Posted on by Reid Spencer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — 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 in 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.

“But those guys, that 60 group, we’re fighters,” Preece continued. “When you put our back against the wall, we swing hard … Last year there were a lot of keyboard warriors saying I was nothing. Well, we just kicked their butts tonight.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

In winning his first Cup Series points race, Preece recovered from a three-car wreck at the end of the first stage that damaged his left front fender, but after repairs, he was able to power his No. 60 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford back to the front.

Stretching fuel mileage over the final 65-lap stage, Preece surged into the lead past Tyler Reddick and Zane Smith in overtime moments before Smith turned into the outside wall to ignite a series of collisions that forced NASCAR to call the fourth yellow of the evening — with Preece ahead at the moment of caution.

“It’s a testament of how prepared these race cars are, man. I’m a racer,” Preece said. “I know what it takes to build speed. So, to every man and woman at RFK, thank you for giving me a rocket ship so I could go to the moon tonight. This is redemption.”

In a race that went six laps beyond its scheduled distance of 160 laps, Preece led three times for a total of five laps. Eschewing a pit stop in the final stage, he was running second when Carson Hocevar made an aggressive move to the inside entering Turn 3 to cause the Lap 155 wreck that forced overtime.

Hocevar steered his Spire Motorsports Chevrolet toward the bottom lane, but the rear of the car snapped loose, propelling the No. 77 Camaro into the outside wall. Erik Jones’ Toyota plowed violently into Hocevar’s car along the outside wall, as Ty Gibbs’ Camry spun down the track.

“Yeah, I was always super tight behind people, it seemed,” said Hocevar, who picked up his first career win at Talladega in April. “And so, I just changed from top to bottom there, and that was the first time I really got a ton of air on my nose into three and I just lost it. It just kept going. I had the wheel straight, man.

“It just kept going with all the air and something down on the nose. I’m shocked that it did that. It caught me off guard, for sure. It was nice to ride around all day like we’d kind of planned, and then we gave ourselves a shot to win it at the end. We were up front, had track position and led laps, and that’s all I can really ask for from a team standpoint. Overall, I thought we did a pretty good job here tonight.”

SHOP: Winner gear

Hocevar’s accident set up the overtime restart with Smith in the lead. After pushing Smith on the white-flag lap, Reddick made a move to the outside, but he and Smith tangled on the final circuit to start the race-ending melee on the backstretch.

Daniel Suárez avoided the chaos and finished second, followed by Reddick, Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Austin Cindric came home sixth and clinched the 15th seed in The Chase by nine points over Preece, who will start the postseason as the 16th seed.

“We were so close, two years in a row with a second-place finish,” Suárez said of his run in the No. 7 Spire Chevrolet. “Super happy and proud to make it to The Chase with this team. This team deserves it.

“I feel like in the past, I’ve had runs in the postseason where I didn’t think we were strong enough to really contend. But this team deserves to be in The Chase. We are a Chase team. There are so many people and partners that have helped us get here and put this kind of performance together.”

Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Josh Berry and Cole Custer completed the top 10. Berry posted his fifth straight top-10 result in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

Bubba Wallace finished 20th after clinching the 14th seed in The Chase with a seventh-place result in the first stage.

Van Gisbergen worked his way into a strong position with a win in Stage 1, as Preece, RFK teammate Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson spun into the infield grass approaching the finish line to end the stage.

Late in the race, however, van Gisbergen came to pit road for fuel on Lap 157 and opted for four new tires. That put him 27th for the overtime restart, and from that position he was unable to avoid the multicar wreck on the final lap. The New Zealander finished 28th and out of The Chase.

Denny Hamlin had clinched top seeding in The Chase, along with a 25-point advantage, last Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He’ll start The Chase with 2,100 points. Despite wrecking on the final lap and finishing 33rd, Ryan Blaney picked up the Stage 2 win and held the second seed to start The Chase with 2,075 points.

The remaining seeds in order are: Reddick, Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Larson, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Buescher, Suárez, Hocevar, William Byron, Wallace, Cindric and Preece.

