NASCAR Cup Series Highlights | 2026 Daytona International Speedway

There is a special race in this Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. Winning in Daytona is everything. Other than the number one seed Denny Hamlin, every spot in the chase could change tonight in the final race of the regular season. The fight for second is between Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick. It's the battle for the final spot in the chase between Shane Van Gisburg and Ryan Priest. Winning at Daytona is magical. It is everything. Who will it be? And the honoree starter is NASCAR Hall of Famer, the legend. Mark Martin gets to wave the green here at the World Center of Racing. Let's go! What an honor for Ross Chastain as he leads this field to green. Mark Martin waving that flag. Chris Buescher to his inside in that fifth, third, fourth for RFK. Here they come. Have a listen to this. For all the talk about not knowing what was going to happen. Chase Briscoe, he wasn't afraid. He jumped up, made it three wide. 33 of Austin Hill runs third. Just kind of cruising right now. Lee started 30th running in the 25th position. He said the balance is okay. And then he reported this. Rear camera is off. And then he also reported, Jeff, that the screen has gone blue. Now I know his sponsor color is blue, but that's a little much. What does that do for the driver? Well, that is a big disadvantage at this racetrack. You've got to be able to see what's going on behind you. Big stack up kind of really disorganized the whole bottom lane. Briscoe jumped in line, and you mentioned it. Chastain now has a life preserver out looking for help. The village will stack in. Byron, be careful. That's how the big wrecks happen. Very well done by Byron and Bell, realizing there was no real estate in front. That is communication from the roof to the drivers. Now, can this middle lane get a forward momentum with only a couple laps to go? This is what happened. I'll turn four. Watch the 88 of village car just gets away from me right there. Almost gets into his teammate. Had to have a big lift, and it just stacked up the entire field. And that's what left Chastain to himself to the youngest drivers in the field with Heim and Village. Really nicely done. Not causing a big accident. And look now. Top 10 11 cars broken away as we come to the white flag of this stage or one lap to go in this stage. The question is, will they patiently finish in this order? Will they try to pull out of line? SVG has to feel great being only two spots behind Briscoe as they mix it up. Look at this. Talk about mixing it up. Here comes Chris Busher in the 17 with his teammate from RFK, Ryan Priest behind. Big stage point gathering opportunities going on here. One lap to go in stage one presented by Credit One Bank. We talked about the unknowns. This is an awesome opportunity to get a feel of what the white flag will feel like at the end of the race. How quickly will the run come? RFK controlling the 1st and the 2nd position. Can two Chevrolet's with Larson and SVG get together? Hill jumps back up into that higher line. Chastain searching. John Hunter Nemechek right behind Briscoe. Ryan Priest. I love the move. He just held the lane. No zigging. No zagging. Here comes his help with the 97. Two guys fighting over that 16th and final place. A side by side. Busher's in the wall. Busher goes around. Then Gisbergen's going to win the stage. Coming to the line. Cars everywhere. Looked to me like the yellow was out. So that'll make the scoring even a little bit more complicated. Tell you who did a really nice job. Chase Briscoe, Eric Jones and Joey Logano. Look at that. The 22, the 43, the 19. Yeah. That could have been ugly. And Ty Gibbs. It worked out well for the 54. Yeah, they just started the five. They just all got together at the same time. And I just believe on older tires, the cars are not going to handle well. He's offset to the right. He makes contact. The car behind him makes contact and shoots him off into the wall. We've heard from NASCAR that the top 10 is now confirmed. That wasn't ideal. We ain't giving up, though. All right, we got it. Yep. I'll be all right. And Lee, look how busy Pit road is. Not only the cars that were damaged, but look at all the cars topping off here to make sure they have enough fuel for stage two. Coming back in for a second dip. Joey Logano. Shane Van Gisbergen. Stage two Coke Zero Sugar 400. Here we go. A bit of a stack up in the bottom. Jon Hunter. Never check. Had some sort of problem. And look at the gap that created. Todd Gilliland's nicely tucked up there on the inside. The 54 of Ty Gibbs who capitalized on the chaos at the end of stage one. Eric Jones for Legacy Motor Club in the Richard Petty scheme. See him third car on the high line. Briscoe down low on the right-hand side with Chastain pushing him hard. Zayn Smith. There's Zayn just off to the right as Briscoe takes over the lead of this Coke Zero Sugar 400 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Yeah, and I think there's some games being played. Remember, half the field topped off. I think there are a lot of cars out there that, you know, are not concerned about fuel, and they're trying to get track position. There's some other cars at the front of the field that I think are trying to be a little conservative with their fuel consumption, trying to