DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. —The NASCAR Cup Series Chase field is complete after Ryan Preece captured his first career win and took the final spot in the 16-driver field.
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The drivers battling for the championship over the next 10 weeks will include Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, and Preece.
Preece entered Saturday night's regular-season finale facing steep odds to book his spot in the Chase. He trailed Shane van Gisbergen by 31 points, putting him close to a must-win situation. This was not an easy task on paper considering that he had yet to win a points-paying race in the Cup Series.
Yet, that's exactly what he did as he recovered from an incident in stage 1 that damaged his No. 60 Ford, and he raced back into contention in the second and third stages.
He then took the lead on the final lap before a crash unfolded and brought out a race-ending caution. He remained ahead of Suarez, who earned a second-place finish.
RYAN PREECE IS A NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNER!! pic.twitter.com/e1SjHoVH1N
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 30, 2026
"The Northeast is gonna burn it down tonight because when we won the Clash all I heard was, 'That was a non-points race,'" Preece said after the race.
"Well, now we've won a points race and now we're in the playoffs. We came with our back against the wall and we fought. That was a heavyweight fight and we were never out."
The story played out differently for van Gisbergen, who won his first oval stage on Saturday night. He had the points advantage with fewer than 10 laps remaining. He raced in the 10th position while Preece raced second. At that point, he still had the tiebreaker even if Preece won the race.
Unfortunately for van Gisbergen, he had to head down pit road before the start of overtime. He and his team ran out the entire final stage without making a pit stop, and they just did not have enough fuel to complete the extra laps after Carson Hocevar crashed and brought out the caution.
Van Gisbergen stopped with a few other drivers for four tires and fuel. He headed back out onto the track and restarted 27th. He needed to gain at least 10 spots in case Preece won the race, but he ended the night in 28th due to the multiple wrecks on the final lap that collected other drivers.
Instead of advancing to the Chase with two wins, van Gisbergen fell short of his goal. He watched another driver take the final spot in the Chase.
Only 10 weeks left to settle the score.
The field is set for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase! pic.twitter.com/2A4fgxbFc3
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 30, 2026
"It's pretty fresh now, but congratulations to the No. 60 (Ryan Preece)," van Gisbergen said after the race. "One night doesn't sum up the year for this No. 97 Red Bull Chevrolet team. We just weren't good enough tonight, but it's been cool to be this close.
"Bit of the regular season has been good, but as a team, obviously we've struggled. But I'm proud that I've been able to match my teammates on the ovals. I think I've stepped it up this year. Obviously, you want to be in the Chase, but we were just short."
The other two drivers who entered the night facing questions — Wallace and Cindric — had far less stressful nights. Wallace only needed two points to lock up his spot in the Chase, and he secured those by the end of stage 1.
Cindric had to stay ahead of Preece and van Gisbergen in the standings. He scored one point in stage 1 and then he ended the race in the sixth position. It wasn't a points-heavy day, but he had a large enough buffer that he didn't need one. He just needed to avoid calamity.
"I got info to start the (final) stage and kind of knew what the ball game was," Cindric told FanBuzz. "And from there, you gotta race the race.
"And I felt like we did a great job at executing that, put ourselves in a good position on fuel, good position on track position, and was decisive enough to make our way back forward when necessary."
Now that the field is set, the 16 drivers will compete over 10 weeks, starting next weekend at Darlington Raceway.
They will not have any eliminations. They will just race it out and see who will have the most points after the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 8.
