RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece faced the most unlikely of troubles at the All-Star Open on Sunday. He was racing in second place with his No. 60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse when a restart came with 17 laps remaining. He crossed over the restart commitment box by mistake and was sent to the rear of the field as punishment.
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This resulted in him not making it to the All-Star Race. Drivers need to commit to the inside or the outside lane before reaching the restart commitment box. Preece’s defense was that he was unable to see the zone properly. “It’s really non-existent from inside the car,” he later told the press. “You can’t see it. So I just hooked a hard left going across the line, figuring it’s in that area.”
Preece wasn’t alone in this blame. Todd Gilliland wrote on X, “It was almost impossible to see.” As soon as the race ended, NASCAR officials had track workers repaint the commitment box. But fans on social media had a better solution for this issue on their minds. “Quick, someone bring the choose drone out of retirement,” a comment read.
BRING IT BACK pic.twitter.com/1d2P6XBqT3
— DennyDeliversYT (@DennyDelivers2) May 18, 2025
The official account of Hendrick Motorsports wrote back in response to Preece’s post of an image of the faded paint, “Choose drone would be sweet.”
So, what is the “choose drone”? It is an LED drone marker that NASCAR used earlier to signify choose areas ahead of restarts. It was originally designed to help drivers choose their lanes on the Bristol Dirt Track.
Jesse Little, NASCAR’s senior coordinator of competition operations, said in 2023, “The question that was thrown to the group was, we’re choosing everywhere now, that includes dirt. Can’t paint on the track. We don’t want anybody running out there. We don’t want anyone on pit road who would, in the event, retrieve something from the racetrack. So what do we do?”
A flying object that sat above the track surface solved these questions. Even back then, NASCAR did not have any plan to use drones at tracks other than Bristol Dirt. With the venue now no longer a part of the schedule, the drones are gone from regular use as well. But now, with Preece’s penalty, some dust might have to be cleared off them.
Carson Hocevar ultimately ended up winning the All-Star Open without threat from Preece. “Frustrated, man,” the RFK Racing driver ranted. “We were in a position here. Heartbreaking to have a heartbreaking run like that taken away by someone in the (NASCAR scoring) tower.”
Preece‘s loss could perhaps lead to NASCAR’s greater good if the choose drones are indeed brought back.
