By David Morgan, Associate Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Offense or defense?
For the drivers on the cut line to make it into the Chase in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, that is the question of the evening.
As the current Cup Series standings sit, Shane van Gisbergen holds the 16th and final transfer spot into the postseason, with a 31-point margin over Ryan Preece.
So, again the question becomes would you rather be in a position to have to defend your points position or just go full bore, all offense on Saturday night and will yourself into the Chase?
For Preece, the answer is clear:
“To me, it’s try and win. No matter what,” said Preece. “Every time, whether it’s Xfinity, Trucks, Cup, you think about Daytona, Talladega as anyone’s game. There’s a lot of strategy.
“Brad’s done a really good job when it’s come to getting out front, leading lanes and doing all of those things right, and you’ve got to have some luck on your side, but, for me, the mindset is win. The mindset is be the guy up front controlling lanes or pushing. That’s all you can do because you can get wrecked leading or you can get wrecked riding in 30th.
“I’ve had both happen, so I’d rather be the one that’s trying to lead the race and not playing defense.”
On the other side of the coin is van Gisbergen, who just needs a clean race and 45 points earned on the night to secure his spot in the Chase for the second year in a row and the first in a non “win and you’re in” format.
“Yeah, there’s a lot going on. Not really sure how it’s going to play out,” said van Gisbergen. “I think, you know, 30 points is a lot until it’s not, until he (Ryan Preece) has two good stages, then we’re probably under a lot of pressure.
“So, yeah, as everyone knows, there’s a lot of anticipation, I guess, around the new rules and how the cars are going to be. I think we plan to be pretty conservative, and then see how his race is going and react to that. If he’s scored well in Stage 1, we probably need to get amongst it in Stage 2 and start pushing the issue a bit. It’s going to be fun. It’s a pretty cool feeling to have the pressure on us and see how we go.”
Van Gisbergen added that he will want to be kept up to date on those closest to him in points as the race plays out, a determining factor in how much or how little he will need to push it in the latter stages of the race to make sure his spot in the Chase remains safe.
“Yeah, I’d probably ask for that after the first stage. I think there’s going to be a lot going on at the start of the race, trying to figure out how the cars are handling, what people are doing and what techniques they’re using to be good,” said van Gisbergen.
“But yeah, certainly if it comes down to it in Stage Three; yeah, I’d want to know where he is and what’s happening. Especially, as I said, if he’s had two good stages and that points gap’s evaporated, we’ll be really mindful of where he is.”
Austin Cindric also finds himself in the mix for a spot in the Chase, coming into Saturday night with a 44-point buffer over the cut-off line, relatively secure, but still mathematically within reach should trouble befall the No. 2 team.
“Do you want to play offense or defense if you’re me? I think those are the questions,” said Cindric.
“I think for us there are a million different ways to cut it, but at the end of the day, it’s a race. They give out points early, they give out points in the middle, and they give out points late. And points are what we’re talking about describing and discussing.
“Obviously, we have a car fast enough to be towards the front of the field [in qualifying] …I mean, you’re going to have a constant evolution of what you’re learning and taking away. I think you definitely have to weigh out the pros and cons as the race plays out to what you’re missing out on versus what you’re risking.”
Of these three Chase contenders, Preece will roll off from fourth, followed by van Gisbergen in sixth, and Cindric in eighth.
Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona is scheduled for 7:30 pm ET on NBC.
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