Ryan Preece has spent more than eight years struggling in the NASCAR Cup Series, but it wasn’t until he joined RFK Racing this year that he truly hit his stride. Before landing in Brad Keselowski’s camp, Preece had terms with Premium Motorsports, JTG Daugherty Racing, Rick Ware Racing, and Stewart-Haas Racing, where his best full-time season finish came in 2023, ending 23rd in points after the finale at Phoenix.
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When Tony Stewart’s team closed shop last year, Keselowski gave him a chance, and the Connecticut native has made good on it. Although he missed the playoffs, Preece has put together a strong season, posting three top-five and eleven top-ten finishes across 32 starts. His best run came in the regular-season race at Las Vegas, where he battled near the front and crossed the line third.
Reflecting on the team’s progress ahead of the second race of the season in Sin City, Preece told reporters, “I’ll be honest with you, I think it shocked a lot of people for a first-year team that has never been together or been at RFK as an organization, so I feel like we’ve executed and done a good job on being consistent and making progress outside of winning.”
“A win would have locked us into the playoffs, but if you take away winning, and you’re in, I see some things. I think we’d be like 12th or whatever in points, and that’s not something to be upset with. I think that’s a solid foundation towards hopefully a really, really strong contending season next year. At the end of the day, all I can do is control the things that I can control.”
“For me, I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress, and we continue to make progress, and even in moments of adversity, we find a way to execute, so I see a really high ceiling on all fronts, and that makes me feel really optimistic and excited about 2026,” he continued.
Preece explained that winning remains the ultimate goal. Despite not tasting victory yet in the Cup Series, his past experiences elsewhere tell a different story. He’s conquered nearly everything he’s touched: 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Championship, three-time World Series of Asphalt: Tour-Type Modified Championship (2015, 2016, 2017), 2011 Race of Champions, and two-time North-South Shootout (2012, 2014), among others.
That’s why settling for anything less doesn’t sit right with him. Even after a sixth-place finish at the Charlotte Roval last weekend, the #60 RFK Racing driver admitted it’s tough to celebrate what others might see as a good day.
Five challenging years at the Cup level have taught him to value progress, yet Preece is still eager to compete at the front. Winning remains the only goal that matters. As he put it, his focus now is simple: to keep his foot on the gas through the next four races and into next season until victory finally falls into his lap, and he doesn’t plan to lift until it does.
