Ryan Preece’s unlikely victory at Daytona has completely changed the outlook for RFK Racing heading into the Chase. After spending much of the season fighting to stay in contention, Preece delivered when it mattered most, taking the No. 16 seed away from Shane van Gisbergen. His win also gave RFK two cars in the Chase, with Chris Buescher entering as the 10th seed. Now, team president Chip Bowers believes the organization has every reason to challenge the established favorites.
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“Nothing in life is easy. We wouldn’t want it any other way. We’re going to earn our way to a Cup championship. We believe that we built an organization prepared for moments like this. We’re going to have a fighters’ mentality throughout,” said Bowers on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
RFK does not intend to approach the championship battle simply hoping to survive. The organization believes it has built the infrastructure to compete when the pressure rises, and Daytona only strengthened that belief.
Buescher’s place in the Chase, for instance, was hardly a surprise. He has been one of RFK’s most consistent drivers throughout the season with ten top-10s, an average finish of 14.9, and an average start of 12.9. Preece’s story, however, is considerably different.
The 35-year-old entered Daytona needing a major result to secure his Chase spot from the outside. He was 33 points behind van Gisbergen before the green flag, and things got off to a bad start when the New Zealander won Stage 1. However, the No. 60 driver kept fighting and found just the slice of luck he needed.
Van Gisbergen and others ahead had to pit for fuel, which gave Preece track position and put him near the front heading into Overtime. Then, with a lap to go, he passed Zane Smith to take the lead, only for the Front Row Motorsports driver to crash and trigger a multi-car incident behind him. The caution froze the field, and Preece won for the first time in 249 Cup Series starts. At the perfect time.
The win also came after years of setbacks at Daytona. Preece had previously endured one of the most frightening crashes in recent NASCAR history at the track in 2023 and then again in 2025, making his trip to Victory Lane even more special.
Neither Buescher nor Preece will start ahead of the championship favorites, especially Denny Hamlin, but Bowers does not appear concerned about the difference.
“Our partners are behind us, our sponsors, everybody’s just fired up to get going, and we believe we have as much of a chance as Denny Hamlin or anybody else on the circuit. So we’re excited to get started,” he continued in the same segment.
Hamlin enters the Chase as the No. 1 seed after completing a remarkable turnaround. The season began slowly for the veteran, who was also dealing with the loss of his father and the disappointment of coming up short against Kyle Larson in the final moments of the 2025 championship battle.
His fortunes eventually changed. Hamlin won four races during the regular season and built considerable momentum as the year progressed. Only Tyler Reddick’s extraordinary start, which included five victories in the first nine races, produced a stronger winning run. Hamlin is also the driver in the Chase with zero DNFs this season.
By the end of the regular season, Hamlin had established himself as the driver to beat for the crown. RFK Racing, meanwhile, enters the Chase from a very different position.
Buescher has a decade of experience, including a Cup race win, and has already shown that he can handle the pressure of the postseason. He proved it by finishing seventh in the 2023 season.
Preece, on the other hand, enters his first postseason with momentum that few other drivers can match after his breakthrough win at Daytona. The Chase format also leaves plenty of room for an upset.
Sixteen drivers, 10 races, one winner. There are no eliminations like in the previous format. Every driver remains in contention until the checkered flag waves at Homestead-Miami. For now, the odds may favor Hamlin. Bowers, however, clearly does not see that as a reason for RFK Racing to back down.