Ryan Preece storms into NASCAR Cup Chase with first career win at Daytona: Short on fuel in the late going, but with no dearth of tenacity, Ryan Preece won Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in overtime to force his way into the NASCAR Cup Series Chase. “I’m just speechless right now,” said Preece, who claimed the final berth the Chase by 17 points over Shane van Gisbergen. The three-time Australian Supercars champion had led Preece by 31 points entering the regular-season finale.[Read More]
#60-Ryan Preece won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. The win is his first career win and was enough to lock him into the final spot on the Chase.
#7-Daniel Suarez finished 2nd followed by #45-Tyler Reddick, #71-Michael McDowell, #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., #2-Austin Cindric, #3-Austin Dillon, #48-Alex Bowman, #21-Josh Berry, and #41-Cole Custer.
Pole sitter #1-Ross Chastain finished 28th after being caught in the final accident.
The race was calm for most of the night, with only the stage breaks bringing out cautions until Lap 156, when #77-Carson Hocevar spun and collected #43-Erik Jones. Cleanup from the accident pushed the race into overtime. #38-Zane Smith led at the overtime restart and took the white flag out front, but he attempted to block #45-Tyler Reddick on the final lap and was turned, triggering a multicar accident. As cars wrecked throughout the field, NASCAR was forced to throw a caution. #60-Ryan Preece was clearly leading when the caution came out, giving him the victory and the 16th and final Chase position by 17 points over Shane van Gisbergen.
Stage 1 was won by #97-Shane van Gisbergen. Stage 2 was won by #12-Ryan Blaney.
The fastest lap bonus a earned by #4-Noah Gragson
There were 41 lead changes among 22 drivers and 4 cautions for 21 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 154.690mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Driver Points Standings before reset, Owner Points Standings, Owner Points Standings before reset, Cumulative Report, Infraction Report.
Race Fast Facts – Daytona:
Ryan Preece won the Coke Zero Sugar 400, his first victory in 249 Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and seventh top-10 finish in 2026.
This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in 14 races at Daytona International Speedway.
Daniel Suarez (second) posted his third top-10 finish in 19 races at Daytona International Speedway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2026.
Tyler Reddick (third) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 15 races at Daytona International Speedway.
Connor Zilisch (25th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Denny Hamlin leads the point standings by 89 points over Ryan Blaney.
Driver Points / Chase Standings after Daytona:
Start of the Chase:
1) #11-Denny Hamlin, 2100, Leader
2) #12-Ryan Blaney, 2075, -25
3) #45-Tyler Reddick, 2065, -35
4) #54-Ty Gibbs, 2060, -40
5) #19-Chase Briscoe, 2055, -45
6) #20-Christopher Bell, 2050, -50
7) #5-Kyle Larson, 2045, -55
8) #9-Chase Elliott, 2040, -60
9) #22-Joey Logano, 2035, -65
10) #17-Chris Buescher, 2030, -70
11) #7-Daniel Suarez, 2025, -75
12) #77-Carson Hocevar, 2020, -80
13) #24-William Byron, 2015, -85
14) #23-Bubba Wallace, 2010, -90
15) #2-Austin Cindric, 2005, -95
16) #60-Ryan Preece, 2000, -100
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Driver Points / Chase Standings after Daytona (before points reset):
Race 26 of 26 in the regular season:
1) #11-Denny Hamlin, 1027, +422
2) #12-Ryan Blaney, 938, +333
3) #45-Tyler Reddick, 894, +289
4) #54-Ty Gibbs, 892, +287
5) #19-Chase Briscoe, 761, +156
6) #20-Christopher Bell, 758, +153
7) #5-Kyle Larson, 724, +119
8) #9-Chase Elliott, 723, +118
9) #22-Joey Logano, 709, +104
10) #17-Chris Buescher, 677, +72
11) #7-Daniel Suarez, 676, +71
12) #77-Carson Hocevar, 673, +68
13) #24-William Byron, 666, +61
14) #23-Bubba Wallace, 651, +46
15) #2-Austin Cindric, 631, +26
16) #60-Ryan Preece, 622, +17
Outside the top 16:
17) #97-Shane Van Gisbergen, 605, -17
18) #6-Brad Keselowski, 543, -79
19) #1-Ross Chastain, 518, -104
20) #71-Michael McDowell, 517, -105
See the Driver Points Standings Before Reset and Owner Points Standings Before Reset.