save when they can. And I think this is a great mix, right? Because you now can force somebody else into an uncomfortable position strategy wise. But this also is going to have a lot of accordion effect. I don't think everyone is trying to run the same pace. It's a very dangerous time of the stage. Very easy to spit somebody off your front bumper. Dave, what about the one of Chastain currently leading? And he was told, Steve, that both the 19 on the outside and he himself are saving fuel there. So they are definitely doing that. And Chase Elliott in the Napa Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports out in front with William Byron, his teammate right behind the two-time Daytona 500 winner. Marty, tell us more. All of a sudden, Lee HMS flexing a little muscle. One, two for Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott in the lead. But his teammate, William Byron, had this to say to his crew chief, Rudy Fugle, just moments ago. That car feels good, man. It's fast. We're doing good. Everyone is easy to save me a little bit, but don't eat a ton. You see right there just the speed difference. The 12 running the bottom of the racetrack with a shove from Cedric up to third. A little mini side draft back to the two. The two will shove him out there again. Is the kind of combination of side draft and a forward push side draft and a forward push. A lot of times these drivers, they'll use that side draft. Get right next to the car beside them. Try to slow that car down. They're learning how to do that with this shoulder spoiler. It's going to react differently. Is it more effective? Less effective. The two Penske's out front. They do not want to leave their guy, Joey Logano, to himself. But Cedric chooses the top there. That splits him up. Let's compare what Chase is doing. You might see some movement on the throttle unless he's able to turn left. Now he's clear. Just trying to time his run. Not getting too far out, Jeff. Trying to get where you're clear of the 12 and have momentum to be able to turn left. What does Cedric do? He's watching that inside line, trying to determine if he wants to stay on that outside line or go back down to his teammates. As long as he has that forward momentum, he is going to stay right there. 195 miles an hour. 96. He's going to be nearly 200 into turn one. Turn left. We've seen it. Can he roll by? Cedric and clear. I don't know if he's going to be clear this time. You're going to love how much Chase Elliott is working this track. Both lines. Ryan Preece has had a spectacular stage two to put himself at the front. Briscoe in that Bass Pro Shops 19 down low. Marty. Lee, let me add something else to the mix. They're not sure Chase Elliott can make it to the end of the stage on the fuel he has. Listen to the radio. Try to get as many of those 80% laps as you can. We're right at it as we sit out of the line. And fuel pump one. Yeah, I got the bomb. You did. We need a little more. Now he's right alongside his teammate. Oh, big move here by Briscoe. That's going to put the two in the middle. Lawson goes with him. Bubba Wallace goes with him as well. They leave Cedric stranded in the middle. They saw enough of that Penske forward. We're going to eliminate you. You can go all the way back and fight your teammate. We don't want to push you to the front. And he could have stayed in the middle. He had his teammate behind him. Zane Smith, fourth car on the outside. He seems to just always find his way to the front in these situations. Priest back to the front. What a night for Ryan Priest. It was Shane Van Gisbergen who got all the points in stage one. Who's going to get it here? Look at that movement down on the low line. Suarez pushed out of line. He's that black and red car in the middle. Byron considering changing lines back in the top. Byron's had a good run. Gilliland's had a good run. Zane Smith's had a good run. Points matter for all of them. Remember, they're all fighting for a higher position entering the chase next week. One lap to go. Presented by Credit One Bank. Is it going to be the defending race winner in Ryan Blaney? Or is it going to be Chase Elliott who grabs the maximum points? Look at this inside line. Get momentum down the back straightaway. How can the 12 lay back a little bit and get a run? There he goes. Here comes the run from the defending race winner. And he's got plenty of helpers in the form of Zane Smith. Just pulls out of line. The two Fords go with him. Now Blaney has control. But I think Priest is taking more points. Can Priest get offense? The two guys fighting over that 16th and final position. Van Gisbergen got it all in stage one. Who gets them all here in stage two? It's Ryan Blaney. But good one for Ryan Priest. He grabs nine stage points. Let's see here. Oh, boy. Oh, Daniel Suarez. John Hunter Niemicek. Daniel Suarez had a rough go of it on the previous stop where he was run out into the grass. All right, lights are out on the Toyota XSE Camry as we are about to enter the Poet Restart Zone. The green and white machine on the high line. Todd Gilliland from Front Row Motorsports. He's got Chase Briscoe inside. Fellow Ford driver right behind him. Austin Sindrick and Joey Logano. And there is the three of Austin Dillon. Has he got something special under the lights here in Daytona this evening? Long way to go as we begin stage three. 