For Ryan Preece, Daytona International Speedway has long been a track filled with scary memories. During the summer race in 2023, his car flipped into the backstretch grass, rolling over and leaving him with black, bloodshot eyes. In early 2025, he suffered another airborne crash on the high banks. For years, Daytona felt like the place that almost ended his racing career.
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On Sunday night, in his 249th career Cup Series start, Preece completely changed that story. He survived a wild overtime finish in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 to take his first career Cup Series victory. In doing so, he erased a 31-point deficit against Shane van Gisbergen and grabbed his spot in The Chase. After that win, he had a strong message for his critics. In the post-race press, he put former driver and analyst Kyle Petty on notice.
“I feel like momentum is on our side, and we’re going to do our best to, you know, be a contender and be a part of the battle that Kyle Petty thinks even if you’re 16th in the chase, you can’t be a part of,” Preece said.
This was Preece’s response to recent comments made by Petty. He publicly argued that 16 drivers are way too many for The Chase.
“I’m going to be the bad guy here. I don’t care. We spend so much time talking about the bubble every freaking year. That’s all we talk about. Bubble, bubble, bubble. And as soon as we get to the playoffs, we never mention those guys again.” Petty said, making his stance clear.
This newfound confidence for Preece comes from his latest win at Daytona.
Early in the race, things didn’t look like they were going in his favor. SVG won Stage 1, collecting 10 valuable points. Meanwhile, Preece finished eighth and was collected in a wreck involving Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher, although he escaped without damage.
But late in the race, everything changed. Fuel mileage trouble forced van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Chevrolet to pit, dropping him all the way to 27th.
On the final lap of overtime, Preece passed Zane Smith and moved into the lead, only for the Front Row Motorsports driver to be caught in a chaotic multi-car wreck that brought out the caution flag. The running order froze, and Preece, who was leading at the time, was declared the winner. The result left SVG 17 points behind Preece for the final Chase position.
“Thank you to RFK, Jack Roush, the Fenway Group, Brad Keselowski,” an elated Preece said on the frontstretch. “Two years ago, there were a lot of keyboard warriors saying I was nothing. Well, we just kicked their butts tonight… thank you for giving me a rocket ship so I could go to the moon tonight.”
NASCAR has brought back the Chase format this season, and history gives Preece a glimmer of hope. Petty’s point is partly true: during that original 10-race format, no driver seeded outside the top 10 ever won the title. However, history proves him wrong when he says lower seeds can’t be competitive.
Tony Stewart is the perfect example of it. In 2011, Stewart entered The Chase seeded 9th after not winning a single race in the regular season. He shocked everyone by winning five of the 10 Chase races to win the championship.
Also, drivers outside the top 10 have proven they can fight at the top. In 2012, Kasey Kahne entered the postseason as the 11th-seeded Wild Card and fought his way to an impressive fourth-place finish in the final standings.
Now, the No. 60 driver enters the post-season for the first time in his career. He also believes the schedule could play into his hands. Preece pointed toward Darlington, World Wide Technology Raceway, Bristol, Talladega, Martinsville, Homestead, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Kansas as tracks where the No. 60 team can perform well. And after everything that happened at Daytona, dismissing him could prove costly.
“Daytona almost took my life or ended my racing career. It could’ve. We were about inches away from something possibly really bad happening,” Preece said.
Having been through the worst Daytona had to offer, and with a little bit of luck on his side, Ryan Preece could very well prove Petty and other doubters wrong and win it all.