A certain silence follows the fall of racing teams, and the void it leaves behind is often forgotten. However, when a team built and founded by 3x Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart shuts down, it marks a significant shift. It shifts the ground beneath the feet of drivers who counted on that foundation. The uncertainty haunts them. For some, the end of Stewart-Haas Racing may have just been another development. But for the drivers in the system, the past year has been full of various kinds of adjustments. One driver who has made the biggest leap since changing teams has been Ryan Preece.

The 34-year-old driver pilots the #60 Ford for RFK Racing and has been in his best form yet this season. However, the month of May marks the time when, last year, doubts over his future were looming large. A declining Stewart-Haas Racing team had announced it would shut shop at the end of 2024. Preece was unable to put in inspiring runs, and there was no certainty about a future ride. Now, a year after redeeming himself, Preece reflected on his emotions when SHR announced its closure.

Ryan Preece has turned his fortunes

Ryan Preece’s 2025 season has been a remarkable comeback story. He already has one top-5 and 4 top-10 finishes, equaling his top-5s from last season and one short of equaling the top-10 tally. If not for the disqualification after finishing 2nd at Talladega, Preece would have beaten both personal records from last season and recorded his best Cup finish ever. With so much improvement, how does Preece feel to be at RFK after the tumultuous time at SHR?

In conversation with Frontstretch ahead of the All-Star race this weekend, Preece reflected. “I feel like Josh [Berry] and I, we’ve gone through our careers not really knowing what’s gonna happen.” Berry was Preece’s teammate at SHR and has been another standout performer this season for Wood Brothers Racing, winning his first-ever Cup race at Las Vegas. However, Preece reflects on how when the two of them raced modifieds, nothing was guaranteed in terms of a seat, and this helped him fight the doubt that crept in after SHR shut down.

Preece continued, “I used to run modifieds… and when we got to November-December, you’re like… Am I going to race for you or?.. And that was typically how it went… When SHR was shutting down, it was trying to figure out if I’m going to continue this, trying to race in the Cup Series and contend for wins and do all that.” Preece has raced 5 full-time seasons in the Cup Series (this is his sixth) and is yet to get a win. It’s not surprising that the thought of quitting crossed his mind, as he didn’t know where he would get a chance to continue his dream of winning a Cup race. So, when RFK Racing came knocking, he was nothing but grateful.

Ryan Preece joined the 2012 Cup Champion co-owned RFK Racing to team up with Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski himself. Preece added, “Obviously thankful for Brad [Keselowski] and Jack [Roush, co-owner] and the Fenway group at RFK for having me in the 60 car… When you’re teammates with Brad and Chris [Buescher], they’re great teammates. You always try to help each other when you’re on the race track, and there’s a lot of great insight.”

As a team, RFK Racing has not had the brightest start to the season, with Keselowski lounging in 33rd in the driver standings. Buescher and Preece, while winless, have put together stronger runs as Preece sits 15th in the standings and Buescher sits 24th after a 60-point penalty following his run at Kansas Speedway last week. This penalty was a huge blow to the team after what was an inspiring performance last week.

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Two blows in three weeks for RFK Racing

Let’s start with Talladega. Ryan Preece showed world-class speed and fought door to door with Austin Cindric on the final lap to clinch his first-ever Cup Series victory. While he ended up falling short, the result was a moment of pride for a team that was the underdogs heading into the weekend. However, all that melted away when Preece was disqualified after a post-race inspection revealed a rear spoiler infraction.

RFK, Racing already suffering, rolled into Kansas two weeks later with redemption in their eyes. Brad Keselowski started showing speed we had never seen before in 2025, running as high as third and overtaking Kyle Larson as well! However, a blown tire after crashing into the wall ended Brad K’s day. There was some respite with Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece, both netting top-10 finishes, but that, too, was swiped away from them.

Chris Buescher was slapped with a $75,000 fine, a 60-point penalty, and a two-race suspension for crew chief Scott Graves. This dropped Buescher from 14th to 24th in the grid, significantly damaging his hopes of a playoff berth. While Preece rejoices at a potential spot in the playoffs, Brad K and Buescher play the patient game and hope the dice roll their way sooner rather than later.