The Chase begins on Sunday, Sept. 6 with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (5 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Stage 2 recap

Ryan Blaney surged to the victory in Stage 2 of Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

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.

NOTE: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Preece as the race winner.

Contributing: Staff report

Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series head to the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway this weekend for a pair of regular-season finales. The Cup Series will set its 16-driver field for The Chase in Saturday night’s race, while the O’Reilly Series will determine the 12 drivers advancing to its postseason Friday night. Bookmark this page and come back often for your race-week essentials — from qualifying orders, pit stalls, results and more.

RELATED: Full weekend schedule | TV listings | Goodyear tire setup

NASCAR Cup Series

Race day: Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Seven total sets — six new sets for the race and one for qualifying that transfers to the race.

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

Race day: Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on The CW. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Four total sets — three new sets for the race and one for qualifying that transfers to the race.

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

Posted on by Staff Report

23XI Racing announced Saturday afternoon that Riley Herbst would not compete in Saturday night’s race at Daytona International Speedway.

Herbst qualified fifth on Friday for Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. Harrison Burton replaced Herbst in the No. 35 Toyota for Saturday’s 160-lap race, finishing 12th.

MORE: Race results | Cup Series standings

“After a strong effort in qualifying yesterday, Riley Herbst woke up with lingering effects from last weekend’s incident and, along with the team, decided it was in his best interest to step out of the car for tonight’s race at Daytona International Speedway,” 23XI Racing said in a statement shared to its social channels. “He will be replaced in the No. 35 Toyota for tonight’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway by Harrison Burton.”

Herbst was collected in a crash at Lap 225 of last weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his car backing into the Turn 3 SAFER barrier before being struck again in the front of the vehicle.

Burton made his first Cup Series start since 2024, a season which marked his third and most recent full-time campaign at NASCAR’s top level. The son of NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Burton, Harrison Burton earned his first career Cup win in 2024 driving the famed No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford in the Daytona summer race, earning the storied team its 100th Cup victory.

Burton currently competes full-time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota for Sam Hunt Racing. Through 24 races this year, Burton ranks 19th in points with three top-10 finishes, including a season-best eighth-place result in Friday’s Winn-Dixie 250 Presented by Coca-Cola at Daytona.

Burton has four career wins in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, all stemming from his time with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2020. A native of Huntersville, North Carolina, Burton also won the ARCA Menards Series East championship in 2017 with a five-win campaign.

Herbst is in his second full-time season of Cup Series racing, joining 23XI Racing ahead of the 2025 campaign. The 2026 season has marked notable improvements for the three-time O’Reilly Series winner, notching three top-10s this year and improving his average finish from 26.4 in 2025 to 22.2 in 2026.

23XI Racing announced on May 30 that Corey Heim will replace Herbst in the No. 35 car for the 2027 season. Herbst has not yet announced his future racing plans.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — You can never count out an established race team. The same goes for William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports bunch, with the NASCAR Cup Series group looking to leave a mark in the upcoming Chase.

In the three seasons preceding 2026, Byron was the only driver to qualify for the Championship 4 every year. But the Rudy Fugle-led crew has yet to find its footing this season.

RELATED: Daytona summer hub | Where Byron is projected to finish in regular-season finale

“It’s been tough,” Byron said Friday at Daytona International Speedway, recalling his 2026 regular season. “I feel like my career and this 24 team has always been on an upward trajectory. We made three Championship 4s in a row; we’ve always gotten better through the years. This year hasn’t been a reality check, but it’s been a lot tougher. It’s been a grind. A lot of times, we haven’t had the pace to compete. Sometimes, we’ve had pretty good weekends, but we’re not where we want to be or need to be.”

The powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports has won just two of the opening 25 races in 2026, both by Chase Elliott. NASCAR’s version of the New York Yankees hasn’t seen Victory Lane since early May at Texas Motor Speedway, spanning the last 14 races.

