Denny Hamlin Praises Ryan Preece For Improbable Chase Comeback
· Yahoo Sports
Denny Hamlin sung Ryan Preece’s praises after the driver of the No. 60 claimed his first career NASCAR Cup Series win in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
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Preece pulled off a walk-off victory to secure the final spot in the 2026 Chase. Entering Daytona, the RFK Racing driver was 31 points behind Shane van Gisbergen for the last position.
As both the caution flag and checkered flag waved over the 2.5-mile track, Preece was a Cup Series winner and clinched a Chase spot by 17 points over SVG.
Hamlin on Preece’s improbable Daytona win: ‘Really, really impressive’
All of a sudden, SVG had scored 10 stage points after placing first, while Preece took eighth, only garnering three points despite being in the top 5 for most of the opening stage.
Hamlin said that had to be a crushing blow for the Connecticut native in a recent episode of his “Actions Detrimental” podcast.
“What a morale crusher for him to see, as he’s spinning through the grass, you look up and SVG has now won the first stage, it’s got to be such a tough one,” Hamlin said.
Ultimately, Preece mounted a comeback and took the victory at “The World Center of Racing” to knock SVG, who finished 27th, out of the Chase. It was an impressive superspeedway run that left Hamlin, a 3-time Daytona 500 champion, in disbelief.
“I mean, 67 points on a speedway has got to be one of the all-time highest point days that there’s ever been,” Hamlin said.
It is one thing to gain a ton of points at an intermediate track or any other configuration, but Hamlin applauded Preece for being able to do so on a superspeedway.
“To drive the way he did, finish it the way he did, that was really, really impressive. Especially on a speedway,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin makes verdict on Preece’s Daytona win: ‘Best performance in his career’
When comparing other tracks to Daytona, Hamlin said it speaks volumes to what Preece accomplished last Saturday night.
On any other track such as Kansas Speedway, Hamlin said it is easier to predict what will happen.
“If you go and you take me at Kansas and I say, ‘Oh, I’m going to do everything I can to win,’ and we just go out there and we run top 3 in all stages and win the race. OK, that’s a little bit more predictable because you can decide your destiny a little bit better on those types of tracks,” Hamlin said.
Whereas at Daytona, the drafting and the threat of getting collected in a crash there is no doubt in Hamlin’s mind that Preece drove the race of his career on Saturday.
“Superspeedways, it’s really tough and you can get shuffled really, really easily. … That was a great performance. It was by far his best performance in his Cup career,” Hamlin said.
Preece will begin the Chase from the 16th position. Meanwhile, Hamlin is the points leader going into the Chase with a 25-point advantage over second place Ryan Blaney.