NASCAR has decided to uphold Ryan Preece’s behavioral penalty stemming from the Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on May 3. The penalty was handed down after it was deemed the driver of the No. 60 intentionally wrecked Ty Gibbs.
Preece was fined $50,000 and docked 25 driver points for the incident. In the wake of the penalty, Preece and RFK Racing decided to appeal. Unfortunately for them, their events did not overturn the penalty.
NASCAR said Preece ‘chose to not cut his competitor any breaks’
During the Cup race at Texas, Preece expressed frustration with Gibbs after the latter made an aggressive move. He said over the team radio that when he got to the driver of the No. 54, he was “done with him.”
Later in the race, Preece made contact with Gibbs that sent the Joe Gibbs Racing driver spinning and crashing into the outside wall. Based on his radio chatter, NASCAR handed down a penalty to Preece.
During the appeals hearing, Preece and RFK Racing tried to make the case that while there was contact, there were no intentions behind the driver’s maneuver. However, NASCAR did not see it that way.
NASCAR Communications on X shed light on the situation following the appeals process. The panel deemed that the move was in violation of the rules set in the penalty notice and that they were deciding to uphold the consequences handed down by NASCAR.
“Although not a unanimous decision, NASCAR and RFK Racing presented competing interpretations of common data. Neither side clearly proved their point, but Mr. Preece’s comments showed that he chose to not cut his competitor any breaks,” they wrote.
That same race, Kyle Busch made contact with John Hunter Nemechek with two laps remaining, sending Nemechek crashing in turn 3. While it appeared to be a retaliation move on Busch’s part from previous contact, he was not penalized.
How Preece’s penalty affects his Chase hopes
With The Chase format returning prior to the start of the 2026 season, every race and every point matters for drivers in their effort to make the 16-driver postseason.
For Preece, losing 25 points could be a huge detriment to his Chase hopes. Had he been granted the 25 points back, the Berlin, Connecticut native would be tied for 13th in the standings with a 40-point cushion above The Chase cut line.
Now that the penalty stands, Preece finds himself the last driver above the cutoff in 16th place, just 15 points above Austin Cindric.
To make matters worse, Preece posted a 33rd-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 after getting involved in a crash late in the going on the back straightaway. Not only has Preece been stripped of points, but he left many on the table in Charlotte.
In his second season with RFK Racing, Preece is still searching for his first career points-paying win in the NASCAR Cup Series. He started the year winning The Clash at Bowman-Gray Stadium, but has yet to find victory lane in a points race.
Aiming for his first Chase appearance, too, it will be interesting to see how the 25-point penalty will affect Preece in the coming weeks.
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