We've heard all year that every point matters, especially under the new NASCAR Cup Series playoff format, so naturally, NASCAR had multiple in-race situations to review during Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway to ensure they got everything right, with postseason implications on the line throughout.
It started at the end of stage one, when a multi-car wreck and caution flag coming to the stage end produced a top 10 that was initially inaccurate, and by quite a bit.
Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson was involved in the wreck and was initially scored outside the top 10, as was RFK Racing's Ryan Preece, who needed every point he could get after starting the 166-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval 31 points below the playoff cut line.
NASCAR makes multiple results changes
Upon further review, Larson was boosted all the way up to sixth, with Preece bumped up to eighth. 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace was dropped from sixth to seventh, and Legacy Motor Club's John Hunter Nemechek was dropped from seventh to ninth.
Richard Childress Racing's Austin Hill and Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman were initially scored in eighth and ninth, respectively, but were both dropped out of the top 10 entirely. Team Penske's Austin Cindric managed to remain 10th, even as several others around him shifted.
Then came the end of the race, which was marred by several pileups on the back straightaway. It seemed like NASCAR was waiting to see just how many cars could smash into each other before throwing the caution flag at first, but they did eventually make it official with Preece clearly ahead of Spire Motorsports' Daniel Suarez, which was enough to get Preece into the playoffs over Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen.
But beyond the top two, NASCAR had a lot of fixing to do, and to their credit, they got it right.
Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell was scored third but dropped to fourth behind 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick. Haas Factory Team's Cole Custer and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin were scored ninth and 10th, respectively, but dropped to 10th and 11th, as Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry was awarded ninth, giving him five consecutive top nine finishes.
RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski and Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe swapped spots, with Briscoe promoted to 13th, and Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell and 23XI Racing's Corey Heim did as well, with Heim promoted to 16th.
Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain was initially scored 28th but bumped up to 24th, knocking down teammate Connor Zilisch, Front Row Motorsports' Noah Gragson, RCR's Hill, and teammate SVG down by one spot each. Note that this is not the reason SVG failed to qualify for the postseason instead of Preece, as he ultimately finished 17 points behind.
The only other change involved Front Row Motorsports' Zane Smith, who led the race on the final lap before triggering the pileups when he lost control of his No. 38 Ford. He was dropped from 32nd to 34th, resulting in Blaney moving up to 32nd and Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs moving up to 33rd.
Here's a full look at the official race results after all the changes were confirmed by NASCAR.
NASCAR results at Daytona after post-race review
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
2 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
3 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
4 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
5 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
6 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
7 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
8 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
9 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
10 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
11 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
12 | Harrison Burton, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
13 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
14 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
15 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
16 | Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota |
17 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
18 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
19 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
20 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
21 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
22 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
23 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
24 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
25 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
26 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
27 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
28 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
29 | Daniel Dye, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet |
30 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
31 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
32 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
33 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
34 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
35 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
36 | Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet |
37 | Casey Mears, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet |
38 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
39 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
40 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
While these changes did not change who qualified for the playoffs, every playoff driver not named Hamlin, who had already secured the regular season championship, did indeed enter Daytona battling for seeding, so every point truly did matter. A whopping eight of the top 11 seeds came down to a single point.
Now the playoff field is set, and bonus points have been awarded, based strictly on the regular season standings, to get the postseason underway.
USA Network's live coverage of the Cook Out Southern 500 is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 6. Tune in and don't miss any of the action from the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener!
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