Byron, who has collected 14 trophies since the introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022 — including a series-high six victories in 2023 — has just one win in the calendar year, coming at Martinsville Speedway last October. The No. 24 team has four top-five and 11 top-10 finishes, which are both the fewest Byron has recorded in a season since 2022. His 15.9 average finish is on pace to be his worst since 2020, when he averaged a 16.2 result.

When the championship standings rerack after an expected chaotic Daytona event, Byron could rank anywhere on The Chase grid from seventh — currently 64 points behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson — to 16th, currently sitting 58 points ahead of Shane van Gisbergen. But the three-time Daytona winner, who has won two of the last three Daytona 500s, believes there is still ample time to turn his 2026 season around.

“We’re a championship-capable team,” Byron said. “This year has been tough on us. We haven’t had a lot of consistency. I have no doubt that our group can put it together for the 10 weeks that we need to. I’m looking at it from a glass-half-full, and I feel like anybody is in the ballgame with the spread from first to 16th. It’s going to be about putting together 10 good weeks. I have a lot of faith in our group that we can do that. We just have to buckle down.

“We’ve already started working on Darlington [Raceway]; we started on that a couple of weeks ago. It’s a good track for us. We’re just waiting to see a breakthrough this year. Maybe it’s coming soon.”

MORE: Cup Series schedule | Cup Series standings

The No. 24 team’s newest hurdle is replacing pit-crew members Orane Ossowski (rear-tire changer) and Allen Holman (jackman) for the next two weeks at Daytona and The Chase opener at Darlington Raceway. On Lap 233 of last weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the left-rear wheel detached from the No. 24 car, sending Byron into the Turn 3 wall. That violated Sections 8.8.10.4.A&D in the NASCAR Rule Book. Hendrick Motorsports opted to pull jackman Dax Hollifield and rear-tire changer Rod Cox from the No. 48 pit crew of Alex Bowman for Daytona.

Posted on by Zack Albert

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Rajah Caruth had everything seemingly working in his favor during Friday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona International Speedway, like being in a hurry and encountering nothing but green lights. He was in go mode … until he wasn’t.

A late-race crash spoiled Caruth’s best chance at victory in Friday’s Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, but the incident didn’t prevent him from securing the final spot in The Chase during his first full O’Reilly Series season. Caruth entered the regular-season finale 15 points below the cutline, but near-maximum stage points and misfortune for the other Chase hopefuls helped him advance by a scant five points.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Daytona

His post-race emotions were divided, with elation at clinching a championship berth tempered by the wreck with less than three laps remaining that severely damaged his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Caruth was running between two JRM teammates, with Carson Kvapil’s No. 1 ahead of him and points leader Justin Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet behind him. A push from Allgaier near the end of the backstretch sent Caruth sliding out of control, across the apron and into the outside retaining wall.

Caruth limped home 32nd in the 38-car field, two laps down, after his mishap sent the event to overtime. Post-race, he watched replays of the incident before team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulled him aside. Allgaier soon joined the discussion about the ins and outs of superspeedway racing, and the three talked it all through.

“Yeah, just a little better decision-making there,” Caruth said when asked what Earnhardt had said. “You know, we were in a great spot us three, and I wanted to obviously go and race, and racing for my first win, but also realizing the situation. We were in a great spot with how fast our cars were. Just like it’s been for a lot of this year for me, just knowing the time and place to do things and the awareness. So lessons learned, but bummed about the end, but great, great lessons learned and things I can apply to Talladega.”

Caruth’s chances had brightened before the scheduled 250-miler reached halfway. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brent Crews and William Sawalich both sustained heavy damage in early crashes, derailing their Chase hopes. Caruth, meanwhile, showed strength after winning the pole in afternoon qualifying and stockpiled 18 precious points with finishes of third and first at the stage breaks.

He needed nearly every bit of that cushion, which grew to 35 points as he moved into contention late. A wayward push as Caruth stepped out of line with two and a half laps remaining reduced his margin to just five points, leaving Allgaier deflated by the outcome.

