Ryan Preece is crucial in RFK Racing’s journey toward becoming a powerhouse in the NASCAR Cup Series, or at least team co-owner and driver Brad Keselowski seems to think so. The 34-year-old driver made his first start for the team in the Clash earlier this month. Ahead of the 2025 Daytona 500, he spoke to NBC Connecticut from South Carolina about his biggest motivating factor.
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RFK Racing has been Preece’s fourth team since his full-time Cup Series debut in 2019. Throughout all the ups and downs that he has faced, it is the will of a young teenager that has powered him to perform better with each turn he has taken. Looking back at how he was around 18 years old when he worked for his family’s HVAC business in Connecticut, the burning desire to not settle for a life working in some hot attic or cold rooftop was strongly rooted in his heart even then.
“You know, as far as having a job, doing this, this isn’t real. This is a dream I get to live, and I understand that. So, I’m looking forward to 2025, doing it for myself, doing it for the goals that I set out when I was a little kid,” he said.
Preece had a tough stint with Stewart-Haas Racing. He did not get enough support from the team to win races and left it with mediocre statistics. Fortunately, the dream keeps going thanks to the belief that Brad Keselowski has expressed in him. The RFK Racing co-owner has not given him this chance to turn his fate around without reason.
“He has work ethic”
If someone had told a crowd back in 2012 that Joey Logano would one day be a three-time Cup Series champion, people would have burst into laughter. It was a task impossible for the scrawny young driver. Fast forward to 2025, and Logano has cemented himself as one of the greats in the sport and is preparing to defend his latest title. This is the transition that Keselowski believes Preece is capable of.
He said in an interview last year, “I don’t care who you are as a driver if you’re not in the right situation – you take the best driver in Cup and put him in a situation that’s not right, it’s not gonna work … I see Ryan, I see someone who has talent. He has work ethic and probably hasn’t been in the opportunities he needs to be in to be successful.”
What Keselowski offers Preece in 2025 is a brand new #60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse and the opportunity to be successful. It is up to the driver now to take advantage of the faith. He will start the 67th Daytona 500 on Sunday from 27th place on the grid.
