“It shocked a lot of people”: Ryan Preece makes feelings known on RFK’s “first-year team’s” rise in NASCAR

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece was recently featured in an interview ahead of the South Point 400 with SI.com. During the pre-race interaction, he opened up about his maiden campaign with Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing and how he turned some heads with his performance this year.

Preece debuted in the Cup Series with Premium Motorsports in 2015, driving the #98 Chevy and Ford. He then took some time off from the series and rejoined in 2019 with JTG Daugherty Racing. He stayed with the team for three years. Preece then joined the now-defunct team Stewart-Haas Racing in 2023.

Following the organization's departure from the series in 2024, Ryan Preece found a seat with RFK Racing for the 2025 season. The #60 Ford team was built from scratch and has delivered promising performance in its maiden season. The RFK driver even got close to winning a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this year.

Reflecting upon his team's success, the #60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse driver stated:

"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 about," he added.

Ryan Preece ranks 18th in the Cup Series points table with 748 points to his credit. He has secured 11 top tens, three top fives, and one pole position at Richmond Raceway in 32 starts this season. Additionally, Preece has led 132 laps in his Ford Mustang with an average finish of 16.438.

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"I'm just grateful, uh, you know, I got a team that's fighting": When Ryan Preece expressed his emotions after his career-best finish

In March 2025, RFK driver Ryan Preece competed in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube and clinched his career-best finish in six years. During the post-race interview, Preece expressed his emotions on landing the career-best finish with the #60 Ford team.

The 34-year-old had a decent start for the 267-lap race. He qualified 12th with a best time of 28.97 seconds, reaching a top speed of 186.42 mph for the main event. Despite a good start, he lost some ground in the initial stage of the race but recovered quickly in stage two, finishing in P11. Following his pace, he found a spot among the top five drivers on the grid and wrapped the Las Vegas race in P3.

Reflecting on his best career finish in years, Ryan Preece told the media:

"If I finished 15th like last week, taking a chance, or staying out, um, like we did this week to get track position so just proud of, uh, proud of the team. You know, people talk about effort all day long, and every single person in this garage it doesn't matter if they finish 20th today or or or one they all work really hard, but I'm just grateful, uh, you know, I got a team that's fighting." [00:55].

Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry clinched his first-ever career win in the 267-lap race. Meanwhile, Daniel Suarez secured the second-place finish, and Ryan Preece gained 24 points, wrapping the race in third place.