Ryan Preece entered the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway 31 points below the playoff cutline and left as a first-time Cup Series winner with a locked-in playoff berth. The race, the final event of NASCAR’s regular season, delivered the kind of chaos that defines superspeedway racing while rewriting one driver’s career trajectory in a single night.
The early scramble
Preece’s path to the front nearly ended before stage 1 concluded. A crash involving his Roush Fenway Keselowski teammate Chris Buescher and HMS’ Kyle Larson sent Preece through the grass, dropping him from a potential third-place finish to seventh. The seven points he expected vanished when Shane van Gisbergen handled the wreck and won the stage from tenth with one lap remaining. The swing turned a projected +9 points into a -7 deficit.
“It’s just a sign to how prepared these race cars are, man,” Preece told NASCAR on USA. “I’m a racer. I know what it takes to build speed. So every man and woman at RFK, thank you for giving me a rocket ship so I can go to the moon tonight.”
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He recovered to finish second in stage 2 behind Ryan Blaney, last year’s Coke Zero 400 winner. The nine points helped, but nothing short of a victory would be enough. The reintroduction of The Chase had changed the playoff math this season—a win alone no longer guaranteed entry.
The closing laps
With ten laps remaining, Preece took the lead for the first time in the race. He and Shane van Gisbergen, who was running ahead of Austin Cindric, were both aiming for a smaller team’s breakthrough win.
Five laps later, Preece had fallen to second and slipped out of a playoff spot. Carson Hocevar, trying to stop his summer slide in the points standings, attempted a pass on the inside, got loose, and washed down onto the apron. He snapped back up the track, collecting Erik Jones. The crash set up a green-white-checker finish, with most of the field facing fuel concerns.
During the extended yellow, Trackhouse Racing had to pit van Gisbergen, sending the No. 97 to the back of the field just when he needed track position most.
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The final yellow
When the race resumed, Zane Smith jumped to the front and controlled the field into the white flag lap. However, Tyler Reddick contacted Smith’s rear quarterpanel while battling outside, and as Preece moved underneath, Smith spun and collected multiple cars. The yellow flew with Preece clearly leading at the moment of initial contact.
The victory was sealed. Preece became the 13th different winner this season and secured the 16th and final playoff berth.
Shane van Gisbergen finished 17 points behind Preece in the standings. The road-course specialist had made significant strides on ovals this year, often matching or outpacing his Trackhouse teammates. His three road-course wins weren’t sufficient under the revised system, and his improvement on traditional tracks came up just short of extending his season.
