Shane van Gisbergen eliminated from Chase contention after Preece wins Daytona

Shane van Gisbergen was eliminated from Chase qualification after Saturday night's NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway. Ryan Preece, who entered 31 points below the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing driver, scored his first career victory following a caution on the final lap and leaped van Gisbergen to claim the 16th and final spot in the 10-race postseason field. RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos Van Gisbergen won Stage 1 of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 but was involved in the final-lap incident at the 2.5-mile superspeedway that parachuted the Kiwi to an unofficial 28th-place finish. Van Gisbergen missed The Chase by 17 points to Preece. "It's pretty fresh now, but congrats to the 60," van Gisbergen told USA Sports. "But yeah, one night doesn't sum up our year. I guess we haven't been good enough, but it's been cool to be close. But yeah, shame we're not in it. I'm proud that I've been able to match my teammates on the ovals. I think I've stepped up this year, but yeah, obviously you want to be in that Chase." Preece, Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric clinched the final three Chase spots Saturday night and will join Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suárez, Carson Hocevar and William Byron in the quest for the 2026 Cup Series championship. This story will be updated.