When it comes to winning NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway races, you need to be the aggressor, and you need to have help. In the case of RFK Racing's Ryan Preece, he was on the wrong end of both as the closing laps unfolded in Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Preece, one of 20 drivers in a must-win situation entering the 160-lap regular season finale around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, entered the race as the second driver below the cut line, but because of the gap to Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman, it didn't matter.
Securing his first career win was his only way to secure his first career playoff berth, even though he was well inside the top 16 on points alone.
Preece was in the mix to win until Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson, with teammate Chase Elliott behind him and teammate William Byron a further two cars back, made a bold move that left Preece hung out to dry in the middle.
At that point, it was all but over for the driver of the No. 60 Ford.
Ryan Preece was understandably displeased with the Hendrick cars shucking him to the middle with two to go. Felt Larson & Elliott bailed on him to protect Alex Bowman's playoff spot.
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) August 24, 2025
"If I had a Ford behind me, we would've fucking won that race!"
"I mean, I know why they did it.… pic.twitter.com/4pfyyB2thk
“I did everything right, that fucking sucks.” - Preece. Not happy with the moves from Larson that put him in the middle.
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) August 24, 2025
Preece was understandably frustrated, but in the dog-eat-dog world that is NASCAR, specifically superspeedway/drafting racing, you can't really expect anything else. It's the norm, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with it.
As it turns out, none of Bowman's three teammates managed to win to save his playoff spot anyway, even after pulling the move on Preece, which probably only added to the frustration of the driver of the No. 60 Ford.
Larson could only manage to place sixth, with Elliott 10th and Byron 19th. It took Team Penske's Ryan Blaney, ironically in a Ford, emerging from pretty much nowhere to fend off five other drivers in must-win situations.
Preece placed 14th. Blaney had been 13th with two laps to go.
The driver of the No. 12 Ford crossed the finish line 0.031 seconds ahead of Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez, 0.036 seconds ahead of Spire Motorsports' Justin Haley, and 0.049 seconds ahead of Haas Factory Team's Cole Custer in a historic four-wide finish. Behind that quartet were Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones and RFK Racing's Chris Buescher.
Had any of those five drivers won, Bowman would have ended up on the outside of the playoffs for the second time in the three most recent seasons.
Preece was one of nine drivers below the cut line who led laps on Saturday night.
The playoffs are scheduled to begin on Sunday, August 31 with the Cook Out Southern 500, which is set to be shown live on USA Network from Darlington Raceway beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!