NASCAR
The Unorthodox, Old School Journey to the Top for Ryan Preece
Saturday at Daytona saw a lifetime worth of toiling and scraping by pay off in the ultimate way for an old school New England racer. Berlin, Connecticut’s Ryan Preece became the 210th man to win a NASCAR Cup Series race with his Chase-clinching first career victory at The World Center of Racing. Perhaps no other driver at NASCAR’s top level can say their career hinged on as much unknown, as many chances, and as many lucky breaks as Preece. Start number 249 was the lucky one for RFK Racing’s No. 60, and could open the floodgates for an underdog NASCAR postseason run.
Being a northeast Modified racer through and through, Preece cut his teeth racing on bullrings across New England. It was here Preece honed his craft against some of the most decorated grassroots racers in history. This chapter of Preece’s racing lineage was capped off with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title in 2013. Eventually, the Connecticut kid found a doorway onto the NASCAR National stage. Preece made his first O’Reilly Series start for fellow New Englander Tommy Baldwin Jr. at New Hampshire in 2013. The same pairing ran this race again in 2014, as well as that year’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Preece recorded a best finish of 14th across these first three starts.
Preece returned to the Modified Tour in 2015, where he was runner-up in that year’s championship. This season also saw Preece’s first foray into the Cup Series with Premium Motorsports. This limited exposure saw Preece with a high point of finishing 32nd in his debut at New Hampshire. These standout performances led to a full-time O’Reilly ride for 2016 with JD Motorsports. Preece was 17th in points st season’s end, with a best result of 10th at Darlington. This was one of 13 top-20s he earned in this underfunded equipment.
2017 saw Preece take a huge gamble on himself that could have easily been a bust. Rather than run another full season in a backmarker car, Preece scrounged together enough money for two O’Reilly races at Joe Gibbs Racing. Preece was runner-up to Kyle Busch at New Hampshire, and then won at Iowa two weeks later. This breakthrough win on the National Series stage earned Preece more select starts in this seat, where he won again the next year at Bristol.
2019 saw Preece make the jump up to the NASCAR Cup Series as a rookie in JTG Daugherty Racing’s No. 47. Preece remained with this team for three seasons, earning two top-fives and nine top-10s. Racing in 2021 with an unchartered No. 37 Chevrolet, this team closed at season’s end, leaving Preece without a ride. This year also saw Preece win once in his Truck Series debut at Nashville. On the Cup side, meanwhile, Preece had no full-time opportunity for 2022, and was named a reserve driver for Stewart-Haas Racing. Preece took over their No. 41 ride for 2023 and 2024. This span saw Preece record a top-five each year and seven top-10s total. Preece’s SHR tenure will unfortunately be remembered for his first harrowing Daytona crash in 2023, that saw him go airborne and tumble several times in the summer race.
Once again, Preece saw his team shut its doors, leaving him as a free agent. After the closing of Stewart-Haas Racing, Preece seriously considered moving back north and returning to his Modified roots.
RFK Racing would nab Preece in an expansion No. 60 Ford for 2025. Narrowly missing the Playoffs last year, this new lease on racing life for Preece saw the Connecticut driver set career highs in top-fives, top-10s, average finish, and his championship result (18th). All of this success came after another bizarre liftoff crash in the Daytona 500. Failing to make the Playoffs due to many late-season winners, Preece still held his head high with such a successful season.
Moving onto this year, Preece came out of the gates strong by winning The Clash. The No. 60 was also solidly up to 13th in points by March. However, Texas in May appeared to be a negative turning point for the No. 60’s entire season, with a 25-point penalty for intentionally wrecking Ty Gibbs. This punishment put Preece precariously close to the Chase cut line. The 60 would remain here for the rest of the regular season. Preece entered Daytona’s Chase cut race 17th on the grid, almost facing a must-win scenario to make the top-16.
Daytona on Saturday could be characterized as a microcosm of Preece’s entire racing career. The No. 60 spun through the grass to end Stage 1, but did continue with minimal damage. Preece earned valuable points by finishing second in Stage 2, and was on the front row for overtime. A bad block thrown by Zane Smith on the last lap paved the way for Preece to be ahead when a race-ending caution flew, giving him a career-defining triumph. In shades of the inaugural Chase from 2004, Preece’s win was enough to vault him into contention. Now the 16th seed for the 10-week title dance, Preece has a new lease on life again in uncharted waters as a championship contender.
“I like pressure man,” Preece said after Daytona. “I don’t know if you guys have picked up on that yet, but I enjoy it. I’m 100% serious when I say I’m numb to it. I’m a fighter. I think you’ve seen my passion when it comes to racing. I think that goes back to my New England roots. Doesn’t matter if it’s the Patriots, the Red Sox, the Bruins, we’re fighters. To be in the Playoffs along with Joey [Logano], being from Connecticut, being a fighter, it’s a big deal for me. Yeah, going into next week, Darlington has been a good place for RFK. I always love talking about the metric because the metric sets you where you go out for qualifying. We just probably happen to be in the best position to go out, at least in the last few. So I feel pretty good about it going into Darlington, throwing on my boxing gloves, going in to fight.”
Few are expecting Preece to be a realistic threat for the Cup. However, the 60 can definitely make some noise at a few upcoming tracks. There is something to be said about recent momentum in any sport. Nobody will head to Darlington walking taller than Preece. Amid his first true crack at any NASCAR championship, it will be a treat to see just how far Preece can propel team 60. How long they can stay in the hunt is anyone’s guess. Fords as a whole have been faster in recent weeks too. In closing, the no quit attitude in Preece and RFK Racing could be dangerous over the next 10 weeks.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