“I mean, you line up just to the right of the bumper and try to do all the things right, and it really wasn’t even a hard push,” said Allgaier, who heads into The Chase as the top seed. “It was just trying to get our JRM Chevys out front and hopefully create a gap to fourth, right? We did it at Atlanta. We were able to really navigate that, and I think that’s the hardest part is obviously, the playoffs are at stake. I know the 88 and Rajah were doing a great job. I think that’s the most frustrating part about it is you’re trying to be as calm and as patient as you can right there, and really for us, it’s just get to the exit of (turn) four, right? At that point, as a company, you get to the exit of four, you kind of have whatever you have. I think that’s the hardest part.

“I felt like it was the perfect push. I was just to the right of center. It wasn’t a hard push. I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to Rajah about it. I mean, I feel awful, obviously. It doesn’t matter how a race car gets torn up, it still stings. Just thankfully, I think it’s five points in, so I mean, thankfully he’s in and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

Caruth’s postseason path was all the more remarkable because he split time between a pair of teams this year. “I think that there’s something to say for that,” said Caruth, who drove in 14 regular-season races for JR Motorsports and the remaining 10 as part of a rotating cast in the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet. 

The 24-year-old is slated to drive the No. 88 JRM entry for the duration of The Chase, where he’ll be seeded 12th in the 12-driver field for the nine-race homestretch.

“I think I’m very disappointed right now with the end of the race and things I needed to do better,” Caruth said, “but the big picture is that we’re racing for a championship, so can’t ask for more.”

Posted on by Staff Report

One more race, one final opportunity. The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale is here, with the “World Center of Racing” at Daytona International Speedway acting as the ultimate battleground for those vying for Chase glory (Sat. 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Anything goes at drafting-style tracks, and the 2.5-mile racing cathedral is certainly no exception to the rule. Such circumstances make the postseason picture all the more tantalizing. Thirteen of 16 berths are already accounted for, but with three still to be clinched, the stakes are still sky-high for those fighting around the bubble.

RELATED: Starting lineup | What to Watch

The stage is set, with the additional layer of a new rules package further magnifying the excitement level tenfold. So, how does Racing Insights project the full finishing order for the 160-lap contest? Let’s give it a look.

DRIVERS TO WATCH

AUSTIN CINDRIC: Currently perched 44 points above the cutline, the No. 2 Team Penske Ford enters Daytona needing 33 markers to clinch a Chase position. Getting to that point total is easier said than done, though the 27-year-old Cindric does have winning experience at this track, thanks to his 2022 Daytona 500 victory. Cindric’s 32 stage points on drafting tracks in 2026 — which ranks fourth among drivers — additionally helps his cause. Battling at the front of the field early and often should propel Cindric to a postseason position.

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN: Currently holding the 16th and final postseason spot, the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing pilot needs 45 points to clinch a spot in The Chase. Van Gisbergen’s 15.5 average finish on drafting tracks in 2026 ranks ninth among all full-timers, further emphasizing the Kiwi’s improvement on non-road-course facilities this season. There is no letting up, though; with 19 points lost to the cut following New Hampshire Motor Speedway, van Gisbergen will need to give everything he has to cement that Chase position into concrete reality.

RFK RACING: Lumping in the entire three-driver stable holds plenty of merit when looking at the overall picture. Buescher has already clinched a Chase berth but is still looking for his first win this season. Daytona could be that opportunity to eliminate the goose egg as the No. 17 driver ranks second in most top-10 finishes on drafting tracks since 2025 (six) and fourth in 2026 average finish on drafting tracks (8.5). Winning the 2023 Daytona summer race also helps Buescher’s cause. Preece and Keselowski, meanwhile, rank 17th and 18th, respectively, in the cutline battle. Preece enters Saturday with a dose of momentum thanks to a sixth-place finish at New Hampshire, while Keselowski has Daytona experience on his side, with 34 career starts, one career win (2016) and a fifth-place finish in the 2026 Daytona 500 earlier this year. Both drivers can only clinch with help, so each pilot will likely have to put together their best performance of the season if they wish to contend for the championship crown.

