Ryan Preece Scores Walkoff Win at Daytona to Clinch Chase Spot

Ryan Preece won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, clinching the 16th and final spot in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase. The win was the first of Preece’s career in his 249th start.

“Daytona almost took my life,” Preece said. “To be standing here in victory lane and saying I won at Daytona, a place that every kid that races, they dream of winning here. I’m just happy I had a rocket ship to go to the moon tonight.”

By securing the final Chase spot, Preece triumphed Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen in a walk-off. Entering the race, van Gisbergen was 31 points ahead of Preece. Barring a victory from the No. 60 team, van Gisbergen needed only to limit his points losses to maintain his Chase spot. In the end, RFK Racing simply outperformed their opponents with their season on the line.

“One night doesn’t sum up our year,” van Gisbergen said after the race. “I guess we haven’t been good enough but it’s been cool to be close. Shame we’re not in it.”

Racing to the Yellow

Ryan Preece led on the final lap when a multi-car wreck kicked off on the backstretch. A mad dash to first place commenced, with Preece and Daniel Suárez desperately vying to be in front when the caution waved. After a review of the scoring by NASCAR, Preece was confirmed as the winner.

Behind them, Zane Smith was sent into the wall following contact from Tyler Reddick. Smith could’ve ricocheted down into Preece and brought about a vastly different outcome, but he instead drifted back and stacked up traffic further back in the field. Ryan Blaney also spun from the inside groove as the lead pack attempted to merge back into the racing lane.

Mad Dash for Points

The battle for a Chase spot between Shane van Gisbergen and Ryan Preece took center stage at the finish of Stage 1. A push from Kyle Larson into Chris Buescher took their two cars and Preece’s on a ride into the infield grass. As it happened, the stage win was inherited by van Gisbergen to build his points advantage over Preece.

When the green-and-white checkered flag waved, Bubba Wallace clinched his Chase spot with a four-point yield. Brad Keselowski was also mathematically eliminated, with his long-shot path to advancement closing decisively.

Preece built back some of his deficit by finishing second in Stage 2 behind Ryan Blaney. With van Gisbergen failing to crack the top-10, Preece exited Stage 2 in better points shape than he entered the night, despite a seemingly disastrous end to Stage 1.

Austin Cindric also entered the night without his Chase spot clinched. Him falling outside of the top 16 in points was a long-shot, but he was still less than 10 points in the black late in the race. Rallying to a sixth-place finish, Cindric ensured he’d compete for a championship.

The Chase Field

Denny Hamlin enters the Chase as the top seed, having clinched the regular season championship coming into Daytona. Ryan Blaney is next, followed by Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, and Chase Briscoe to round out the top five.

Christopher Bell is seeded sixth, the lowest of the four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. Next is the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, three-time champion Joey Logano, and RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher.

The final six spots in the Chase are occupied by Daniel Suárez, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, and Ryan Preece. Trackhouse Racing failed to get any drivers in before the cutoff, but both Shane van Gisbergen (17th) and Ross Chastain (19th) remained close in contention for much of the season.

Race Results