{"id":86,"date":"2026-09-08T01:01:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T01:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buzzedsports.com\/news\/?p=86"},"modified":"2026-09-08T01:01:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T01:01:50","slug":"nascar-daytona-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buzzedsports.com\/news\/?p=86","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Daytona results"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Aaron Hutchens<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daytona Delivered \u2014 And NASCAR\u2019s New Package Looks Like a Step in the Right Direction<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Saturday night\u2019s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona had just about everything you could ask for from a superspeedway race: more passing, drivers actually being able to make moves, strategy, a couple of massive crashes, playoff drama and, best of all, a first-time NASCAR Cup Series winner.<\/p>\n

Ryan Preece finally got it done.<\/p>\n

Preece earned his first career Cup Series points victory in his 249th start, and he couldn\u2019t have picked a much more dramatic way to do it. He entered Daytona 31 points behind Shane van Gisbergen for the final spot in The Chase and essentially needed the night of his life.<\/p>\n

He got it.<\/p>\n

What made Preece\u2019s win even more impressive was that his race could have been over before it really got going. He was caught up in the crash at the end of Stage 1 involving RFK teammate Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson, sending the No. 60 Ford sliding through the infield grass.<\/p>\n

Instead of folding, Preece and his team went to work. He came back to finish second in Stage 2 and eventually put himself in position to win when it mattered most.<\/p>\n

Then came overtime.<\/p>\n

Preece made his move, got to the lead, and when everything broke loose behind him on the final lap, the caution came out with the No. 60 out front. First Cup win. A trip to Victory Lane at Daytona. And, with it, the final spot in The Chase.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a pretty damn good Saturday night.<\/p>\n

The New Package Made a Difference<\/p>\n

For me, one of the biggest takeaways from Daytona was NASCAR\u2019s new superspeedway rules package.<\/p>\n

NASCAR shortened the rear spoiler from seven inches to four and reduced horsepower from 510 to 465. The idea was to change the aerodynamic characteristics of the cars and, hopefully, give drivers a better opportunity to make passes instead of watching two lanes get locked together with nobody able to go anywhere.<\/p>\n

Was it perfect? No.<\/p>\n

But I thought it was better.<\/p>\n

There seemed to be noticeably more movement throughout the pack. Drivers could jump out of line and actually have a chance of going somewhere. We saw guys work their way forward instead of simply being trapped wherever the draft put them.<\/p>\n

The numbers help tell the story: 22 different drivers led at least one lap Saturday night. Austin Hill led a race-high 27 laps, and the lead changed hands among a wide variety of cars throughout the night.<\/p>\n

Some of the drivers noticed the difference, too. Chase Briscoe said afterward that the package was \u201cway better\u201d and felt drivers could make moves and passes more like traditional Daytona racing. Denny Hamlin also felt the racing wasn\u2019t as jammed up as it has been and that a driver who wanted to get toward the front had a better opportunity to do it.<\/p>\n

There is still work to be done, particularly with fuel saving. Cutting horsepower actually allowed some teams to stretch their fuel even farther, and we still saw portions of the race where everyone was more concerned with saving gas than racing for position.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s probably NASCAR\u2019s next problem to solve.<\/p>\n

But as far as the actual racing goes? I think NASCAR moved in the right direction.<\/p>\n

Daytona Was Still Daytona<\/p>\n

Of course, giving drivers more opportunities to make moves at Daytona doesn\u2019t eliminate the danger that comes with 40 cars running inches apart at nearly 200 mph.<\/p>\n

We still got some big ones.<\/p>\n

Carson Hocevar lost control entering Turn 3 with only a handful of laps remaining, slamming the outside wall before Erik Jones hit him hard. That crash ultimately sent the race into overtime.<\/p>\n

Then everything broke loose again on the final lap.<\/p>\n

Zane Smith was battling for what could have been his own first Cup victory when contact sent him around and triggered another huge crash. Cars scattered everywhere as Preece escaped out front.<\/p>\n

And then there was Ryan Blaney.<\/p>\n

Blaney had already won Stage 2 and looked like he might escape the final-lap chaos with another strong Daytona finish. Instead, after getting through the initial trouble, contact from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sent Blaney hard into the outside wall.<\/p>\n

From where I was sitting, Blaney looked like he got straight taken out.<\/p>\n

He wound up 33rd after having a car capable of winning the race.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Daytona racing, though. You can make all the right moves for 499 miles and have somebody else\u2019s decision determine how your night ends.<\/p>\n

A Race NASCAR Can Build On<\/p>\n

Nobody should pretend one race proves NASCAR has completely fixed superspeedway racing.<\/p>\n

Fuel saving is still too important. The new package received mixed reviews from drivers. And NASCAR will undoubtedly study what happened Saturday before deciding whether anything needs to change before Talladega.<\/p>\n

But from a fan\u2019s perspective, Daytona felt different.<\/p>\n

There was more movement. There were more opportunities to pass. Drivers seemed more willing \u2014 and more able \u2014 to make something happen instead of simply sitting in line waiting for the final few laps.<\/p>\n

And ultimately, isn\u2019t that what we want?<\/p>\n

Give the drivers a car that allows them to race. Give them the ability to make a move and have that move actually matter.<\/p>\n

Saturday night wasn\u2019t perfect.<\/p>\n

But it was entertaining.<\/p>\n

And seeing Ryan Preece \u2014 a guy who has fought for seemingly every opportunity he has ever gotten in NASCAR, and who has endured some absolutely brutal crashes at Daytona \u2014 finally pull into Victory Lane for his first Cup Series win made it even better.<\/p>\n

If this was NASCAR\u2019s first test of the new superspeedway package, I\u2019d call it a success.<\/p>\n

There are still a few things to fix.<\/p>\n

But keep going in this direction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aaron Hutchens Daytona Delivered \u2014 And NASCAR\u2019s New Package Looks Like a Step in the Right Direction Saturday night\u2019s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona had just about everything you could ask for from a superspeedway race: more passing, drivers actually being able to make moves, strategy, a couple of massive crashes, playoff drama […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar"],"yoast_head":"\nNASCAR Daytona results - Buzzy News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/buzzedsports.com\/news\/?p=86\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NASCAR Daytona results - 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