MORE: At-track photos

FULL PROJECTED RESULTS FOR COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 (Sat., 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC)

POSITIONNUMBERDRIVER
117Chris Buescher
212Ryan Blaney
324William Byron
419Chase Briscoe
55Kyle Larson
645Tyler Reddick
754Ty Gibbs
822Joey Logano
923Bubba Wallace
1020Christopher Bell
119Chase Elliott
121Ross Chastain
132Austin Cindric
147Daniel Suárez
1511Denny Hamlin
1643Erik Jones
1777Carson Hocevar
1860Ryan Preece
1967Corey Heim
2048Alex Bowman
2197Shane van Gisbergen
2242John Hunter Nemechek
2371Michael McDowell
246Brad Keselowski
2547Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2638Zane Smith
273Austin Dillon
2821Josh Berry
2941Cole Custer
3010Ty Dillon
3135Harrison Burton
3216AJ Allmendinger
3334Todd Gilliland
3433Austin Hill
354Noah Gragson
3688Connor Zilisch
3751Cody Ware
3878Daniel Dye
3962Casey Mears
4044Joey Gase
Posted on by Brandon White

STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s return to Stafford Speedway on Friday evening was a day Teddy Hodgdon was eagerly looking forward to.

A good portion of Hodgdon’s childhood was spent at Stafford watching the track legends do battle around the storied facility. Hodgdon would eventually get a chance to write his own history at Stafford, racking up numerous accomplishments that included an SK Light Modified track championship in 2019.

RELARED: Complete results from the GAF 150

Hodgdon had to wait seven years after his 2019 championship for a chance to chase a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory at his home track. When that time came Friday evening, Hodgdon did not let it go to waste. He charged from 23rd on the starting grid to win his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event.

An emotional Hodgdon was in disbelief as he climbed out of his No. 05 in Victory Lane, elated that his small, family-owned team bested the giants of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at the track that defined him.

“This has been so many years in the making,” Hodgdon said. “I knew qualifying in the back was going to be an uphill battle, but as soon as we got through the first turn, I knew we had a piece tonight. My mentality at the beginning was to pick guys off and try to get the best track position we could for the pit stop.

“We made some changes with the tires and this thing was lights out after that. I fought the hardest 16 laps I could during the last run. I can’t believe that just happened.”

Entering Stafford, Hodgdon had seven top 10s through the first 12 races of the season. Given his previous experience at Stafford, Hodgdon knew there was an opportunity for the GAF 150 to be his best NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race yet.

Hodgdon set the quickest time in the first practice of the day but could not back that speed up in qualifying. Disappointed but not deterred, Hodgdon went to work when the green flag waved, surviving a first corner crash that collected numerous contenders before patiently working his way to the front.

With 25 laps remaining, Hodgdon was pulling away with a comfortable lead. Then the caution waved with less than 20 laps left after Stephen Kopcik spun off the front bumper of Matt Hirschman, who would line up second for the ensuing restart.

The restart was a near-disaster for Hodgdon, who spun the tires and lost the lead to Hirschman, though he quickly regrouped and gave chase.

Hirschman was unable to withstand Hodgdon’s pressure and conceded the top spot only a few laps later. While Hirschman would have loved to win at Stafford for the first time with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, he commended Hodgdon’s drive and felt he was deserving of the victory.

As for the contact with Kopcik that triggered the final yellow, Hirschman said it was unintentional despite their past encounters throughout the season.

“I sent it in the corner and didn’t have enough grip in the right front there to hold it,” Hirschman said. “Slid up and got into [Kopcik] a little bit. I’ve gone around twice this year off his front bumper. I wasn’t intending for that to happen, but I’ll at least own it. He didn’t do that at Riverhead and it cost us about the same amount of spots.

“If I really wanted to return any kind of payback, I would have just done it.”

