- NASCAR upholds a costly penalty against Ryan Preece after radio review.
- Preece remains highly aggressive despite a playoff points deduction.
- RFK Racing’s appeal fails as Ryan Preece shifts focus toward Nashville.
In a major setback for Ryan Preece and RFK Racing, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld NASCAR’s penalty against the No. 60 team stemming from the incident at Texas Motor Speedway.
While the three-member panel was not unanimous in its decision, it noted that Preece’s radio communications indicated he had chosen not to give his competitor “any breaks.”
Earlier, the NASCAR ruling dropped Preece from 12th to 13th and now to 16th in the Cup Series standings, pushing him closer to the playoff cut line. Yet, despite the appeal panel not overturning the penalty, the 35-year-old appeared largely unfazed by the outcome.
Rather than dwelling on the failed appeal, Preece made it clear that his focus remains on moving forward, delivering a confident message about RFK Racing’s speed and his intention to stay on the offensive heading into Nashville.
Preece reacts after national body upholds NASCAR’s Texas penalty
Earlier this month, on May 3, during the Wurth 400, Preece spun off Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs into the wall off Turn 3. The 267-lap race saw tensions simmer between the two drivers until Preece decided enough was enough on Lap 101.
The contact sent the No. 54 phenom crashing down to a 36th-place finish in the 38-car field while Preece went home with a P14. However, as the in-radio clip surfaced on the internet post-race, the No. 60 driver’s audio struck a nerve with the sanctioning body, which, citing its “member conduct guidelines,” under sections 4.3 and 4.4.A of its rule book, slapped Preece with a $50,000 penalty and docked 25 drivers’ points.
The provision classifies the act of wrecking or spinning a competing vehicle as a violation, whether or not the incident results in that car being removed from the event. Subsequently, on May 8, the team officially revealed its decision to challenge NASCAR’s penalty head-on.
The appeal was heard on Wednesday by a three-member National Motorsports Appeals Panel consisting of former NASCAR driver Lake Speed, former Mobil 1 executive and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team owner Tom DeLoach, and motorsports marketing executive Dixon Johnston. After reviewing the case, the panel voted 2-1 to uphold NASCAR’s penalty against Preece and the No. 60 team.
“Although not a unanimous decision, NASCAR and RFK Racing presented competing interpretations of common data. Neither side clearly proved their point, but Mr. Preece’s comments showed that he chose to not cut his competitor any breaks,” the panel said in its ruling.
The disappointment was evident in RFK Racing’s response following the ruling. In a statement posted on X, the team said it was deeply frustrated by the Appeals Panel’s decision, reiterating its belief that Preece’s case was backed by strong evidence and a well-founded argument. RFK also thanked NASCAR for providing an opportunity to present and defend its position through the appeals process.
Now, in the aftermath of the ruling, the driver himself has spoken out. During a recent exclusive to SiriusXM NASCAR, Preece stated, “You know what I can tell you is, I definitely have a lot of respect for Lake (Speed), Tom (DeLoach), all three of them because by no means did they want to be in that room, neither did I.”
“But I have a lot of respect for Chip (Bowers), and you know, taking a look at all the things that we had put together in saying, ‘Okay, this is worth appealing,’ and I mean that’s all there’s to say. I certainly am looking forward to Nashville and moving on. So, not a whole lot other than that.”
That said, RFK can still make one final appeal through NASCAR’s Final Appeals Officer process. However, based on the team’s statement on Wednesday, another challenge to the ruling appears to be highly unlikely.
‘We’re going on offence…’
If the Appeals Panel’s decision was supposed to shake Preece’s confidence, the veteran gave little indication of it. Instead, Preece made it clear that his attention is already on the races ahead, not the points lost in the ruling.
“I’m not worried, we’re going on offense,” Preece said, addressing the impact of the penalty on his playoff outlook.
The 25-point deduction dropped Preece deeper into the battle around the postseason cut line, but he noted that the No. 60 team had already been operating in that territory for much of the season. “Being where we were, 12th in driver points, I’m on the bubble,” Preece explained. “Much like it was a month ago, we were flirting around that 12th to 11th.”
Rather than changing strategy to protect his position, Preece believes the team should remain aggressive. “It almost creates this thing where you’re playing defense, you’re playing offense,” he said. “Right now, you don’t play defense, you play offense. I want to keep climbing our way up.”
That confidence stems from the speed Preece has seen from his team’s Mustangs throughout the year. While the results have not always matched the pace, he believes the three-car Ford garage is getting closer to putting together complete races.
“I feel like our RFK Ford Mustang Dark Horses have speed,” Preece added. “We show that at points and times. It’s just trying to put the entire recipe together for the entire race.”
With Nashville next on the Cup Series schedule, Preece is optimistic that a breakthrough result could be around the corner. “I definitely feel like our group has been getting stronger and we’ve got a lot of potential,” he said. “Certainly Nashville could be an opportunity to break out and then keep climbing our way forward.”
