hocevar’s wreck ultimately set up an overtime finish. Zane Smith led at the white flag, but it was Preece who worked his way to the point as the field made its way through turn 2. As Preece got by, Smith spun in front of the pack, triggering a huge multi-car crash that forced the race to end under caution.
Official NASCAR Cup Series Daytona Results
Winner
Ryan Preece (RFK Racing)
Stage Winners
Stage 1: Shane van Gisbergen
Stage 2: Ryan Blaney
Full Official Results
- Ryan Preece
- Daniel Suarez
- Tyler Reddick
- Michael McDowell
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Austin Cindric
- Austin Dillon
- Alex Bowman
- Josh Berry
- Cole Custer
- Denny Hamlin
- Harrison Burton
- Chase Briscoe
- Brad Keselowski
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Corey Heim
- Christopher Bell
- Joey Logano
- Todd Gilliland
- Bubba Wallace
- Ty Dillon
- William Byron
- Chase Elliott
- Ross Chastain
- Connor Zilisch
- Noah Gragson
- Austin Hill
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Daniel Dye
- AJ Allmendinger
- Kyle Larson
- Zane Smith
- Ryan Blaney
- Ty Gibbs
- Cody Ware
- Joey Gase
- Casey Mears
- Carson Hocevar
- Erik Jones
- Chris Buescher
Key NASCAR Cup takeaways from Daytona
- Ryan Preece wins first NASCAR Cup Series race and makes the Chase
- Shane van Gisbergen won Stage 1 but finished 27th and missed the Chase.
- Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece crashed at the end of Stage 1.
- Bubba Wallace finished sixth in Stage 1 and secured a spot in the Chase.
- Ryan Blaney won Stage 2.
- Austin Hill led a career-high 27 laps.
- Carson Hocevar suffered second DNF of the season after late-race crash.