Being able to beat so many other talented competitors for win number one in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was a surreal moment for Hodgdon. Many of the drivers in Friday’s field were racing at Stafford when Hodgdon’s own career there was beginning during the late 2000s.

Hodgdon never imagined that two decades of hard work and sacrifice would lead to a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory at Stafford. There were even times when running an event in the series at Stafford seemed far-fetched to him.

Patience paid off for Hodgdon in the most rewarding way possible. He’ll now be forever recognized as one of the select few to win a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Stafford, which he achieved by besting a legend like Hirschman.

“Everyone knows Matt [Hirshcman] is one of the greatest Modified drivers of all time,” Hodgdon said. “I tried to race him with as much respect as I could, but I knew that me and this orange No. 05 was a hard combo to beat. I’m so speechless right now. This is truly a dream come true.

“I don’t think you could have wrote a script better.”

Chase Dowling came home third, with Justin Bonsignore placing fourth after being involved in the crash on Lap 1. Patrick Emerling finished fifth to regain sole possession of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship lead.

Jon McKennedy, Kopcik, Mike Christopher Jr., Eric Goodale and Paulie Hartwig III were sixth through 10th, respectively.

Only three events remain on the 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule. Next up is the Toyota Mod Classic 150 at New York’s Oswego Speedway, which takes place next Saturday at 8 p.m. ET and will air live on FloRacing.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Joe Gibbs Racing entered Friday night’s Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola with three drivers tightly sandwiched around The Chase cutline.

After the smoke cleared at Daytona International Speedway, only one of the three — Taylor Gray — survived the battle for the final berths in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series postseason.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Daytona

After a deft maneuver through a five-car wreck on Lap 44, Gray finished 26th and claimed one of the last two spots in The Chase. Pole winner Rajah Caruth also advanced after erasing a 15-point deficit to the cutoff with a third-place finish in Stage 1, a win in Stage 2 and an overall result of 32nd.

Caruth was running second on Lap 97 when he spun off the bumper of JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, as Allgaier was attempting to push him. Despite the disappointing finish, Caruth’s 18 stage points propelled him past JGR teammates William Sawalich and Brent Crews by five and six points, respectively.

“I don’t think he did it on purpose,” Caruth said of Allgaier’s push. “In the moment, I’m pretty bummed about the end of the race. I thought we were in a great spot. But we’ll have a new chapter tomorrow and get to work.”

Caruth’s spin and hard contact sent the race to overtime and gave Ryan Sieg a chance to win for the first time in 424 series starts.

A Lap 27 wreck that ended Stage 1 prematurely left three Chase contenders with varying degrees of damage.

Crews, a rookie who came to Daytona one point above the Chase cut line, took his No. 19 Toyota to the garage with heavy damage, his chances of advancing to the postseason dashed. He returned to the track 31 laps down after a radiator change and finished 35th, ending up 44 laps in arrears.

Sam Mayer and Sawalich both recovered from the contact their cars suffered during the wreck, but in Sawalich’s case, the relief was short-lived. On Lap 44, in a multicar wreck triggered by a nudge from Anthony Alfredo’s Chevrolet into the Camaro of Corey Day, Sawalich’s car was eliminated.

So were his championship aspirations.

“We worked really hard after Chicagoland to make up our points deficit,” said Sawalich, who finished 37th. “We worked really hard in the simulator and everywhere we could. We just got taken out. It really sucks.”

Mayer had enough of a buffer entering the race to claim the 10th position in The Chase. After riding in the back for the third stage, Gray finished 11th in the regular season, three points ahead of Caruth in 12th.

“We’ve had a lot of speed this year, and it’s shame on me being in this position going to Daytona,” Gray said. “I feel like there’s a lot of great race tracks for us here in the postseason that we can excel at.”

MORE: 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase field set

Crews, who turned 18 on March 30, missed four of the first six races because of age limitations but fell only six points short of advancing.

