NASCAR race includes half the field wrecking, furious drivers & Hollywood actor ripping a 'leftist, woke' move
Ryan Preece capped the NASCAR Cup Series regular season with his first career victory Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, surviving an overtime finish that saw multiple crashes erupt behind him on the backstretch. The win, which came under the lights, locked Preece into the upcoming 10-race playoffs and ended a regular season that spanned the better part of seven months.
Preece entered the race needing a win to have any shot at the postseason, sitting well below the cutoff line heading into the night. He delivered, leading when it mattered and staying out of trouble as the field came apart in the closing laps. The victory also marked his first full points-paying Cup Series triumph, coming months after he won the non-points Busch Clash exhibition earlier this year.
Speaking after the race, Preece acknowledged how different the night could have gone, referencing a violent crash at Daytona that once put his career in jeopardy. "Daytona almost took my life," Preece said. "Or ended my racing career. It could've. We were inches away from something, possibly, really bad happening."
The overtime finish was chaotic. The first major melee unfolded heading down the backstretch, but NASCAR opted not to throw the caution right away, choosing instead to let the leaders race to the checkered flag. That decision was complicated moments later when more cars began wrecking behind them, forcing officials to finally display the yellow flag. While some fans dislike races ending under caution, the sequence left little choice: the field was still scattering when the call came.
Ryan Blaney was among those caught up in the late-race chaos. He exited his battered No. 12 car furious, directing his anger at the driver of the No. 47, Stenhouse. "The f—ing 47, what the f–k!" Blaney shouted over his radio. "What the f–k are we doing?! We're going down the backstretch and he f—n hooks me! Stupid f—k." A second transmission followed moments later: "I can't drive it, it's f—in killed!" The outbursts marked the return of the fiery side of Blaney that fans had not seen in some time.
Not everyone agreed on where to assign blame for Blaney's crash. Video replays showed that contact from the No. 2 car first sent Austin Dillon sideways, which in turn pushed Stenhouse into Blaney's path. Regardless of how the chain-reaction started, the result sent Blaney hard into the outside wall.
Elsewhere in the closing laps, Kyle Larson was spun and run over by Daniel Dye in a separate incident. Larson had already been dealing with a difficult night, and the contact ended whatever remained of his race.
Off the track, the weekend carried a notable Hollywood presence. Tom Cruise attended Saturday night's race in connection with the recently announced sequel to the 1990 film "Days of Thunder." Cruise was spotted arriving at the track with a sizable security detail and took part in the pre-race driver's meeting. The sequel is scheduled for release in 2028.
One name notably absent from the announcement was Randy Quaid, who played car owner Tim Daland in the original film. Quaid took to social media shortly after the casting news broke, criticizing the choice of Anne Hathaway as Cruise's co-star. "Anne Hathaway is a leftist, woke, horrible choice for DAYS OF THUNDER NASCAR audience who are MAGA," Quaid posted on X. He followed up with a second message urging Cruise to bring back Nicole Kidman, Cruise's co-star in the original film. "We need Nicole back. Don't be a p—y, @TomCruise," Quaid wrote. "You need the original girl. It's not personal; it's filmmaking. Anne isn't sexy, because and if you haven't noticed, she's pregnant."
The regular season is now officially in the books. The Cup Series playoffs begin this weekend at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina and will run for 10 weeks, culminating at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Daytona, meanwhile, goes quiet until February, when the 2026 season officially opens with the Daytona 500.
