RADIO
Ryan Preece Earns his First Cup Series Victory and A Chase Spot at Daytona
Ryan Preece was the first driver below the cut line who needed enough points to gain a spot in The Chase for 2026, and needed to make up those points in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Preece made the most of this race and won it after starting from fourth position. In the first stage, Preece ran inside the top five throughout the stage and competed for the stage win alongside Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, and Shane Van Gisbergen. At the end of the first stage, Preece was collected in a multicar accident with Buescher and Larson, but was still credited with an eighth-place finish at the end of the stage. In the second stage, he recovered from his damage and made his way back to the front, challenging for the lead against several other drivers, including Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and Zane Smith. Preece fell short of winning the second stage to Blaney, but still scored nine stage points from placing second. The No. 60 Ford driver continued to run inside the top 10 in the final stage, but more directly competed for the lead in the closing laps. Preece was set up in second on the race's final restart and was able to get help from Blaney to compete with Smith and Tyler Reddick for the win. On the final lap, Reddick got into Smith and caused the biggest crash of the day, while Preece pushed ahead of Daniel Suarez and Reddick until the race was called for caution. Preece earned the first points-paying victory of his Cup Series career and earned enough points to knock Van Gisbergen out of the 16th and final seed of The Chase.
Source: NASCAR.com
Source: NASCAR.com
Daniel Suarez Scores his Best Finish of the Year at Daytona
Spire Motorsports driver Daniel Suarez finished the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway as the runner-up. At the beginning of the race, Suarez started 23rd, but quietly rode around in the back of the pack in the first stage while keeping his car damage-free. He ended the first stage in 29th and did not score stage points. During the second stage, Suarez quietly worked his way through the pack. The No. 7 Chevrolet driver made it up to eighth by the end of the stage and scored three stage points. During the stage break for the final stage, Suarez ended up getting into John Hunter Nemechek on pit road, causing him to have a bit of damage. Despite the damage, Suarez continued to keep his car clean throughout the rest of the accidents in the final stage. As a result, Suarez snuck into second on the final lap by passing other drivers who crashed in the largest crash of the day. He did fall short of passing Ryan Preece before the race was finished under caution. With his best finish since his victory at Charlotte in May, Suarez is now the No. 11 Seed for The Chase in 2026.
Source: NASCAR.com
Source: NASCAR.com
Tyler Reddick Finishes Third and Claims the No. 3 Chase Seed at Daytona
Tyler Reddick finished third in Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Reddick started the race from 17th, but did not have much of a presence in the race's first two stages as he remained towards the back or middle of the pack. The No. 45 Toyota driver scored zero stage points as he placed 32nd at the end of the first stage and 19th at the end of the second. The final stage towards the end is where Reddick started making progress on the pack and went to the top 10. Reddick then made moves to the front and started competing for the win in the closing laps alongside Zane Smith, Ryan Preece, and Carson Hocevar. After a lap 155 caution for Hocevar spinning and wrecking Erik Jones, Reddick moved into position for the race's final restart to fight for the win from fourth. Reddick continued to push Smith and, on the final lap, made a run for the lead, but got into Smith after he attempted to block Reddick, triggering a big multi-car wreck. Soon after the contact, the caution was called, and the race ended with Reddick in third, finishing behind Preece and Daniel Suarez. With his 11th top-5 finish of the season, Reddick passed Ty Gibbs in points and will be the No. 3 seed in The Chase for 2026.
Source: NASCAR.com
Source: NASCAR.com
Austin Cindric Clinches A Chase Spot by Finishing Sixth at Daytona
Team Penske's Austin Cindric finished in sixth position during Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. The driver of the No. 2 Ford began the race from the eighth position, and during the first stage, he steadily ran inside the top 10 without much issue. Cindric ultimately finished the first stage in 10th, earning one stage point. In the second stage, Cindric continued to run around the top 10 until he found his teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano midway through the stage. Cindric moved to the front with his teammates and competed for the lead until lap 93, when he fell back outside of the top 10. At the end of the second stage, Cindric failed to score stage points as he placed 13th. In the final stage, Cindric first started towards the back after pitting in the stage break, but he quietly ran around the top 15 and top 10 throughout the whole stage. Cindric went through the rest of the race without getting involved in any crashes and successfully avoided the one on the final lap to score a top-10 finish. This top-10 result was enough for Cindric to clinch a spot as the No. 15 seed in The Chase for 2026.
