Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher arrived at Talladega with nothing to lose. All three were effectively already out of title contention (if not mathematically), so they raced like it in stage one of the YellaWood 500, stealing valuable points off the championship contenders. By rounds two and three, the garages had an answer ready.

Preece later explained how teams will make sure nobody pulls that maneuver again during his post-race interaction with media and interviewers, including Matt Weaver.

“I don’t want to speak a whole lot on it other than you’ll never see that again,” Preece said. “Like you’ll see every team in this garage react and will not allow that to happen ever, ever again. So, yeah, that was pretty neat. Hope you enjoyed it.”

The RFK Racing trio noticed the field was on a fuel-saving strategy and decided to break away by mashing the gas and extending their lead by up to 40 seconds during stage one, almost lapping the field at one point and finishing as the top three drivers during stage one of the chaotic Talladega round.

While Preece enjoyed executing the game plan with his teammates, he added that garages will ensure no team can pull off such a disruptive maneuver in the future, as they are quick to adjust their strategies and adapt to new moves from rivals and competitors, and to new rules that NASCAR may implement to avoid teams from running on the same strategies.

But Preece has ignited an important conversation by suggesting that NASCAR needs to bring back rewards for drivers who lead laps to promote high-intensity battles and racing instead of simply rewarding who gets the job done towards the end of the stages.

“No cause we police our own,” Preece said. “Honestly I joked and I sent Steve O’Donnell a text and I don’t know if it went through or yet not, but give lap money. Pay lap money, pay the leader, whoever leads a lap. Bam, you know, I don’t know, fifteen hundred couple grand a lap or something, sell sponsors. Make it, make incentive. Cause to us, our incentive is to get to the end of the stage, not to lead at lap five or ten.”

“I don’t know, I am just saying, so, no matter what you got, no matter what rule they change, we will find a way to, whatever is going to maximize, what we need to be right there at the end of the stage,” he added. “And that mean’s riding around at fifty percent throttle until it comes time, that’s what it does.”

Preece may have joked about it, but his suggestion carries weight. Drivers get no incentive for leading laps, and the fight for points only intensifies towards the end of each stage. With an incentive for leading laps, the field will ensure they fight for the lead and, in turn, provide exciting action for fans of the sport.

The RFK Racing driver’s suggestions have been a thing in the past, as NASCAR traditionally rewarded racers with a most laps led bonus, wherein the driver would gain five points, and a halfway cash bonus, where sponsors would pay the driver who led the race halfway with an enticing prize.

While monetary bonuses push drivers to perform better, points rewarded could change who won the championship and make a difference when it mattered.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has also supported the idea of restoring bonus points for leading the most laps and a single lap, on his DirtyMo Media podcast.

The RFK Racing trio who dominated stage one found themselves scattered in the mix of the field set for stages two and three, where Brad Keselowski and Chris Beuecher were caught up in the multi-car pileup and could not recreate their iconic strategy. However, Ryan Preece survived the ‘Big One’ on both occasions and went on to finish 13th in the eventful Talladega round.