59 laps to home from here. What a view that was from the Consumer Cellular Ford for Brad Keselowski as he tucks in behind Harrison Burden. Calculators are burning up on Pit Road at the moment. 58 laps to go outside of a comfortable fuel range. What's more important? Drive to the front of this field. Get in position because you think we're going to have a caution. Be conservative. Try to run in the middle of the field. And this is becoming a very interesting position because I believe there are teams that are thinking about stretching fuel. I think there are teams whispering about coming to Pit Road as groups. And the whole time, how much track position do you dare give up? How much do you want to push forward? I'm hearing a lot of differing ideas on the radios, Marty, about exactly what these teams think will be the best way to get to the finish. Yes, Steve, that's a fantastic point. And there is a contrary in play. Am I talking about saving fuel all night long, right? Well, I know in the Chevy camp, there is rumblings that they could pit in the next five to eight laps or so. Come to Pit Road, have no question of fuel to be able to make it to the end of the race. Why would that play Steve work for the Chevy camp if they decide to make it? Well, I think we saw Toyota try this a couple of years ago at Talladega. Now, they ended up getting in a wreck going over the bump into turn three. But if you can peel off with a handful of cars, be very efficient around the bottom and quit messing around with the fuel and just go wide open throttle, you can force everyone else's hand. And for a guy that has no interest in who runs well, who doesn't. But as a race fan, I applaud it. Pit, let's see something different. See if you can upset the strategy of the field. We've got some takers for Pit Road. Here they come. Seven cars dive down there. Successfully on Pit Road. Cleanly. I'm assuming this is just going to be gas only, probably relatively short stops as well. Only a few seconds of fuel. Really important that they're all in the same plan. Kim. And for the Austin Hill car, the 33 you see fuel only. They reminded him to be careful with the brakes for these cars. It can get out of control. Dave, I have a new favorite entrance in the spotter chatter. Are the driver asking, are we riding or pushing? And the crew chief told him riding, but pushing the pace. They did that. They need to pit for fuel now with the other Chevys. Well, I like it. I actually they took more fuel than I thought at four seconds. That tells me that other cars are shorter than we think. We'll see what those six or seven cars could do for a lap time. Right now, the pack is not going to adjust. They're waiting for that data set as well. Right. So the leaders now are at the start. Finished. That other pack is off of turn to a little broken up, though. That's a little bit of the issue. We're going to have three cars and about a 20 car gap. And then the next three cars consistently to start the chasers were one and a half to two seconds faster than the pack. The pack has now sped up a little bit. They've had to counteract. They're now going faster. Forty seven eighties and the pack on the bottom. The chasers are down to four cars with this lower drag package. They're having a hard time keeping everybody in line. This would be a real big cat mouse game to see if the one and the chase pack can push the lead back into running out of gas or catch them. And then, Jeff, if they catch them, what do they do at the three and four? Why they're going to be running into this group. They pick the speed up. You can see they've gone by the 51. They now run a 47 flat, so they pick their speed up quite a bit. And at the front of this pack, you've got several groups of teammates working together, like William Byron, Chase Elliott. Then you pick up Briscoe and then just changed with Gibbs. He couldn't quite clear Cody Ware. And behind that, you've got some front row forwards with Noah Gregson and Todd Gilliland. So that chase pack believes that they need those extra two cars, not the four here, but the two just behind to be at their best. So Chastain asking, what do I need to do to help the three or the 41 right behind me? They wanted to actually drag a little bit more, pick up the 88 who is almost caught them, Connor Zilich. And now the 33 of Austin Hill is further back, so he's losing it for sure. But they could use Zilich here to help that chase back. Go. I'd be shocked if they can run this fast and save gas. They would have been doing it the whole time. Those don't work well together. Maybe that second pack back there is getting enough of a tow right here that these guys are getting pulled along and they're going to save gas right now. I see the advantage goes to Ross Chastain and the chase group. There you go. The counteraction. Hedrick cars peel off the front of the field. They know they have to come to pit road. The problem is they will easily come out behind Chastain. What do they do? I'm guessing three, three and a half seconds worth of fuel. Marty. Yes, they slowly realized those who did not pit at 121. They had to hear Rudy people told William Byron who led much of that segment with a larger pack. Our plan's not working. We don't have the pace we need. We'll see what happens here and where they cycle out. But it should be that smaller group. The Daytona 500 winner this year's Daytona 500 winner Tyler Redick going around the outside being pushed by Ryan Preece. That group being led by Ross Chastain. The first pitters. Chastain is back in 25th, but it's made up a lot of ground. 