DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Twenty-six regular-season races came down to Daytona International Speedway, and the AARN Cup Series finale delivered exactly the kind of unpredictability expected from the sport’s most famous superspeedway. Thirty-six lead changes. Eight cautions. Twenty-four laps under yellow.

A race extended to 101 laps. Championship contenders shuffled throughout the pack and several drivers entered Sunday with one final opportunity to race their way into the postseason. When it was finally over, Shawn Hughes had accomplished both objectives available to him. The No. 75 survived a frantic closing stretch to win the regular-season finale by just 0.101 seconds over Joseph Essenberg, and in doing so officially secured the AARN Cup Series regular-season championship.

It was Hughes’ second victory of the season and arguably his most important. Hughes entered Daytona carrying a narrow advantage over Zackery King and Chris Romano after weeks of movement at the top of the standings. Daytona offered almost no opportunity to play defense. With the draft constantly reshuffling the field and trouble capable of collecting half the pack at any moment, protecting a points lead meant surviving first.

Hughes did more than survive. Starting ninth, he led 15 laps, remained in contention through the repeated cautions and emerged at the front when the race mattered most. His victory earned 46 points, including bonuses for leading, winning and finishing with zero incidents. The result closed the regular season with Hughes on top and gives the No. 75 the No. 1 seed as the championship battle resets for the Chase.

Behind him, the final lap produced one of the tightest groups seen all season. Essenberg finished only 0.101 seconds behind Hughes. W. Casey Gross crossed the line 0.160 seconds back in third, Joe Konen was fourth at 0.179 and Mike Rovillo finished fifth just 0.233 seconds behind the winner.

Sixth-place McCoy Behnke was only 0.339 seconds back. Six cars crossed the finish line separated by less than four-tenths of a second. That was Daytona. The race saw 36 lead changes, with drivers constantly trading control through the draft.

Robert Hissong ultimately led the most laps with 25, while King led 18, Hughes 15 and Gross 10. Several others spent time at the front as alliances formed, disappeared and reformed throughout the afternoon. There was almost no opportunity to settle into a rhythm. Every restart brought another reshuffle, and every move carried the possibility of either gaining several positions or being swallowed by the pack.

Eight cautions repeatedly changed strategy and track position. Some championship hopefuls made it through. Others watched their final opportunity disappear. King entered Daytona still capable of challenging Hughes for the regular-season title.

The No. 51 started from the pole and led 18 laps, but ultimately finished seventh, 4.654 seconds behind Hughes. It was a respectable result at a track where finishing at all can become an accomplishment, but with Hughes winning, seventh was not enough to keep the regular-season championship alive. King now turns his attention to the Chase, where his two wins and strong regular season leave him positioned near the front of the reset standings. Romano also secured his postseason position long before Daytona but had an unusually quiet afternoon by his standards.

The No. 44 started 21st and finished 11th, 13.429 seconds behind Hughes. After spending much of the season in the championship lead and entering the final stretch as one of Hughes’ primary challengers, Romano will begin the Chase fourth in the reset order. Coulter Clark endured an equally frustrating finale. Clark came to Daytona with a series-leading eight victories and still within reach of the top of the regular-season standings.

The No. 54 led two laps but finished 13th, more than 14 seconds behind Hughes. The regular-season title escaped him, but Clark enters the Chase with perhaps the most obvious warning to the rest of the field: nobody has visited Victory Lane more often this season. While the top contenders knew their postseason futures were secure, much of the real tension Sunday existed around the cut line. Daytona represented the final opportunity for several drivers who had spent weeks trying to close the gap.

For Thadeeus Freel Jr., Chris Winstone, Mike Rovillo and Robert Hissong, the rally ultimately came up short. Rovillo gave himself the strongest possible final argument. The No. 2 finished fifth and remained attached to the lead group through the chaotic finish. It was one of his strongest performances of the year, but the points deficit entering Daytona was simply too large to overcome.

Hissong also produced a strong afternoon. The No. 29 led a race-high 25 laps and finished 12th, but he too ended the regular season on the outside looking in. Winstone entered Daytona with impressive statistics considering his limited schedule, including multiple poles, top-five finishes and podiums. He finished 16th in the finale and will not advance.

Freel’s afternoon ended five laps short of the finish. The No. 98 was credited with 19th and saw his Chase hopes officially expire. They join the rest of the field in watching the championship reset without them. For the 10 drivers who did enough across the full 26-race schedule, the focus now completely changes.

The official Chase field will consist of Shawn Hughes, Coulter Clark, Zackery King, Chris Romano, W. Casey Gross, Jordane Whyte, Douglas Scalice, Elijah Maupin, Gregory Vadnais and Corey Powell. Powell’s inclusion may be one of the more remarkable stories entering the postseason. The No. 92 finished 25th at Daytona after completing only 31 laps, yet the work accumulated throughout the regular season proved enough to secure the final Chase position.

Daytona could not erase the points foundation built over the previous 25 events. Scalice also completed what became a stressful final stretch by securing seventh in the reset order. Several difficult late-season races had slowly pulled the No. 16 closer to the bubble, but the points earned earlier in the season provided enough protection. Maupin’s late-season surge was even more important.

Once directly threatened for the final transfer position, the No. 66 responded with several strong runs and enters the Chase eighth. Vadnais claimed the ninth seed, while Powell takes the final position. Daytona ultimately served as an appropriate ending to a regular season that rarely stayed predictable for long. The finale featured 36 lead changes and a strength of field of 1,580.

Eight cautions accounted for 24 laps, and the scheduled distance required an additional lap before a winner could finally be decided. The top six finished within 0.339 seconds. The championship leader won the race. And several drivers fighting desperately for a postseason berth ran out of time.

Hughes now enters the Chase carrying the title of regular-season champion and the top seed, but the advantage that came from 26 races of work has been compressed. Clark brings eight wins. King and Romano have spent much of the season battling Hughes at the top. Whyte enters with six victories and some of the strongest late-season speed in the field.

Gross, Scalice, Maupin, Vadnais and Powell have survived the regular-season grind and now receive the same opportunity: six races to turn an entire season into a championship. For Freel, Winstone, Rovillo, Hissong and the others who came up short, Daytona marked the end of that pursuit. For the final 10, it marks the beginning of something entirely different. The regular season is over.

The field is set. The AARN Cup Series Chase begins now.