Ryan Preece won the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday afternoon. It marked his first career points-paying victory .
The win counted for championship points and secured the final playoff spot. That put him into the Chase .
Late in the race, Carson Hocevar crashed while running near the second position at that time. His race finished early due to the wreck.
The Daytona result finalized the 16-driver NASCAR Chase grid. Points were reset ahead of the 10-race playoff run .