DAYTONA BEACH, FL. – All Ryan Preece wanted in the final regular season NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway was to be on offense. That wish came to fruition as the RFK Racing driver clinched the final spot in the Chase with a dramatic overtime victory in the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
Preece, who was 50 points behind Shane Van Gisbergen for the final postseason berth with two races remaining, cut that deficit to 31 points after finishing ninth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He completed the comeback Saturday night at the World Center of Racing by scoring points in all three stages to claim the final spot by 17 points.
The win was Preece’s first points win in NASCAR’s top series after starting the 2026 season with a victory in the Clash at Bowman Gray non-points event.
The race came down to an overtime finish after Carson Hocevar hit the wall to bring out a caution with five laps remaining. Zane Smith was the leader and chose the inside while Preece, who was second, opted for the outside of the front row. Smith’s cause was bolstered by the fact he had fellow Ford drivers Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric immediately behind him while Preece had Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez.
Smith had the lead at the white flag and moved to the outside lane, but coming off turn two he got hit from behind by Reddick and went into the wall. Preece was next to him on the inside and assumed the lead down the backstretch. As more cars got collected in the aftermath of Smith’s accident, NASCAR threw the caution with Preece in the lead making him the winner.
As a result, Ford will have five drivers competing for the championship as the 10-race Chase begins next weekend at Darlington Raceway. The Team Penske trio of Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric will be joined by the RFK Racing duo of Chris Buescher and Preece as part of the 16-driver field.
Preece, who became the 92nd driver to win a Cup Series race with Ford, gave owner Jack Roush his 144th all-time series victory and the seventh under the RFK banner.
The Chase begins with the annual Labor Day Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (5 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM, HBO Max).
Ford Finishing Results:
1st – Ryan Preece
6th – Austin Cindric
9th – Josh Berry
14th – Brad Keselowski
18th – Joey Logano
19th – Todd Gilliland
26th – Noah Gragson
32nd – Zane Smith
33rd – Ryan Blaney
40th – Chris Buescher
RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Kroger/OIKOS Ford Mustang Dark Horse – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW –
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A WINNER IN A POINTS RACE?
“Unreal. The Northeast is gonna burn it down tonight because when we won the Clash all I heard was, ‘That was a non-points race.’ Well, now we’ve won a points race and now we’re in the playoffs. We came with our back against the wall and we fought. That was a heavyweight fight and we were never out. Thank you to OIKOS, Kroger, Fastenal, Mr. Jack Roush, everybody at RFK, Brad Keselowski, Tad Geschickter, all our friends and family, Ford for the awesome race car, Doug Yates for the awesome motor. I’m just super, super proud. I’m proud to be a Northeast guy.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WIN HERE AT DAYTONA, A PLACE WHERE YOU’VE HAD SOME SCARY MOMENTS?
“I don’t know, man. I thought I was dead three years ago. My wife thought I was dead. To come here and win at a place that almost ended my career means a lot.”
HOW DO YOU REGROUP NOW AND GO TO DARLINGTON?
“We’re gonna fight. We’re gonna fight hard like tonight.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Maytag Ford Mustang Dark Horse –
“Obviously, we had a strong Maytag/Menards Ford Mustang. We were able to get to the front when we needed to at times. I hate we weren’t able to capitalize and lead as many laps as we did in stage two to give ourselves a larger buffer for the final stage, but the guys did a great job of keeping me informed with what I needed to do to keep ourselves out front and get back to the front. Everything we needed to do we checked the boxes tonight.”
HOW DID YOU VIEW THE FINAL RESTART?
“For us, it was fairly simple on how to control our destiny and obviously dodge the wrecks. That was the huge part, but as far as I understand it’s a best-case scenario for Ford tonight. I’m super proud of everybody and we’re ready to go chase for a championship.”
YOU’VE MADE THE POSTSEASON FOUR TIMES IN YOUR FIVE YEARS. YOUR THOUGHTS?
“I think, for us, we’ve got to absolutely kill it to think we have a shot at a championship with the way that the points reset, but this team is capable of a lot and I want to see how far we can go.”
HOW NERVE RACKING WAS TONIGHT?
“Honestly, less than you’d think. I think there’s a lot of variables and I don’t mean to downplay it, but there were certainly a lot of variables going into the night. We weren’t all on top of each other, so I felt like in a lot of ways it was somewhat more simplified of how the race was gonna play out after I was able to watch and observe. I thought our car was good enough to charge back through when needed and obviously we got ourselves in position. The guys did a great job of giving me information all night, whether it was points or fuel and how to adapt. That’s what it takes to be a contender at a minimum, but definitely look for a strong 10 weeks from us.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse –
NO RESETS NOW IN THE CHASE. WHAT IS THIS GOING TO BE LIKE?
“It will be different from what we’ve had the last little bit, but I think everyone was kind of used to that growing up or prior or things like that, so I really don’t think you’re just gonna have to know that you’re not gonna be able to really afford any mistakes. Things are gonna fluctuate up and down, for sure.”
ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Aaron’s Dream Machine Ford Mustang Dark Horse –
YOU WERE LEADING AND THEN IT ALL WENT WRONG. WHAT HAPPENED?
“I just got wrecked. I haven’t really seen a replay to break it down, but it’s just unfortunate to come that close and have it not work out.”
WAS IT JUST A CASE OF EVERYBODY GOING FOR THE WIN IN OVERTIME?
“Yeah, I guess. I don’t know. I haven’t seen a replay. It felt like I didn’t even get a shot to survive with the 45 and just got wiped out.”
