Ryan Preece had given himself a genuine shot at winning the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The RFK Racing driver had already shown he could challenge the front-runners, even taking the lead from Denny Hamlin during the opening stage. However, an afternoon that had started with such promise took a frustrating turn when his No. 60 Ford suffered a wheel problem. NASCAR’s response left Preece with little room to hide his frustration.
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“The f*** happened there?”
That was Preece’s immediate reaction, shared by Jordan Bianchi, as the situation unfolded. The question came after a costly failure involving his right-rear wheel, turning a promising race into a major setback.
The frustration only grew when crew chief Derrick Finley explained what had happened. According to Finley, the brake caliper had cut the wheel in half. The damage had effectively ended Preece’s chance of continuing his strong run at the front.
“That’s f****** great,” Preece responded, according to Dustin Albino. He then made his frustration even clearer: “That’s exactly what we cannot f****** do.”
The incident happened on Lap 225, when Preece spun in Turn 2 and his right-rear wheel came off. NASCAR immediately brought out the caution. Shane van Gisbergen received the free pass, while Preece faced a much bigger problem.
Preece had been among the strongest drivers throughout the afternoon. He started sixth after qualifying and had also topped Saturday’s practice session. His speed carried into Sunday’s race, where he quickly became a factor against the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers.
Denny Hamlin initially controlled the race from pole position before Ty Gibbs took over on Lap 3. Hamlin reclaimed the lead on Lap 45, but Preece soon moved into second. He eventually passed Hamlin on Lap 84 after the latter became trapped behind lapped traffic.
Ryan Preece then built a lead of more than seven seconds. However, William Byron’s fresher tires proved decisive. Byron caught him and took the lead with six laps remaining in Stage 1. Preece still secured third place, keeping himself firmly in contention.
That earlier performance explains why the wheel failure was particularly painful. He had demonstrated the pace to challenge for the victory, rather than simply survive the afternoon.
There was also little room for NASCAR to overlook the incident, regardless of how the wheel broke.
Bob Pockrass explained that a loose wheel can get sliced off by the brake caliper. Even when that happens, it remains a loose-wheel violation. In other words, the physical damage does not automatically remove the team’s responsibility under NASCAR’s safety rules.
The penalty was two laps, as reported by both Pockrass and Albino. NASCAR treats a wheel coming off beyond pit road as a serious safety violation. Its rules provide for a two-lap penalty and suspensions for two rostered pit crew members.
The timing made matters worse. The Xfinity 500 is the ninth race of the 10-race Chase, leaving teams with very little opportunity to recover championship ground. Preece’s immediate concern, however, was losing a car that had looked capable of winning.
By Lap 233, racing had resumed with Byron leading Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain. Preece’s promising afternoon had been interrupted by an incident he and his team could hardly afford.
For Preece, the disbelief was understandable. He had spent much of the race proving the No. 60 Ford belonged near the front. One damaged wheel, however, brought that challenge to an abrupt halt.