Ryan Preece won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night in overtime to advance to The Chase in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Preece, Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric each clinched spots in the 16-driver postseason field following Saturday’s regular-season finale. Shane van Gisbergen and Brad Keselowski were each eliminated from Chase contention following the outcome of Saturday’s race.
RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos
Zane Smith was leading on the final lap but spun after contact from Tyler Reddick exiting Turn 2, triggering a significant multicar crash down the back straightaway. Preece avoided the carnage and was ruled ahead of Daniel Suárez when the caution flag waved to surge to his first points-paying victory and RFK Racing’s first win of 2026.
Suárez was second ahead of Spire Motorsports teammate Michael McDowell, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr, who completed the top five.
A crash at Lap 155 sent the race to overtime after Carson Hocevar collided with Erik Jones in a violent accident in Turn 3. Hocevar dove to Ryan Preece’s left in a battle for second place when Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet snapped loose. The Spire Motorsports driver slid to the apron of the race track and came back across the track’s 31-degree banking, slamming the SAFER barrier in front of Jones, who careened into the back bumper of Hocevar’s car in front of him.
Stage 2 recap
Ryan Blaney surged to the victory in Stage 2 of Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway (NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Blaney made a last-lap pass on Chase Elliott to secure the stage win, drafting to the No. 9 Chevrolet’s bumper down the backstretch and completing the pass before Turn 3.
MORE: Full Stage 2 results
Ryan Preece was second at the stage end ahead of Zane Smith, William Byron and Todd Gilliland.
Kyle Larson was sixth ahead of Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suárez, Elliott, who fell to ninth, and Austin Hill.
Stage 1 recap
Shane van Gisbergen won the opening stage of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night.
Van Gisbergen advanced to the lead after the previous leader, Chris Buescher, crashed entering the tri-oval after an errant push from Kyle Larson. Ryan Preece, who entered the race chasing SVG for the provisional 16th and final position in The Chase, was also collected in the crash. Buescher, Larson and Preece all collided and spun through the grass but were able to continue.
MORE: Full Stage 1 results
Ty Gibbs ended the opening stage second ahead of Joey Logano, Erik Jones and Chase Briscoe. Larson, Bubba Wallace, Preece, John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Cindric completed the top 10.
By scoring four points in the opening stage, Wallace officially clinched his spot in The Chase. Saturday’s race serves as the final race of the regular season before The Chase begins. Brad Keselowski is now officially eliminated from postseason contention.
This story will be updated.