16 seconds behind from as far back as 23 seconds behind earlier. Carson Hosavarin. Look at Zane Smith in the 38. That Aaron's Ford flies up the inside. He's got a fellow Ford giving him a little tap. That's the man Ryan Preece is trying to race his way into the chase. He's only got 11 laps to do something about it. The games are over at the front of the field. This group, whether they can make it or can't make it, they're thinking I'm going to be the leader when I get that answer. It's full push at the front of the field. The strategy for the cars that have pitted that strategy has been laid out. Chastain and them did all they could. As you see a move up front, Preece. Oh, wow. Contact between Tyler Redick and Zane Smith. Great save. Blaney goes through on the inside. I'll tell you one thing. Preece leading changes the complexion. Remember that 20 point. Bonus for winning. The race has made this much closer between Cendric, SVG and Preece. Now that Preece is leading as soon as Preece falls back to second, it becomes a big gap again. But leading this race, the pressure is on Cendric and SVG, who are both in this lead pack. Oh, it's a host of our turns left with a big run on too big of a run. Oh, that's huge. Host of our in the wall and takes Eric Jones with him. See what happens, Jeff, for the 77 left of the screen. Makes a big run right here. Turns left. Just gets around. Just loosely loose. Tried to carry a lot of speed on corner entry beside another car with this really short spoiler on the back of the car. Pulled some downforce on it off of it. Low on grip. Round it goes. Then just an overcorrection and a massive impact throwback to Speedway racing, especially in the summer. You have to be fast. You have to do all the right things, but your car has to handle in the closing laps. Host of our feels he has to just tug the wheel. It's time to go. He can't wait. He turns left right here and you can see doesn't go all the way to the bottom. Like, maybe he's even scared to turn the wheel a little bit more than finally just snaps around. There we go. There's host of out of his car. Pit road is open. The leaders decide to stay out, so they're gonna try to save as much fuel as they can. Riding under yellow. The 42 of Nima check the 54 SVG will be on the conservative side and take gas in this 97 car. Not only gas, they're gonna take tires, too. Steven Dorn, the crew chief, asking if he wants to to be able to be aggressive. Shane saying, No, I want four. They were gonna be way too close going into overtime on fuel. So this guess is a somewhat conservative call. Remember, he's trying to get that chase position. Ryan Priest right now, though, looking in a good position. So this is why they needed to do it, because if he fell back, ran out of gas, it would take them out of a chase spot, likely. If Priest wins and eliminate you, that's one thing. But running out of gas and eliminating yourself is just not in the cards. Let's get ready to go. Credit one bank overtime. Here we go. Zane Smith brings the field back to speed. Is this the moment he could get the biggest win of his career? Or how about Ryan Priest? Can he race his way in with a win and get into the chase over these closing laps? Here comes Michael McDowell with a shove on Daniel Suarez, his teammate Priest Smith. Ryan Blaney trying to defend. Look at the hitting. And look at Josh Berry up high as Reddit goes in front of him. He gets a shove. It's going to be more pushing and shoving than we've seen all day. Can these cars take it? Zane Smith out in front. Ryan Blaney defending race winner. Look at that quick drive fly. Final lap. Can Zane Smith do it? Here comes Ryan Priest on the inside. It's all or nothing. Priest said we're not going to leave anything out. And around goes Zane Smith. Multiple cars. Joey Logano in it as well. Huge crash down the backstretch. Ryan Blaney goes into the wall. Cautions out. Priest out in front at the time of the caution. My goodness, what a finish here in Daytona. Ryan Priest said to his team. We're not going to leave anything out there. An amazing job on the 60 to be in position. NASCAR will check it. Check the time of caution. Use cameras to determine who the leader was. And it's going to be much more complicated than that. It's confirmed. Ryan Priest has done it. The biggest win of his career. We did it. You did it, Ryan. And Priest is in the chase in the most dramatic way. I kind of lost track of where the 97 was. Remember, they came and got fuel cam reported. They had to have fuel. So the pit decision was their only decision. But giving up that track position ultimately was too costly. And they were the eliminated car. I hate it for SVG and that entire team. But you have to give credit to the performance. I mentioned it when they pitted. You know, Priest would have to win. Well, you know what? Sometimes the walk off performance is what we see. And look to the left. Look at everybody scrambling here. There goes SVG. There goes Cody Ware. That's where Zane Smith ended up way to the inside there. 78 of Daniel Dye was in it as well at the back. Joey Logano, Todd Gilliland, Kyle Larson. Whoa, that's Daniel Dye into Kyle Larson.