Source: NASCAR.com
Source: NASCAR.com
Shane Van Gisbergen Falls out of The Chase
Shane Van Gisbergen ran well throughout the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, but ultimately ended with an underwhelming finish of 28th. Van Gisbergen started the race from the sixth position, but quickly competed for the lead alongside Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, and eventually Kyle Larson throughout the first stage. Coming at the end of the first stage, Buescher and Larson were involved in a crash with Ryan Preece, and he passed everyone else to win the first stage and claim 10 stage points. In the second stage, Van Gisbergen fought for the lead in the stage's first couple of laps, but got shuffled back by the field midway through the stage. SVG tried to maneuver back to the front but fell short of earning stage points in the second stage, finishing 12th. In the stage break during the final stage, Van Gisbergen went to pit road and put himself further back in the pack. Over the course of the stage, Van Gisbergen kept recovering positions until he returned to the top 15, but a caution on lap 155 changed that. During this caution, SVG went back to pit road for fuel and tires and set himself further back in the field for the final restart. Despite fresher tires and fuel, Van Gisbergen could not make up many positions and was involved in the crash on the final lap, finishing 28th. This finish was not enough for Van Gisbergen to make the 2026 Chase for the Cup as he was 17 points short of obtaining the final Chase spot over Preece, who recovered from his crash at the end of the first stage to win.
Source: NASCAR.com
Source: NASCAR.com
Is Chase Briscoe Worth Rostering for DFS at Daytona?
Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racing will start in the 12th position for this week's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway after qualifying. This will be Briscoe's first race at Daytona, where he will start outside of the top 10 since the 2024 Daytona 500. In 11 Cup starts in his career, Briscoe has three top-10 finishes and an average finish of 20.5. Through 25 races so far this year, Briscoe has one win, 13 top-10 finishes, and an average finish of 14.6. In his last 10 races at drafting tracks, Briscoe has three top-5 finishes and has led in eight different events. Briscoe's starting position does not provide much upside, and his track history has been boom-or-bust at Daytona. Fantasy players can use Briscoe in all formats due to his potential ceiling for DFS, but he is best recommended for tournaments due to his underwhelming upside.
Source: DriverAverages.com
Source: DriverAverages.com
Carson Hocevar Presents Plenty of DFS Upside for Daytona Lineups
Carson Hocevar of Spire Motorsports will start 28th after qualifying for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Hocevar last qualified this far back in the field at the site during the 2025 Daytona 500. In five previous races at Daytona, Hocevar has two top-20 finishes and a best finish of 11th, which he obtained in August 2024. With 25 Cup races completed so far this season, Hocevar has one win, 18 top-20 finishes, and an average finish of 15.9. Notably, Hocevar has finished inside the top five in each of the last three races at drafting tracks, including a win at Talladega earlier in the year. Hocevar has plenty of upside based on his starting position for this week's race. When factoring in his history at drafting tracks overall, Hocevar makes for a great DFS option for all formats.
Source: DriverAverages.com
Source: DriverAverages.com
Chris Buescher Earns his First Front-Row Start at Daytona
Chris Buescher of RFK Racing qualified on the outside of the front row in second for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. It will be the first front-row start for Buescher at the site in his Cup career. In 21 Cup races at Daytona, Buescher has one win and 11 top-10 finishes with an average finish of 17.7. Through 25 races this year, Buescher has 10 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 13.9. In the last seven races at drafting tracks, Buescher has six top-15 finishes, with five of them inside the top 10. Although Buescher has been one of the more consistent performers at Daytona in his Cup career, fantasy players should look towards rostering other drivers for this week's race. Buescher's starting position being towards the front provides him with no Place Differential upside, making him difficult to recommend for most DFS lineups outside of tournaments despite his great track history.
Source: DriverAverages.com
Source: DriverAverages.com
Ryan Preece Is A Huge DFS Risk Despite Strong Daytona Qualifying Result
Ryan Preece will start this week's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway from the fourth position. This matches the highest starting position of Preece's Cup career at Daytona, which was obtained in August 2024. In 13 Cup starts at the site, Preece has four top-15 finishes and an average finish of 24.3. After 25 Cup races so far this season, Preece has six top-10 finishes and an average finish of 17.2. Since 2024 at drafting tracks, Preece only has one top-10 finish, being a ninth-place result at Atlanta earlier this season. Considering his overall history at drafting tracks is lackluster, Preece is a driver who fantasy players should look to avoid rostering in this week's race. This is also because he is a huge risk for losing Place Differential in DFS based on track history.
Source: DriverAverages.com
Source: DriverAverages.com
William Byron a DFS Diamond in the Rough at Daytona
It's going to be easy to overlook William Byron in DFS this weekend, but make sure you don't. On the driver list, Byron ($10.4K salary) is sandwiched between heavy-hitters, Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell, which is going to lower Byron's ownership on the slate already. Add in the fact that Byron qualified 13th for this weekend's race at Daytona--which means he has somewhat limited Place Differential upside--and many DFS players are going to pass on the Hendrick Motorsports driver. However, let's not forget that Byron is a three-time Daytona winner and is also coming off of a 12th-place finish here in this season's Daytona 500 (after starting 39th). Willy B is an excellent large-field tournament option in DFS this weekend, as he should be flying under the radar for most daily fantasy players.
