Ryan Preece makes feelings known after soaring to maiden NASCAR pole for RFK Racing

Ryan Preece shared his thoughts after picking up the Busch Light Pole Award at Richmond on Friday, his first at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Speaking about the achievement, the RFK driver said that his practice performance translated well into qualifying, and he is hopeful of a race win tomorrow.

Preece pulled off a stunning lap to register 22.244 on the time sheet and denied 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick from claiming the pole. AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing qualified in third place, ahead of Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott, who wrapped up the Top five starting positions.

The pole is Preece's second career pole, and his first at RFK Racing, the team he joined in 2025. Earlier, he claimed the maiden pole of his career at Stewart-Haas Racing, a team he raced with for two years before it went defunct at the end of 2024.

As Preece claimed the pole, a position regarded as very strong for the race at Richmond Raceway, here's what he said about it:

“I felt like it was on my bingo card, I’m not sure about everybody else’s,” Preece said. "That Ford Mustang was really sporty. I felt good about it in practice and it showed up for qualifying. We have a great starting spot and tomorrow we’ve just got to go execute and hopefully we can win this race.”

“At a place like this, I would rather be out front. … I’d rather be the one leading. Tomorrow is about getting out front, getting the clean air and setting my pace," he further added.

Even though Ryan Preece has two poles and 24 Top 10s to his name, he is yet to win a NASCAR Cup Series race. It will be interesting to see if the #60 driver can convert his pole position into a race victory on Sunday.

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How is Ryan Preece performing in 2025?

After joining Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing in 2025, Ryan Preece saw an improvement in his racing statistics. Coming into the 2025 Cup Series season, the driver is currently in 12th position in the regular season championship with 584 points.

Ryan Preece, driver of the #60 Kroger/Kleenex Ford, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 - Practice - Source: Getty

Preece is yet to win a race, and has three Top 5s, 10 Top 10s, and led 69 laps in 24 races. He has two playoff points to his name and has an average start position of 19.042 and an average finish position of 15.875.

The #60 driver barely missed out on pole at Duel 1 at Daytona and Darlington and had the best race finish (3rd) at the Darlington race. Preece is currently running in formidable form as he claimed two Top 5s in the last three races.