Race updates:
Ryan Preece wins under caution during the first overtime attempt.He gets into the Chase over SVG.
CAUTION out for a big accident on the backstretch. Waiting for official results. Could be Preece as the winner.
White flag for Smith over Preece. Reddick with them.
Lap 165 – Green flag for the first overtime attempt.
Lap 164 – Restart waved off. Green next time by.
Lap 161 – Track cleanup is continuing, forcing drivers to save even more fuel.
Lap 159 – Will have an overtime finish. With the running order now set, it’s Smith Preece Blaney Reddick Cindric Suarez Berry Bowman McDowell Logano. A number of drivers further back pit for a splash of fuel.
Lap 157 – Under caution, as they currently run: Smith Preece Reddick Blaney Suarez Cindric Berry Bowman McDowell Gibbs. Pit road opens, leaders stay out.
Lap 156 – CAUTION is out for Hocevar and Jones. Hocevar moved down the track to make a move and the car broke free. He slid up the track, into the wall and was hit by Jones. Gibbs also spun out but didn’t hit anything.
Lap 155 – Smith now leads with 5 to go. Preece still second and Hocevar back to third. Everyone jockeying for position.
Lap 154 – Hocevar leads Preece at the line. Smith Blaney and Reddick trail them.
Lap 153 – Front of the pack is currently single file. Preece still leads.
Lap 151 – Down to 10 laps remaining: Preece to the lead over Smith Reddick Blaney Hocevar Gibbs Jones Suarez Nemechek SVG. The pace is picking up quickly.
Lap 149 – Hill has fallen off the lead lap. Now 36 drivers on the lead lap.
Lap 147 – Reddick now leads Hocevar Suarez Nemechek and Preece.
Lap 146 – Reddick to the lead with 15 laps remaining. The group with Ross Chastain are now 15.5 seconds back.
Lap 145 – Nemechek Reddick Preece Smith Jones now the top 5.
Lap 143 – Some drivers his pit road: Byron Larson Elliott Ware Briscoe Allmendinger TDillon.
Lap 141 – Twenty laps remaining. Byron continues to lead but the team tells him he needs to save fuel to make it to the finish. Elliott Larson Ware and Nemechek follow him. The drivers, that pitted earlier are now, 19 second back, lead by Chastain.
Lap 136 – Twenty-five laps to go. Byron leads Elliott Larson Ware Nemechek Reddick Briscoe SVG Gibbs TDillon. 37 drivers still on the lead lap.
Lap 130 – Byron to the lead over Elliott Briscoe Ware and Gibbs.
9:47pm/et – 129 laps complete is just 2 hours.
Lap 128 – Byron has moved to second, then Elliott and Briscoe. Keselowski falls to 5th.
Lap 126 – Ware still out front. Keselowski hanging in second.
Lap 121 – Some driver come to pit road, mainly Chevys. Hill Chastain ADillon Custer Zilisch Stenhouse Mears among them.
Lap 121 – Forty laps to go. Most everyone should need to pit once more for fuel to make it to the end, but many will try to stretch it.
Lap 119 – Ware takes the lead for the first time. Hill up to second, then Keselowski Byron and Gragson.
Lap 116 – Keselowski back out front.
Lap 115 – Briscoe back to the lead over Keselowski. Two and three wide through the field.
Lap 111 – Fifty laps remaining. Keselowski leads Ware Briscoe Gilliland and Elliott. Everyone running in one pack still.
Lap 108 – Briscoe leads Gilliland at the line. Then Keselowski Cindric and Ware. Still 38 drivers on the lead lap. Just Gase 1 lap down and Bueshcer now 15 laps back.
Lap 102 – Green flag for the start of the final stage. Gilliland Briscoe Cindric Burton Logano Keselowski ADillon Bowman Mears Custer the top 10.