Source: Hendrick Motorsports
Source: Hendrick Motorsports
Christopher Bell the Chalk DFS Play at Daytona
Christopher Bell qualified 35th for this weekend's Coke Zero Sugar 400, which means he's going to be a prime target for many DFS managers on Saturday night. Place differential means everything for the daily fantasy contests at a track like Daytona, and Bell is in top-tier equipment while starting near the back of the field. As far as track history goes at Daytona, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has shown flashes of good here, with three third-place finishes in his last seven starts at the track. With that being said, Bell has also finished 31st or worse in five of his last 10 starts at Daytona. Quite the boom-or-bust scenario. In cash games on DraftKings, Christopher Bell ($10.2K salary) is a solid choice this weekend. In large-field tournaments, there's a strategy element to being underweight on him, as he has the tendency to wreck out at this track.
Source: Christopher Bell
Source: Christopher Bell
Joey Logano Hoping to Keep his Momentum at Daytona
Joey Logano's season continued on the up-and-up at New Hampshire last weekend, as the Team Penske driver posted his seventh straight top-15 finish with a 14th-place effort at "The Magic Mile." Logano has now climbed all the way up to ninth in the points standings as the Chase is set to start in one week. Can the Team Penske driver continue that momentum at Daytona this weekend, though? Logano is a previous Daytona winner (2015) and has led the second-most laps (413) among all active drivers at this track. For Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400, the No 22 Ford will roll off the starting grid from ninth-place, which makes Logano a fascinating DFS option, as his Place Differential upside is relatively limited, but the race-winning potential is there. Joey started third and finished third here at Daytona back in February.
Source: PitByNumbers
Source: PitByNumbers
Can Denny Hamlin Return to Glory Under New Rules Package at Daytona?
Denny Hamlin used to be one of the most feared drivers on superspeedways, especially at Daytona International Speedway. He's a three-time Daytona 500 winner and has posted 11 top-five finishes in 41 career starts at this track. But ever since the introduction of the NextGen car, Hamlin seems to have lost his edge. Over the last nine races at Daytona, Hamlin has zero top-15 finishes and his best result is a 17th. In seven of those nine races, he has ended up outside of the top 20 entirely. Will that change this weekend, though? NASCAR has implemented some rules changes with this package in an attempt to improve the racing at Daytona. Nobody knows for sure how this will happen, but it could be a step in the right direction for Hamlin to return to his former glory. He qualified back in 30th-place for Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400, which means Denny is a prime DFS target for Place Differential on DraftKings ($9.1K salary).
Source: Fox Sports
Source: Fox Sports
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Should Be a Popular Fantasy Pick at Daytona
It's Coke Zero Sugar 400 weekend at Daytona International Speedway, which means fantasy players and bettors alike will be targeting Ricky Stenhouse Jr. much more than usual. That should be the case this weekend as well, especially in DFS. Stenhouse qualified back in 32nd-place for this weekend's race, which gives him massive Place Differential upside at one of his best race tracks. Stenhouse is a two-time winner at Daytona and is also coming off of a second-place finish here in this season's Daytona 500. He tends to be boom or bust, though, as four of the last six Daytona races have ended with Stenhouse in 31st-place or worse. The upside is there, but so is the downside. Ricky should be a popular pick in DFS on Saturday night, especially at his $8.1K salary on DraftKings, but there is also a strategy element to going underweight on him in large-field tournaments in case he crashes again.
Source: Driver Averages
Source: Driver Averages
Shane van Gisbergen Qualifies Sixth As He Battles for Chase Berth
Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway is a big one for Shane van Gisbergen. Heading into the race, the Trackhouse Racing driver has a 31-point advantage over Ryan Preece for the final spot in this year's Chase, and with how unpredictable Daytona can be, nothing is guaranteed. SVG got off to a good start on Friday, though, as he qualified sixth for this weekend's big race--although Preece got off to a better start by qualifying fourth. As far as track history goes, Daytona has been a struggle for van Gisbergen thus far, as he has just one finish better than 30th in four career starts. That one result was a 16th-place finish in this race one year ago. It'll be fun to watch the battle for the Chase berth unfold at Daytona this weekend, but as far as DFS goes, it's probably best to stay away from Shane van Gisbergen ($6.2K on DraftKings), as his potential for negative Place Differential is super high.
Source: Motorsport
Source: Motorsport
