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Sean Gardner\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\nSix more drivers locked themselves into the Chase with their New Hampshire performance, but it\u2019s the battle among four drivers for the final three positions in the 16-car field that will garner the attention in the regular season finale at Daytona.<\/p>\n
Ryan Preece\u2019s ninth place-finish coupled with his eighth place in Stage 1 and fourth place in Stage 2 allowed him to cut the deficit to the 16th place Shane van Gisbergen to 31 points. Van Gisbergen placed 20th after leading 30 laps and finishing ninth in Stage 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m on offense. I\u2019m not playing defense,\u201d Preece said about Daytona. \u201cHopefully, Daytona is gonna love me back for once.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preece has experienced two horrifying crashes at the 2.5-mile Daytona track. The first occurred in August 2023 when his car flipped and barrel rolled approximately 13 times on the backstretch. Then in the 2025 Daytona 500 Preece\u2019s car traveled on its rear wheels in an unusual wheelie fashion before flipping onto its roof and sliding into the outside wall. It then landed back on its wheels.<\/p>\n
However, everyone is arriving in Daytona with a different superspeedway package, and no one knows what to expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess we\u2019re all on a level playing field when we go into that one,\u201d Preece said. \u201cIf you worry about the things you can\u2019t control, it\u2019s gonna eat you alive. I\u2019ve always just worried about the things I can control and make sure I do them well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van Gisbergen admitted the New Hampshire event was a \u201ctough day for what we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the race started about 45 minutes late due to rain, relegating the cars to wet weather tires for the first 40 laps, Van Gisbergen performed superbly, building up a 5.870-second lead over William Byron. However, once the field changed to dry or slick tires, Van Gisbergen lost his competitive edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing that fast on wet weather tires and falling that fast shows that we were missing something to have grip on the slick tires,\u201d Van Gisbergen said. \u201cHopefully, there are some learnings on that because Connor (Zilisch) and I just went backwards as fast as we could when the track dried. It\u2019s just a disappointing way to end the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sean Gardner\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Connor Zilisch (left) and Shane Van Gisbergen race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n
The other two drivers racing for a position in the Chase in the regular season finale are Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric. Wallace\u2019s second-place finish to winner Ryan Blaney leaves him 44 points above the cutline, while Austin Cindric\u2019s 12th place left him 13 points to the good.<\/p>\n
The 13 drivers who have secured a position in the Chase for the Championship are Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, and Daniel Suarez.<\/p>\n
Hamlin Secures Top Seed, But\u2026<\/p>\n
Denny Hamlin secured the No. 1 seed position for the Chase with a seventh-place finish at New Hampshire, but the Joe Gibbs Racing driver wasn\u2019t happy with his performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were just a pedestrian today. We just didn\u2019t quite have it,\u201d Hamlin said.<\/p>\n
During the 301-lap race, Hamlin had two incidents that cost him valuable track position. The first occurred before lap one had concluded. Tyler Reddick, who started on the pole, spun off turn four on the first lap. All of the cars were on wet weather tires and Hamlin and Chris Buescher couldn\u2019t avoid tagging Reddick.<\/p>\n
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Sean Gardner\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Tyler Reddick (#45) spins ahead of Denny Hamlin and Chris Buescher.<\/p>\n
Then when the code word \u201cenchilada\u201d was given for a pit stop, Hamlin\u2019s crew appeared confused when he darted onto pit road. The gasman immediately began fueling the car, but the rest of the crew stood on the wall for a few seconds before changing four tires on the No. 11 Toyota.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis are our bad days, bad-ish,\u201d Hamlin said, \u201cbut I feel good about where our team is right now. We don\u2019t have a whole lot of weaknesses. We\u2019re just not as strong as the Penske cars on these types of race tracks. When I say strong, I mean top five, top seven, so it\u2019s something we can work with. The mile-and-a-half\u2019s are certainly something that\u2019s been our strength for a couple of years now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another Top 10 for Berry<\/p>\n
Josh Berry\u2019s third-place finish at New Hampshire provided the Wood Brothers with something that team hasn\u2019t had since 1994 with Morgan Shepherd\u2014four consecutive top 10s.<\/p>\n
Berry isn\u2019t returning to the Ford team next year and he has been vocal about the fact that he\u2019s racing for his career. In the New Hampshire race won by Ryan Blaney, Berry led four times for 73 laps in the 301-lap race, second only to Blaney who held the No. 1 position for 115 laps.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were in control there for a little while, but that one caution fell and it just felt like that was one of them that was gonna bite us at some point and ultimately it did,\u201d said Berry, who was running down Blaney at the finish, placing 1.962 seconds behind him. \u201cI slid a little long and we didn\u2019t have a great pit stop and lost a little track position. I was surprised we were able to get back to third and get as close as we could to those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berry admitted he possibly drove a \u201clittle rougher\u201d in Sunday\u2019s race than he likes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t necessarily like racing like that, but these guys know what I\u2019m up against right now,\u201d Berry said. \u201cI think most of them have a lot of respect for me, so I think they understand. Knocking everybody out of the way as soon as you get to them is not something that\u2019s sustainable over the course of a Cup season, but I think in this scenario you\u2019re just fighting for everything you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell\u2019s Crewman Escapes Injury<\/p>\n
Christopher Bell\u2019s front tire changer Blake Houston escaped injury during Sunday\u2019s New Hampshire race after getting dragged out of the pit box by his driver\u2019s car.<\/p>\n
Bell had pitted on lap 73 during the race\u2019s fourth caution period. Houston placed his hand on the car\u2019s right-front fender and started to get up when the jack dropped, which is the driver\u2019s signal to go. Houston was dragged from the pit box, spun around and then fell to the ground still holding his air wrench which was attached to the air hose. Medical personnel immediately went to Houston, who told them he was fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever the jack dropped, I saw he was still there, then I saw him kind of flopping around in my rearview camera,\u201d Bell said. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel my car jump up in the air, so I knew I didn\u2019t run him over. I hope he didn\u2019t get his fingers stuck in the wheel or anything. I\u2019m glad Blake is OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gragson Snares 2nd Top 10<\/p>\n
Noah Gragson, who recently signed a contract extension with Front Row Motorsports, recorded his first top 10 since April when he finished 10th at New Hampshire.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrant (Hutchens) is a first-year crew chief, and I think it\u2019s no secret that it took a little bit of time, but I feel like we\u2019re really meshing and jiving right now,\u201d Gragson said. <\/p>\n
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