With just one perilous regular season race remaining at Daytona, the race to the Chase for the Championship looks like this:
Austin Cindric +44
Shane Van Gisbergen +31
—
Ryan Preece -31
Brad Keselowski -66
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Let’s go ahead and state the obvious. For Keselowski to get that last spot, he’s going to need everyone above him to wreck out early and he’s most likely going to need to win at Daytona.
Low odds.
On the other hand, his teammate and driver, Ryan Preece, gave himself a chance to make something happen next Saturday night with a ninth-place finish, 10 stage points and Shane Van Gisbergen finishing 20th with just two stage points.
Preece and crew chief Derrick Finely put themselves in position to challenge for at least a top five in the middle stages of the race, mostly through a two-tire stop that evened out halfway through.
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They faded through the top-10.
“We did a really good job,” Preece said. “I felt like the race, the majority of it went our way. We had a really good car and before that last caution came out it looked like we were gonna go around (Bubba Wallace). We just got by (Josh Berry), so for whatever reason that last set of tires was just loose and that’s what killed us because I felt like on restarts, navigating through traffic and doing all of those things, we did everything right.”
Preece said while ‘it was a good day, it would have been even better if we had won,’ as that would have meant an even closer deficit to Van Gisbergen.
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“I don’t know what to do next week other than drive the shit out it.
Read Also:
NASCAR penalty to Ryan Preece upheld on appeal
NASCAR penalizes Ryan Preece for Texas incident with Ty Gibbs
Recall that Preece suffered a 25-point driver’s penalty for what NASCAR felt was a retaliatory crash of Ty Gibbs at Texas Motor Speedway. That did not apply to the owner’s standings, which pay the bills in NASCAR, so Preece’s No. 60 car only needs to make up eight points on Van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse No. 97 to put his team in that version of the Chase for the Championship.
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For his part, SVG told USA Sport’s Dustin Long after the race that Preece and Finley did a good job and that he wishes he had more of a cushion ‘before a bit of a big unknown’ race next weekend at Daytona.
There is a brand-new superspeedway package that will not even be practice over the weekend prior to taking the green flag. That race is the regular season finale and will decide both the driver and owner Chase for the Championships.
Photos from New Hampshire – Sunday
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
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General view
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
General view
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports, Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports, Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports
Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
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Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
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General view
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
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Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
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Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
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Ryan Preece, RFK Racing, Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing, Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Ryan Preece, RFK Racing, Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing, Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
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Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
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Joey Logano, Team Penske, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
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Joey Logano, Team Penske, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Chris Buescher, RFK Racing, Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports
Chris Buescher, RFK Racing, Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club, Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, Joey Logano, Team Penske
Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club, Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, Joey Logano, Team Penske
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
John Hunter Nemechek, Richard Petty Motorsports
John Hunter Nemechek, Richard Petty Motorsports
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
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John Hunter Nemechek, Richard Petty Motorsports
John Hunter Nemechek, Richard Petty Motorsports
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Austin Hill, Richard Childress Racing
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Austin Hill, Richard Childress Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
John Hunter Nemechek, Richard Petty Motorsports
John Hunter Nemechek, Richard Petty Motorsports
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
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Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports
Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports
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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing
Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing, Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing, Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
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Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
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