“It was definitely frustrating, but ultimately, I put ourselves in that position when I coughed up 20 points at Iowa,” said Crews, who finished 16th in the previous O’Reilly Series race. “It goes back to all the ‘ifs’ and ‘whats’ and ‘buts,’ but I know it happened for a reason…

“I’m grateful for the opportunity. JGR has done such a good job with these race cars, and we’ll just go out there and finish out the year strong.”

Posted on by Staff Report

GAF 150

Stafford Speedway

  • Race results
Pos. Car No. Driver Sponsor Laps Diff
1 05 Teddy Hodgdon IV* Business Time Motorsports; Omaha Beef; The Landau Team of Re/Max 150
2 60 Matt Hirschman Bar Harbor Bank & Trust; Pee Dee Motorsports 150 0.906
3 44 Chase Dowling SS Paving / Harshaw Paving 150 1.426
4 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications; Inc. 150 2.394
5 1 Patrick Emerling USNE Power 150 2.437
6 79 Jonathan McKennedy Stuarts Automotive; Christophers Towing; Boyle Electric; Hillsboro Ent.; Levasseur HVAC; J Young Landscaping 150 3.144
7 21 Stephen Kopcik Wanick Construction; Newtown Pools 150 4.365
8 31 Michael Christopher Jr Elite Towing 150 4.572
9 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing; Riverhead Building Supply 150 4.635
10 73 Paulie Hartwig III* Professional Therapy LLC; Jersey Shore Contracting 150 5.198
11 82 Andrew Molleur Danny’s Cesspool Service; Village Springs Water 150 6.382
12 3 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling; SYP 150 7.927
13 28 Doug Coby Nucar 150 8.035
14 15 Joey Cipriano Dependable Energy; The Bass Plating Company; Creative Racing 150 8.447
15 64 Austin Beers G&G Electrical Supply; Lumiere Electrical; Dell Electric; Andrew James Interiors; AP Marquadt & Sons; Hughes Motors. 150 9.052
16 20 Max Zachem Lu-Macs Package Store; USNE Power; Dunleavy’s 150 9.297
17 89 Matt Swanson Ceravolos Auto; Swanson GMC 150 9.841
18 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara; USNE Power 150 10.016
19 50 Ronnie Williams Empower Financial Advisory 149 1 Lap
20 6 Cory Dimatteo* Manafort Brothers; Sargis Associates Inc.; TWM Development 149 1 Lap
21 95 Matt Kimball Tuckers Fabrication & Welding/Croteau Machine/Apex Race Cars/Apex Racing 148 2 Laps
22 18 Ken Heagy Merkel Racing Engines 145 5 Laps
23 8 John-Michael Shenette USNE Power; Eighty-Two Services 77 73 Laps
24 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Power 55 95 Laps
25 36 David Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 44 106 Laps

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Following Friday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona International Speedway, the 12-driver Chase postseason field is set.

Justin Allgaier earned the No. 1 seed, dominating his way through the regular season with an already career-high six victories in the JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet. He locked up the top spot after an EchoPark Speedway triumph in July.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Carson Kvapil earned the second seed, earning wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway earlier this summer to shore up the No. 2 spot. He finished third Friday at Daytona.

Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love and Austin Hill earned seeds No. 3 through No. 5, respectively. Brandon Jones has the No. 6 seed, followed by Corey Day and Sammy Smith, rounding out the eight drivers who were already locked into The Chase before Daytona.

Viking Motorsports driver Parker Retzlaff needed just 10 points to solidify a Chase spot, and did so with flying colors, finishing 14th and clinching in Stage 1 after an early crash to postseason contenders. Sam Mayer survived the aforementioned crash to earn the No. 10 seed, finishing 25th.

Taylor Gray and Rajah Caruth earned the last two seeds. Gray finished 26th, benefiting from crashes for Joe Gibbs Racing teammates William Sawalich and Brent Crews, the first two drivers below the cutline. Caruth earned 18 stage points and was running third with three laps to go, but spun after a push from Justin Allgaier and backed into the outside wall.

Sawalich and Crews both entered Friday one point above the cutline.

The nine-race Chase commences Sept. 5 at Darlington Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).