In the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series, Ryan Preece has emerged as a reliable points contender for RFK Racing in the #60 Ford Mustang. Over 23 starts, he has amassed nine Top 10s, leading 68 laps and sitting 17th in the standings with 517 points, 209 points adrift of the leader. Highlights include a stellar 4th-place finish at Indianapolis and a podium-contending run cut short by a post-race disqualification at Talladega after crossing the line in second, a crushing blow that dropped him to 38th due to a spoiler violation. Preece has also shown strong qualifying pace, running second fastest at Darlington in the Goodyear 400 and proving his adaptability across track types. But this steady campaign has deeper roots in a career forged at Stewart-Haas Racing, until the team’s shocking closure.

Before landing at RFK Racing, Preece spent two seasons piloting the iconic #41 car for SHR, helping deliver seven top 10 finishes across 2023-24. Tony Stewart’s sudden announcement in mid-2024 that the team would cease Cup operations at season’s end, after 69 wins, two championships, and a legacy in the NASCAR garage, sent shockwaves through the paddock. Preece, entering contract year status, found himself navigating uncertain water: teammates and charters scattered, loyalties questioned, and his future suddenly unsettled. Despite flashes of competitiveness, the season’s result tide mid-year, leaving him without the stability he expected, until the call came, where reflection came crashing into clarity.

Ryan Preece is navigating the aftermath of SHR’s shutdown.

In a candid episode of The Dale Jr. Download podcast, Preece laid bare the emotional upheaval that followed the shutdown. Dale Jr. didn’t shy away from the hard truth either. “Stewart-Haas Racing is going to shut down. You’re living that, right?” Junior asked. “Which is not a fun experience, you know, it’s a little emotional, but you were part of that process. Do you know where you’re going… Is there a bit of a moment when you’re like, ‘damn, they are shutting down, I don’t know what I got going on?'” SHR planned to shut its Cup Series program after 15 years, despite a history of 69 wins and two championships, and for drivers like Preece, this wasn’t just the loss of a team; it was the sudden dismantling of the infrastructure that defined their day-to-day professional lives.

“I was looking for houses, because I had no intentions of living here,” Preece replied. “If I weren’t racing, my family’s up in Connecticut, you know, her [Heather] family’s in Massachusetts, so we’re figuring out what we’re going to do. How are we going to do it?” So, when Tony Stewart announced the team’s closure, Preece found himself liquidating thousands in assets just to stay afloat. Nearly 300 employees lost jobs, and all four charters were either sold or reassigned to other teams, including Preece’s #41 ride. Preece was forced to house-hunt outside his native hometown while selling crypto assets just before a massive rebound, simply to raise down-payment funds for relocation. “I remember I had a bunch of crypto stock that I had to sell, and I was pi—- because it ended up taking off three weeks later, but I sold it because I had every intention of buying, putting a down payment on a house, like, I need this. ” For the then 33-year-old driver, it wasn’t just about finding a ride but about securing his family’s future.

But even as he prepared for stability, the month of May would bring a cascade of on-track and off-track setbacks. Preece recalled the early promise of the 2024 season, “So, I remember April, we were on an halfway decent, we were like in 20th or whatever points before May came and there was a team that ended up reaching out to me that possibly wanted me to drive for them and I was like, ‘okay, yeah,’ agreed to everything.” But then came the Würth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway, where Preece’s race ended dramatically when his #41 Ford erupted in flames mid-event. “The exhaust manifold came, the header came apart, and ended up, you know, the car catches on fire inside, burns the foam, pulls off, and then we have a bad… I remember it was just like a snowball effect,” Preece continued.

That heat ignited the protective foam inside the car, forcing Preece to make an urgent stop and bail out as smoke poured from the cabin. According to a post-race technical review, the failure stemmed from improper assembly rather than a parts defect. But in the middle of all of this turmoil, Preece had the support of crew chief Chad Johnson. “Then we go into June, in July, and it’s less than stellar, like, we’re just, ‘it’s not going well at all,’ and I dragged Chad Johnson into the SHR deal,” continued Preece. “He was a great crew chief with me, and I liked working with him. He was a midget guy, he helped my modified get better, we ended up winning Martinsville, and my whole 41 team came to that race… I remember he looked at me, he said, ‘you know what, screw it, I’m going to do it my way and I’m going to, we’re going to figure this out’ and that final 10 races we put together a solid last few races.”

That final Martinsville win in the Whelen Modified Tour was a bright spot, proving the duo still had chemistry and performance in them. It set the stage for his RFK Racing move in 2025, which became a second chance forged through a season of uncertainty, frustration, and resilience.

The mantra driving Preece’s breakout year

Ryan Preece’s 2025 season with RFK Racing also began in chaos, with his crew finalized only weeks before Daytona. “We didn’t have a crew chief until the end of January, uh, with Derek. It was the wildest thing,” he told Dale Junior, recalling how the team was built on the fly. Despite a slow start, including a 27th-place Daytona 500 finish, the #41 has since found momentum, posting three Top-12 finishes in five races, including an eighth at New Hampshire and sixth at Iowa.

One turning point came from an honest exchange with his new crew chief, “I remember going into his office… and I’m like ‘am I confusing you?’ And he looked at me and said ‘yes’. But I wanted that honesty…” That moment of clarity improved trust and streamlined communication, allowing the team to focus on execution. Preece now leans on veteran teammates Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski for speed and strategy.

Looking ahead, Preece sees promise in tracks like Iowa, Watkins Glen, and Daytona, venues that suit RFK’s setups. “We didn’t pick the team, the team picked us. And it’s just been easy to work with,” he said, pointing to engineer Brent’s rapid adaptation to the Next Gen car. With 14 races left, the mix of wild-card events and short ovals offers a genuine chance for an upset win. Dale Jr. impressed, summed it up as a rare case of a scrambled roster turning into a unified contender.