Lap 100 – Many drivers come back down pit road to top off with fuel.
Lap 97 – Pit road is open and most leaders are in. Off pit road: Gilliland Briscoe Preece Cindric Hill Larson Wallace Byron.
Lap 96 – CAUTION out for the end of stage 2. Blaney Preece Smith Byron Gilliland Larson Briscoe Suarez Elliott Hill the top 10.
Lap 92 – Elliott back to the lead with 4 laps left in the stage. Blaney to second.
Lap 86 – Ten to go in stage 2. Cindric Elliott Preece Smith Blaney Logano Byron Larson Bell Briscoe the top 10. A caution at any point now would end the stage.
Lap 83 – Blaney to the lead. Cindric second and Logan now third.
Lap 81 – Race is halfway and official. Just 1 hour and 13 minutes elapsed. Elliott still leads.
Lap 76 – Twenty laps left in stage 2. Elliott Preece Smith Byron Keselowski Bell Briscoe TDillon Hill Gilliland.
Lap 72 – Elliott back to the lead. Most of the field still double wide.
Lap 69 – Smith now leads over Elliott Preece Byron and Keselowski.
Lap 65 – Elliott leads for the first time tonight. Byron to second.
Lap 61 – Thirty five laps left in stage 2: Chastain Elliott Ware Byron Preece Smith Keselowski Nemechek Briscoe Bell the top 10.
Lap 59 – Ware has moved up to second. Elliott third.
Lap 57 – Chastain moves the lead.
Lap 56 – Buescher is back on track, 13 laps down.
Lap 51 – Briscoe to the lead over Hill Chastain Smith and Gilliland. Much of the field is double wide. Buescher is behind the wall for (front toe) repairs, but everyone else is on the lead lap.
Lap 47 – Now Hill back to the lead.
Lap 46 – Gilliland now the leader.
Lap 45 – SVG leads.
Lap 44 – Green flag for the start of the second stage. Logano SVG Gilliland Gibbs Briscoe Jones Bowman Hill Keselowski Elliott.
Lap 42 – More pitting this time by as well. Everyone has now been in and Logano is the leader over Gibbs.
Lap 41 – Many drivers pit this time by to be able to have a little more gas for the start of the stage.
Lap 40 – Pit road is open. Many of leaders come in, several drivers stay out. Off pit road: Logano Gibbs SVG Jones Gilliland Briscoe Bowman Hill.
Lap 39 – NASCAR used video to determine the finishing order for the stage. It is: SVG Gibbs Logano Jones Briscoe Larson Wallace Preece Nemechek Cindric
Lap 36 – CAUTION out for an accident at the end of stage 1. Buescher, Preece and Larson spin coming to the line. No one appears to have heavy damage. Top 10: SVG Gibbs Logano Jones Briscoe Wallace Nemechek Hill Bowman Cindric. With his stage finish, Wallace locks in a Chase spot.
Lap 35 – Buescher leads as the final lap of the stage begins and Dye gets lapped.
Lap 31 – Five laps remaining in the stage. The first of the field is single file.
Lap 28 – Hill still leads. Custer and Dye have lost the pack. Everyone else is within 3.7 seconds of the leader.
Lap 21 – Fifteen laps left in stage 1: Hill Larson Buescher Preece Chastain SVG Briscoe Gibbs Zilisch Wallace the top 10.
Lap 12 – Hill now the leader.
Lap 11 – Larson leads for the first time tonight. AHill Buescher Preece and Zilisch round out the top 5.
Lap 6 – Buescher leads at the line as much of the field is three wide.
Lap 2 – Chastain leads the first lap.
• 7:47pm/et – Green flag at Daytona.
• 7:35pm/et – Engines are fired.
• 7:22pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
• 7:00pm/et – NBC now has pre-race coverage.
• 5:51pm/et – Only cars to the rear tonight (so far) are Harrison Burton for the driver change and Mears for unapproved adjustments
• 3:30pm/et – 23XI Racing has announced that Harrison Burton will sub for Herbst tonight. Herbst is still experiencing effects from his New Hampshire crash.
