Coming into the Coke Zero Sugar 400, it was presumed that Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric and Shane van Gisbergen were effectively locks to earn the last three spots in the 10-race chase. NASCAR loves drama, and the rule changes made in the weeks leading up to tonight’s race at Daytona International Speedway, with teams given no chance to practice, opened the door for chaos. Sure enough, the theatrics were on full display with an overtime finish.
Let’s dive into our winners and losers from the NASCAR race today at Daytona.
Winner: Ryan Preece
Insanity. Ryan Preece’s odds of making The Chase coming into the NASCAR race tonight were long. He needed to win, something he hadn’t done in 248 career Cup Series starts, and he needed to dominate the stages. Realistically, there was no reason to think he could do it, given how the No. 60 car has performed this year since the 25-point penalty. He did it. There’s blame to go around for NASCAR’s alarmingly late caution, and some luck also played a factor, but Preece did what seemed impossible, and he deserves this magical night.
Related: NASCAR The Chase Standings
Loser: NASCAR
NASCAR’s decision-making was baffling tonight. In overtime, the caution light didn’t come out when Zane Smith got bumped, hit the wall and then slid back and slammed into multiple cars behind him with smoke encompassing the background at Daytona. It didn’t turn on the caution light for the cascading wreck that took place in the middle of the field. Daniel Dye’s car slammed into Kyle Larson’s side… nothing. It wasn’t until Ryan Blaney got turned and smashed into the wall that the caution was finally out. We’d also like to highlight the fact that after Carson Hocevar’s caution, it took what felt like 20 minutes and there was still enough speedy dry at the top of the track for Tyler Reddick to leave a trail of it spraying into the cars behind him. Baffling.
Winner: Bubba Wallace
It wasn’t a great night for Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 team, but it didn’t need to be. The instructions for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from 23XI Racing were clear: get at least 2 points to clinch a chase spot. Wallace delivered that immediately, finishing seventh (4 points) in Stage 1 to earn himself a spot. While Wallace ultimately didn’t move up, he didn’t lose any ground and there are a bunch of playoff tracks that favor Toyotas.
Loser: Carson Hocevar
He’s backkkkkk…to causing cautions again in the final laps. Carson Hocevar saw one shot in the NASCAR race tonight to try and win it with 5 laps to go at Daytona. When he sent it, he got loose, turned too far left and then slammed hard into the wall. Hocevar said the car snapped on him, and given the hard contact with the wall, it just feels fortunate that he was able to walk out under his own power while just being shaken up. Unfortunately for Hocevar, while the soreness will go away eventually, the DNF means he dropped from being top-six in points just over a month ago to now being in 12th. That’s a massive swing that, realistically, takes him out of championship contention.
Winner: Daniel Suarez
Is Daniel Suárez a championship contender? No, certainly not. However, in his first season with Spire Motorsports, he won a race and finished with more top-fives (three) than he did last year with Trackhouse Racing. Plus, tonight’s second-place finish allowed Suárez to jump William Byron and Carson Hocevar in points, which is a 10-point swing in his favor.
Loser: Shane van Gisbergen and Trackhouse Racing
Shane van Gisbergen had two wins, seven top-10s and five top-five finishes in the regular season and showed remarkable improvement on ovals. He missed The Chase by double-digit points, and it would’ve been an even bigger deficit if not for Preece’s 25-point penalty. Connor Zilisch, a generational talent, had one of the worst rookie seasons in more than a decade in the Cup Series. Ross Chastain, arguably one of the 12 most talented drivers in the sport, finished 20th in the standings. So much of this all falls squarely on the shoulders of Trackhouse Racing. Underwhelming results in qualifying, in part due to the car setup, were most often what put SVG outside the top 20 at the start and kept him in dirty air on ovals. The missed chances proved costly and ultimately allowed Preece to snatch a spot in the chase right from SVG’s grasp.
Related: Why The Future for Trackhouse Racing Looks Bleak
More must-reads:
- NASCAR The Chase Standings: Cup Series Points Leaders After Regular Season, 16 Drivers in 10-Race Chase
- NASCAR Results Tonight: Ryan Preece Wins Coke Zero Sugar 400 in OT, NASCAR Cup Series Stage Results at Daytona
- NASCAR O’Reilly Standings: OARS The Chase Standings, O’Reilly Series Points Leaders After Regular Seasosn
