Well, I don’t particularly have much to write about for this article. I would like to note that if I were the type of person to say, “I told you so,” well then I’d be screaming it right now. There was an outside chance that both Shane van Gisbergen and Ryan Preece could make the chase, but that would have required Austin Cindric having a worse day. Ultimately, everyone recognized that with a 31 point advantage over Preece, SVG generally only had to have a decent night. Preece set out to win both stages and the race. SVG set out to just scrape by. This plan got even worse after winning stage 1. In fact, in my opinion, the stage 1 win is the point where the 97 team strategy seemed to shift, and ultimately lead to their Daytona disaster.

Trackhouse Racing had only one driver capable of making the Chase. They had no competing motives. Basically, the entire team had one job. That job was get the 97 into the Chase. Qualifying went beautifully for Team Trackhouse. Ross Chastain grabbed the pole. Meanwhile, SVG and Connor Zilisch qualified p6 and p7.

Ultimately, the difference between Ryan Preece and the 60 team and Shane van Gisbergen and the 97 team, is all in attitude and approach. I follow the 97 radio comms everyweek. Trackhouse has been focused on a conservative approach this entire four race stretch to end the regular season. You can tell Ryan Preece and the 60 team knew they had to perform not just to the best of their abilities, but perhaps even beyond. That attitude and approach is what got Ryan Preece into the Chase. The conservative approach of the 97 is what led to their Daytona disaster.

Team Trackhouse’s 2026 Decline

If only it had rained a bit longer in New Hampshire, then we might not find ourselves in this situation. Trackhouse dominated in the rain. All three cars were super fast, with Shane van Gisbergen leading the way. SVG mentioned that the dramatic shift in their performance on the regular slicks suggests that there are larger problems within the team. My first thoughts were, hey look at this, they drop the HP at Daytona and suddenly ECR engines have qualified rather well. Austin Hill qualified really well even. Then when they were using more HP later during the dry they all sort of dropped. It was like a switch flipped off. I think it’s ECR engines, and I think they need to switch to Hendrick engines as soon as possible.

I got rather worried after New Hampshire. Stephen Doran, crew chief for the 97 Trackhouse Chevy, seemed just fine with a 31 point lead over the cutline. They had entered the day with a 50 point lead over Ryan Preece. If they could have only made it to a 75 point lead prior to Daytona, then we wouldn’t see Trackhouse suffering such a disaster. The way the 97 raced in stage 1 eased my worries. It seemed like the driver was at least wanting to be more aggresive. The night took a turn, in a somewhat sadly ironic manner, when SVG grabbed his first ever oval stage win in stage 1.

The plan for the last stop was to top off on gas and make it to the end of the race. Ryan Preece took the aggresive strategy. This was the same aggressive pit strategy that Doran had called for, but then another caution came out. Doran asked SVG how aggresive did he want to be during this stop. Did he want 2 or 4 tires was essentially the question. Shane van Gisbergen responded, “You mean IF we stop?!” Doran stated they would have to stop. They played it safe took 4 tires, got caught up in someone else’s wreck. Preece won his way into the Chase. Rather, I should say, the 97 team raced their way out of said Chase.

How to Salvage 2026

As well as Shane van Gisbergen has run this year, it is a real shame that he didn’t make the Chase. Yes, all the haters, will be out in full force, bragging that SVG will never make another Chase again. Trackhouse needs to answer this immediately. They need to come out swinging in 2027, because if they have another year like 2026, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them losing their other two current drivers.

Shane van Gisbergen mentioned it in his post race interview. Now that Trackhouse has nothing to lose, SVG is hoping that they’ll be a bit more aggressive in their attempts to improve performance, and equipment. That is definitely the only positive one can take away from falling out of the 2026 Chase for Trackhouse. All three Trackhouse drivers can use these last 10 races as test sessions. They need to do that. Furthermore, they need to move to get that 88 car filled before the 2027 season starts. Finally, a genius, legendary, future Hall-of-Fame crew chief is spending 2027 in the OAP series as crew chief for Carson Kvapil in the 8 car full time. Maybe they bring those two in as a pair to the 88. I also think Josh Berry would be a good fit.

You can’t drive a slow car fast, unless you’re Shane van Gisbergen driving on a road course. Next season is going to be a fork in the road for Trackhouse. Put a veteran driver in the 88 and bring in Rodney Childers as Competition Director starting in 2028. I’d sign him asafp if I were them. Grab the talent up, because talent is what it is going to take to turn Trackhouse Racing around. It certainly isn’t their ECR engines that are going to lead the way.

Let us know your thoughts on the collapse of Team Trackhouse in their Daytona disaster in the comment section below!