• Cars were impounded after qualifying. Any cars to the rear will likely be announced close to the start of the race when teams begin doing pre-race checks.
• Weather is looking good for tonight. According to the National Weather Service:
Today – A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight – A 10 percent chance of showers after 4am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. East wind around 5 mph.
Coke Zero Sugar 400
Broadcast: NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 160 laps / 400 miles
Stages: 35 / 95 / 160
Average time of race: 2:53:07
Pit road speed: 55 mph
Caution car speed: 70 mph
Fuel Window: 54 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
- Drivers Meeting will begin at 6:20 p.m. in the Drivers Meeting Room.
- Once concluded drivers will take golf carts on a secure path passing the Fan Zone and turning into the NOAPS garage and getting dropped off in the Rolex Chute.
- Driver intros will begin promptly on stage from pit-road at 6:50 p.m.
- Drivers will walk across a pier to driver parade floats on the frontstretch apron; go counter race direction to turn 4 grandstands U-Turn and drop off at the rear of the grid.
Invocation: 7:22:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 7:23:00 p.m.
Command: 7:35:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 7:47:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #35-Burton (driver change), #62-Mears (unapproved adjustments)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway have been made.
Pole winner #1-Ross Chastain chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #17-Chris Buescher took the 20th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the Daytona Pit Stall page.
NASCAR Cup Series pre-race inspection is complete at Daytona International Speedway. The No. 6 failed inspection twice and will lose pit selection for this event and car chief Jonathan Ellis was ejected.
#1-Ross Chastain won the Busch pole for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway with a speed of 184.396mph for his first pole of the year, first at Daytona and third of his career.
#17-Chris Buescher will start second followed by #33-Austin Hill, #60-Ryan Preece, #35-Riley Herbst, #97-Shane van Gisbergen, #88-Connor Zilisch, #2-Austin Cindric, #22-Joey Logano, and #5-Kyle Larson.
Did Not Qualify: #66-Gray Gaulding.
See the complete qualifying results and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Starting Lineup.
Daytona – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Ross Chastain won the Pole Award for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 with a lap of 48.808 seconds, 184.396 mph.
This is his third pole in 285 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and eighth top-10 start in 2026.
This is his first pole in 17 races at Daytona International Speedway.
Chris Buescher (second) posted his 12th top-10 start of 2026 and his fifth in 22 races at Daytona International Speedway.
Austin Hill(i) (third) posted his first top-10 start at Daytona International Speedway. It is his second in 16 races this season.
Connor Zilisch (seventh) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Qualifying Order
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway is posted, 41 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Open teams: #44-Joey Gase, #62-Casey Mears, #66-Gray Gaulding, #67-Corey Heim, #78-Daniel Dye
See the full entry list on the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Entry List page.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the famed Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, followed by exclusive extended post-race coverage on the USA Sports YouTube Channel, USA App, and USANetwork.com.
| Coke Zero Sugar 400 on NBC |
| Date |
Game |
Time (ET) |
| Sat., Aug. 29 |
Pre-Race Show
- Marty Snider (host)
- Jeff Burton (analyst)
- Steve Letarte (analyst)
|
7 p.m. |
| Sat., Aug. 29 |
Daytona 500
- Leigh Diffey (pxp)
- Jeff Burton (analyst)
- Steve Letarte (analyst)
- Dale Jarrett, Brad Daugherty (pit box)
- Marty Snider, Kim Coon, Dave Burns, Trevor Bayne (pit reporter)
- Trevor Bayne (pace car analyst)
|
7:30 p.m. |
| Sat., Aug. 29 |
Post-Race Show |
Post Race |
Goodyear Fast Facts — Daytona: NASCAR Cup Series teams will run the same Goodyear Racing Eagles in this Saturday’s race at Daytona International Speedway as they did in February’s Daytona 500. This tire setup was also raced at Talladega Superspeedway in April. The left-side tire has raced at Daytona since 2022; the right-side since last year’s Daytona 500.
Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Coke Zero Sugar 400: A look at some of the top statistical performers at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida going into the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on August 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Race rules and information:
