With drivers still chasing playoff points and a giant question mark in store for them this weekend, the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign’s regular-season finale could be 160 hectic laps at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 has had a Ford in Victory Lane over the past three summers — defending winner Ryan Blaney, Harrison Burton and Chris Buescher — but another driver from the manufacturer needs a big showing in Florida.
In a clear illustration of last season’s playoff format versus the new Chase version that shows the contrast between “win and you’re in” and consistency, 17th-place Ryan Preece — winless in 25 starts — trails two-time road course winner Shane van Gisbergen by 31 points for the final postseason spot in the 16-driver field.
Driving RFK Racing’s No. 60, Preece had a strong day in Loudon, N.H., on Sunday but ultimately came home ninth.
The Berlin, Conn., native has 85 stage points compared with van Gisbergen’s 70, but the latter’s two wins gave him 55 points apiece.
The 25-point penalty that Preece incurred for wrecking Ty Gibbs on May 3 at Texas — after he said he would retaliate with the No. 54 later following early contact — stings even deeper this weekend, too.
“I’m going to race the hell out of it,” Preece said. “Usually, when things are different and not predictable, I excel. And so does Shane. But it’s going to be a heavyweight match.”
In the 2005 edition of the summer shootout, polesitter Tony Stewart waited for a 10:42 p.m. start after a 2 1/2-hour rain delay and dominated by leading a race-record 151 of 160 circuits for the first of his four wins at Daytona — all in the 400-miler.
That all-nighter 21 years ago was tucked into bed at 1:40 a.m.
However, long nights of single-driver Daytona dominance may be done.
In a drastic move in race No. 26 before embarking on a title run, NASCAR will debut a new aerodynamic package at the World Center of Racing, with the kicker being no practice session to find a baseline and address the setup’s challenges.
Teams will have their rear spoilers clipped from 7 inches to 4 to reduce drag, and horsepower will be adjusted from 510 to 465 to account for the reduced downforce. Officials expect single-file runs to be roughly 3 mph faster.
“What we’re essentially trying to recreate is Atlanta at Daytona and Talladega,” said regular-season champion Denny Hamlin, a three-time winner of the Daytona 500, when the rule changes were announced last month. “It happens organically at Atlanta, the space between the cars, because the cars themselves are grip-limited, and the fuel-mileage (racing) really doesn’t happen because you have to be on offense constantly.
“If you watch the pack, there is no saving (anything). Guys are dicing it up the entire race. So this is what we’re aspiring to get to at some point.”
Following Blaney’s win in New Hampshire, race analyst Jeff Burton, whose son Harrison won a 2024 last-lap thriller over Kyle Busch, loudly replied when asked what to expect in Daytona: “We have no idea.”
Drivers always have to be on their toes at Daytona as the “Big One” is just one false move or human or mechanical error away.
With NASCAR dealing this sweeping curveball, plus not allowing even 20 minutes of practice, drivers are expecting a high-speed, steeply-banked, chaotic evening at the legendary superspeedway.
In true racing communications fashion, it’s one-to-go before the championship sprint arrives.
