Van Gisbergen entered the Coke Zero Sugar 400 holding a 31-point advantage over Preece for the final transfer spot. The New Zealander made a strong start, earning his first stage win on an oval and collecting valuable points while Preece endured an early setback, NASCAR reported.
But the battle took a dramatic turn as the race entered its closing stages.
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A caution on Lap 155 following a three-car crash forced van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Chevrolet team into a difficult strategic decision. Concerned that they would not have enough fuel to reach the finish, crew chief Stephen Doran brought van Gisbergen to pit road.
The decision dropped him deep in the field.
Van Gisbergen restarted from 27th, while Preece was positioned at the front alongside Zane Smith. The final lap turned chaotic, with multiple incidents unfolding down the backstretch during overtime.
Preece surged past Smith as the caution came out, while van Gisbergen was caught up in the late-race chaos and finished 28th.
The result proved decisive.
Preece scored 67 points at Daytona compared with van Gisbergen’s 19, moving 17 points clear of the cutoff line and ending the Trackhouse Racing driver’s hopes of reaching The Chase.
Van Gisbergen said he did not blame the disappointment on a single race, acknowledging that his season-long results had ultimately left him vulnerable heading into Daytona.
“I haven’t done a good enough job throughout the year; we’ve lost points at various places,” van Gisbergen said. “We didn’t just lose it tonight.”
The 2026 regular season was nevertheless a step forward for the New Zealander. Van Gisbergen finished with two victories, five top-five results and seven top-10 finishes. He also showed improvement on oval tracks, an area that had previously been one of his biggest challenges.
However, eight finishes of 30th or worse during the season proved costly in the tightly contested Chase battle.
Preece, meanwhile, praised van Gisbergen after their intense fight for the final spot, calling him one of the sport’s standout talents.
Van Gisbergen said he was proud of the progress he had made, particularly on oval tracks, but acknowledged that Trackhouse Racing still had work to do after all three of its drivers missed The Chase.
Despite the Daytona disappointment, the team will have 10 races remaining to continue developing its cars and build on the improvements made throughout the 2026 season.
