NASCAR
Ryan Preece Wins Daytona, Kicks Shane van Gisbergen Out of The Chase
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Nobody told Ryan Preece that win and you’re in is dead. The RFK Racing driver had a career-defining performance at Daytona, taking a first career victory under a nearly must-win scenario. The No. 60 is now Chase bound thanks to outscoring bubble rival Shane van Gisbergen. The road racing ace is now left outside looking in for the 16-man title dance.
Stage 1 saw almost continuous clean door-to-door drafting, until the run to the first checkers. A bad bump from Kyle Larson sent Chris Buescher spinning from the lead, handing the opening stage win to Shane van Gisbergen. Ryan Preece also took a trip through the grass, but the 60 had minimal damage.
.@shanevg97 wins Stage 1 after Buescher and Larson spin, and cheers erupt from the crowd around the @TeamTrackhouse 97 pit box. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/ZynhaJQ2IE
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) August 30, 2026
Defending winner Ryan Blaney also put it all on the line to win Stage 2. The No. 12 got the upper hand over Chase Elliott for these bonus points.
As laps ticked by in an entirely green-flag final Stage, a few chess moves were made late. Two separate groups of Chevrolets pitted late from the lead pack for fuel, only to be trapped far back by a late Carson Hocevar caution. The No. 77 spinning set up an overtime finish, with Zane Smith leading over Ryan Preece.
Smith also spun trying to block three lanes in turn two, opening the door for Preece and leading to more carnage. Two separate pack-clearing crashes on the backstretch forced NASCAR to throw the race-ending caution, with Preece ahead by a nose. The past Modified racing ace from Connecticut is now a Cup Series winner on the biggest stage possible.
RYAN PREECE IS A NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNER!! pic.twitter.com/e1SjHoVH1N
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 30, 2026
“I’m just speechless right now,” Preece said. “But those guys, that 60 group, we’re fighters. When you put our back against the wall, we swing hard. So thank you to OIKOS, thank you to Kroger, to RFK, Jack Roush, the Fenway Group. Brad Keselowski. Last year there were a lot of keyboard warriors saying I was nothing. Well, we just kicked their butts tonight.”
“It’s a testament of how prepared these racecars are, man. 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 could go to the moon tonight.”
Thanks to the lion’s share of points from the win, Preece bumped Shane van Gisbergen from 16th in The Chase by 17 points. The newest Cup Series winner will be contending for a title, while SVG is left wondering what could have been.
.@shanevg97 walks through the highs and lows of tonight after winning Stage 1 but ultimately falling out of The Chase with Preece winning.
“We didn’t lose it all tonight”#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/vqsS6zoWIa
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) August 30, 2026
The Chase for the championship is on. pic.twitter.com/ngMowio14X
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 30, 2026
Escaping carnage behind Preece were: Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The rest of Daytona’s top-10 were: Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Josh Berry, and Cole Custer. Hear from a few of these drivers below.
.@Daniel_SuarezG says 2nd from Daytona is huge momentum for The Chase and thinks the new superspeedway package was a positive change. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/6BpEtWdjro
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) August 30, 2026
.@Mc_Driver ended Daytona with a strong top-5 run in 4th, saying he was committed to pushing @Daniel_SuarezG as high as possible and thought the package was a bit better. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/fDoLTYG9BR
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) August 30, 2026
.@AustinCindric was sixth from Daytona and makes The Chase once again, saying the package was a noticeable change. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/XSmubaz8sH
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) August 30, 2026
“We could go three-wide for 12 laps or so…”
“It was like playing ping pong with a piece of tape over one eye…” @dennyhamlin praises the package as a step in the right direction, and says racing without a rear view camera was very sketchy.
The 11 came home 11th in Daytona… pic.twitter.com/Jz5umlIUhA
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) August 30, 2026
.@CBellRacing calls the new Daytona package even worse with less power and a higher dependence on fuel mileage racing.
Bell is the sixth seed for The Chase after coming home 17th in Daytona. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/r97mDFvfH0
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) August 30, 2026
.@BubbaWallace was very concerned prerace about the new package, but says it felt fine on-track.
Wallace is frustrated that execution issues led the 23 to finishing 20th tonight. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/TIz1D8Tdbx
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) August 30, 2026
.@WilliamByron says in hindsight the Hendrick cars should’ve been more aggressive on saving fuel, and that being the 13th seed for The Chase doesn’t matter if they bring speed to Darlington.
After pitting from the lead late the 24 finished 22nd. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/y6wGFdk32v
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) August 30, 2026
The 10-week Cup Series Chase is on for its first year back in action. The championship hunt gets underway with a crown jewel event – the Cook Out Southern 500. Darlington Raceway will go green for a title-deciding major Sunday at 5 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. RFK Racing was running 1-2-3 late at Darlington in the spring, perhaps another Preece upset could be in the cards.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Chris Graythen/Getty Images
