NASCAR Regular Season Finale Changes Postseason Qualifiers

Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL — August 29, 2026

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Daytona International Speedway for the regular season finale. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will finalize the Cup Series postseason qualifiers for The Chase. Shane van Gisbergen(SVG) holds the 16th and final Chase qualifying spot. Ryan Preece would like to unseat him from that position, but it won’t be easy. SVG takes a 31-point advantage into Daytona.

Denny Hamlin clinched the #1 seed for the Chase at New Hampshire; all of the remaining 15 Chase positions could change at
Daytona.

NASCAR has introduced a new vehicle configuration for Daytona. The tapered spacer on the intake manifold has been reduced from 0.89 inches to 0.84 inches, which reduces the horsepower measurement from 510 to 465. The rear spoiler has also been reduced from 7 inches to 4 inches. The prediction is that cars will be able to pass more easily.

The summer race at Daytona has a history of late race drama.

• The eventual winner led 10 laps or less in nine of the last 11 Daytona races, with three leading only the final lap
• Six of the last nine Summer Daytona races had at least 12 drivers DNF due to accidents
• A stage winner has never gone on to win the Summer Daytona race
• 12 of the last 18 Summer Daytona races ended in overtime
• Only one of the last 18 Daytona races had a final green flag stretch longer than eight laps
• The pass for the win came on the last lap in the last four Daytona races, the longest ever streak at the track

Tonight’s Race

The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is scheduled for 160 laps around the 2.5-mile tri-oval. The banking in the four turns at Daytona is 31 degrees, second only to Talladega (33 degrees) as the steepest turns in NASCAR. Stages are set at 35/60/65 laps. Ross Chastain starts on the pole for tonight’s race with Chris Buescher lining up next to him on the front row.

Stage One

Ross Chastain(1) edged ahead of Chris Buescher(17) at the drop of the green flag and dropped down to the lower line to take the lead on lap one. It did not take long for three-wide racing to break out as drivers tested the new competition package that NASCAR instituted for the race.

However, by lap ten it was back to side-by-side trains through the entire 40-car field.

Kyle Larson(5) and Austin Hill(33) were at the front. When Hill moved up in front of Larson, the line on the high side of the track began to pull away. Buescher, Ryan Preece(60), and Chastain were the five cars in the breakaway. Chase Briscoe(19) led the lower line until Chastain dropped down to see if he could pull that train even. Shane van Gisbergen(97)(SVG) took Chastain’s spot in the lead lineup.

With pushes from Briscoe, Chastain could move forward. When the #19 car backed off, the entire bottom lane dropped back. As the laps ran down in the first Stage, Chastain and the draft advanced. When drivers went three-wide to try to advance their position, Briscoe moved up and left Chastain hanging out on his own.

An 11-car breakaway developed at the front. But when they began to fight among themselves, the entire pack caught up. Buescher led out of turn four and moved up to block a run by Larson on the outside. They collided, with Buescher’s car being turned to the left in front of the entire field. The banking is self-cleaning. Buescher, Larson, and Preece slid into the tri-oval grass, and SVG took the Stage win.

Results of Stage One

Stage Two

Half the field came in to top off their fuel tanks before the race went back to green. Joey Logano(22) won the race off pit road. SVG, Todd Gilliland(34), Ty Gibbs(54), Briscoe, and Erik Jones (43) followed. On the restart, drivers remained in double-wide rows. However, position swaps occurred throughout the field.

Gilliland, Hill, and Briscoe all took turns at the point. Chastain poked his nose out in front a couple of times while pulling the lower line along to maintain pace. When the field went back three-wide, Chastain took the lead. Chase Elliott(9) and William Byron(24) made appearances in the top five. The third lane disappeared quickly, but not before Zane Smith(38) and Cody Ware(51) joined the lead group. Another try at three-wide faded in and out as drivers blocked runs coming from all lanes. Elliott moved to the front with his teammate Byron pushing. The Ford Mustang teammates of Preece and Brad Keselowski(6) lined up on the low lane to drive forward.

Elliott began to pull the top lane away as laps clicked down to 20 to go in the Stage. With 15 laps to go, the Team Penske cars, Ryan Blaney(12), Austin Cindric(2), and Logano went three-wide to drive to the front and then ducked into line as the third lane again disappeared.

Blaney took the lead over Elliott as the Hendrick Motorsports driver lost his teammate. With Cindric and Preece running the high lane, while Blaney and Logano ran up front on the bottom lane, the Fords had the field locked up behind them.

Until Elliott cut off Logano and sent him falling back in the field, Elliott worked his way back to the front and led a breakaway.

Just when it looked like the move would pay off for Elliott. The Fords of Preece and Smith lined up and blew past him for the Stage win. Elliott failed to earn a Stage point.

Results of Stage Two

The Final Stage

The changes to horsepower and spoiler height made by NASCAR have allowed the cars to make more passes and move more freely on the track. The last Stage should be exciting and could very well produce a spectacular finish. It also may result in a massive “big one” as everyone fights for the win.

Gilliland, Briscoe, Cindric, Harrison Burton(35), and Logano led the pack back to the green flag to start the Final Stage. Three-wide racing resumed but could not be sustained for multiple laps. Briscoe worked his way to the front surrounded by Fords, led by Keselowski, that seemed to excel at working together in the draft.

Elliott moved back to the front with a push from Hill. Three wide racing came back for real as the track became crowded reducing passing opportunities. Elliott, Ware and Keselowski led the three lines from top to bottom.

Green flag pit stops began on lap 122 as six of the Chevrolets came in first. That caused the third lane to disappear. The rest of the field runs long with many drivers content to stay in line and save fuel.

More drivers pit with 17 laps to go, and when they return to the track, they fall well behind the cars that pitted early. No doubt some drivers will gamble on not making a pit stop.

Tyler Reddick(45), Carson Hocevar(77), Daniel Suarez(7), Preece, and Smith lead the pack. With 11 laps to go, the scramble for positions begins as drivers who were hanging back start making moves. Chase bubble battles are also close as just six points separate the last two spots and the first driver out.

Hocevar goes to the front with seven laps to go. Preece is the next driver to go to the front; Zane Smith takes the top spot.

With six laps to go, Carson Hocevar gets loose, spins, and collects Erik Jones. Fortunately, everyone else avoids the incident, with Ty Gibbs spinning as he cut sharply left to miss the accident. With the caution displayed, Gibbs and several drivers pit as the race extends into overtime.

Smith, Preece, Blaney, Reddick, and Cindric are the top five heading to the restart. Smith leads the pack to the white flag. However, down the backstretch, Smith gets turned, and the big one is on. Ryan Preece avoids the carnage and holds the top spot into turn three when the caution comes out.

It is the first career win in 249 starts for Preece. The points earned from the win moves Preece into the postseason Chase. That eliminated SVG, who entered Daytona holding the 16th and final spot.

Results of the Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway