Ryan Preece Wins Wild Overtime Finish at Coke Zero Sugar 400
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway ended in what Denny Hamlin promised: chaos. And from the smoke of the overtime finish came a first-time winner, Ryan Preece.
Stage one opened with Ross Chastain leading the field to the green flag while battling Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson and Austin Hill for the early lead — one Hill would capture at lap 11 and wouldn’t lose until lap 34, when Buescher would take it off of Turn Four.
The stage ended with fireworks as Shane Van Gisbergen pushed Kyle Larson into the back of Chris Buescher right before the tri-oval, causing Larson and Buescher to go sliding through the infield grass while collecting Preece in the process.
“I knew when we drove through the grass and Shane went and won that stage, he was doing everything it took,” Preece said. “It was much like what I told you it was going to be, a heavyweight fight, and that was the first round, lucky for me there was two more.”
Van Gisbergen won the stage, with Bubba Wallace clinching his Chase bid in seventh, Larson finishing sixth and Preece eighth after the late spin.
After the stage break pit cycle, Joey Logano led the field to green to start the second stage but Van Gisbergen took the lead off of Turn 4, starting a mix of drivers finding themselves leading at the World Center of Racing.
Chase Elliott led most of stage two, losing the lead and gaining it back. However, over his team’s radio, Elliott expressed concerns with his fuel situation.
Elliott made it to the end of the stage but not before falling all the way down to ninth place, leaving Ryan Blaney to take home the stage win followed by Ryan Preece, Zane Smith, William Byron and Todd Gilliland.
Preece’s finish in stage two evened the point difference between him and Van Gisbergen, calling the finish a redemption.
“Shane did everything right tonight,” Preece said. “He knew I had my knee on the throat or the thumb on the pressure point, and he answered that in stage one. And when he threw that right hook, in a metaphor, I feel like I answered that back in stage two.”
The third stage continued like the first two, fairly mundane.
On lap 155, Carson Hocevar got loose while battling Ryan Preece for second, slammed into the wall and collected Erik Jones.
Van Gisbergen’s night unraveled from there. Short on fuel, he pitted on Lap 157 for a splash of gas and four new tires — a call that dropped him to 27th for the restart and left him with no room to escape what came next.
During the final lap of overtime, headed into Turn 2, Zane Smith threw a block on Tyler Reddick, Smith got turned sideways, resulting in a multi-car crash that collected Van Gisbergen. Preece took the lead down the backstretch and, as the caution flag waved, held off Daniel Suárez by just 0.024 seconds to be declared the winner at Daytona.
Preece called his shot earlier this week and knew the stakes this weekend. If he didn’t perform, he would miss the chase. Preece’s win ultimately knocked Van Gisbergen out of the chase as Preece snuck in by just 17 points.
For Preece, Saturday’s win was poetic after being involved in two violent wrecks at Daytona — one in 2023, where he flipped after going airborne, and another in 2025.
“Daytona almost took my life,” Preece said in victory lane, “or ended my racing career. We were about inches away from something possibly really bad happening. To be standing here in victory lane and saying I won at Daytona, a place that every kid that races, whether they’re in quarter midgets or just at their local short track or regional racing, they dream of winning here.”
The emotion didn’t end in victory lane. In his post-race press conference, Preece pulled up a picture from the day after his 2023 flip at Daytona of him holding his daughter, saying he had been looking at it often during the week.
“That showed me how lucky I am,” Preece said, “but how bad I want it and how bad my family wants it.”
Preece’s win and his entry in the Chase is also a massive accomplishment for team owner and driver Brad Keselowski, as two of the cars he owns have now made the Chase. To Keselowski, Preece’s win gives him the feeling of a proud father.
“I’ve got four kids and it reminds me of when they do something you’re really proud of,” Keselowski said. “Not that Ryan is a kid, he’s definitely not a kid, but there is a feeling of pride that you helped them get there and do those things.”
Category: Auto Racing, Motor Sports, NASCAR
