Whereas fuel-saving remained ever-present, the brand new guidelines bundle appeared to enhance the racing product at Daytona Worldwide Speedway, as drivers have been capable of make strikes all all through the sector and it by no means felt really gridlocked.
On the finish of the day, it was Ryan Preece ending his 0-248 streak with an enormous win at Daytona, one which vaulted him up into the Chase for the primary time in his total Cup profession. It was additionally RFK Racing’s first victory of the 2026 season.
Saturday additionally had a number of attention-grabbing information off the observe, together with the disclosing of Jimmie Johnson’s throwback No. 48 Lowe’s/Carvana/Ally automobile he’ll race in his last Daytona 500 in 2027, in addition to the thrilling information that Days of Thunder 2 is coming to theaters in June of 2028.
Tom Cruise was even at Daytona for the race, and addressed the NASCAR storage on the pre-race driver’s assembly.
As Preece celebrates his well-earned victory, all eyes flip to the battle for the title as The Chase begins. However earlier than then, this is a have a look at the largest winners and losers from the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona:
WINNER: Ryan Preece calls his shot and delivers a season-altering win
Watch: Preece on Daytona win, Chase berth: ‘That is redemption’
In his 249th NASCAR Cup race as a driver, Ryan Preece made it loud and clear that he was not happening with out a struggle. Whilst Chase rival SVG received Stage 1 whereas Preece slid via the infield grass, Preece refused to simply accept defeat. He shortly made his approach again to the entrance and on the ultimate restart, Preece took the lead whereas these subsequent to him collided, and held P1 because the race-ending warning flew a couple of seconds later. He was lastly a winner on the prime stage of NASCAR, and in doing so, punched his approach into the Chase discipline on the last-possible second. He beat SVG by 17 factors ultimately, making up a complete of 48 factors in a single race.
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LOSER: Shane van Gisbergen and all of Trackhouse Racing fail to make the minimize
Watch: SVG after lacking The Chase: ‘One evening does not sum up our yr’
For the primary time since increasing right into a multi-car group in 2022, Trackhouse Racing didn’t get any of their automobiles into the Chase discipline. Connor Zilisch by no means actually had an opportunity, Ross Chastain was eradicated earlier than Daytona, however SVG was their one last hope. Nevertheless, even with a 31-point buffer and a Stage 1 win, it wasn’t sufficient as Preece bumped SVG from the Chase discipline, making certain no Trackhouse driver will participate within the postseason. The weekend began with a lot promise, as all three automobiles certified inside the highest seven with Chastain even snagging the pole, just for none of their drivers to complete greater than twenty fourth, and Van Gisbergen fell out of the highest 16 proper because the Chase grid was locked in.
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WINNER: Daniel Suarez jumps two spots within the standings with runner-up end
Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford wins underneath warning with Daniel Suarez second, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Photograph by: Michael Bush – Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures
Suarez completed second within the Daytona summer time for the second consecutive yr, and whereas it wasn’t a win, Suarez’s runner-up end was sufficient to leap him two positions within the standings from thirteenth to eleventh. With the Chase reset, that effort netted Suarez an extra ten bonus factors, which may very well be enormous with solely 100 factors masking 16 drivers now. He now leads the way in which for Spire into the postseason whereas the group that minimize him free (Trackhouse) didn’t get a single automobile into the highest 16.
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LOSER: Zane Smith and an particularly irritating loss
Watch: Preece wins in chaotic Daytona end for first points-paying victory
One other win slipped via Smith’s fingertips on Saturday evening at Daytona. Making his 107th profession begin, Smith has been near Victory Lane a couple of instances earlier than. However this time, he was main on the white flag with the sector three-wide behind him. It appeared like an ideal alternative. Sadly, his late try to dam Tyler Reddick via Turns 1 and a couple of proved pricey, as contact was made and Smith crashed into the wall. He by no means made it again to the end line and was scored in thirty second place. He later expressed frustration with Reddick for not giving him an opportunity to avoid wasting his No. 38.
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WINNER: Harrison Burton does a stable job in 23XI fill-in function
Harrison Burton, Sam Hunt Racing Toyota
Photograph by: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures
Simply hours earlier than the Cup Collection race, Harrison Burton acquired the decision to make his first NASCAR Cup Collection begin because the finish of the 2024 season. Riley Herbst was affected by “lingering results” from a violent crash at New Hampshire and stepped apart. Burton, who scored a prime ten end in Friday’s NASCAR O’Reilly race, drove it with relative ease and no drama. He stored the automobile clear and completed twelfth within the No. 35 Toyota, beating two of his three 23XI teammates.
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LOSER: Carson Hocevar wrecks himself, persevering with tough streak
Hocevar appeared on the entrance of the sector through the last run and instantly challenged for the race lead. Sadly, after main his first lap of the day on Lap 153, his evening got here to an abrupt finish on Lap 154. He made a daring transfer to the within on the entrance of Flip 3, however abruptly misplaced management and slid sideways. After hitting the apron, the automobile shot again up the observe, crashing closely and colliding with Erik Jones. Neither automobile managed to proceed. Hocevar slipped from fifth to twelfth within the standings in a little bit over a month earlier than the Chase reset, recording finishes of thirty first, thirty seventh, nineteenth, and thirty eighth.
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BONUS LOSER: Chris Buescher’s good evening goes dangerous in a rush
Chris Buescher, RFK Racing
Photograph by: James Gilbert / Getty Pictures
What an unlucky approach for the race to go for Chris Buescher. He was moments away from a Stage 1 win, solely to then discover himself crashing in entrance of the sector because of a clumsy bump. After shedding over ten laps within the storage for repairs, Buescher did finally rejoin the race, however he by no means gained any positions. The wrecks that did finally happen passed off far too late within the race, leaving him with a Fortieth-place end even with out a DNF — his worst end in 5 years, and that final one was because of a disqualification. Earlier than that, you need to go all the way in which again to 2016, and all three of these Fortieth-place finishes passed off on the summer time Daytona race. The one optimistic from Buescher’s Daytona expertise is the truth that the automobile sat again down after the rear-end started to carry up off the bottom…
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