UPDATE (5-27-2026): The National Motorsports Appeals Panel today heard and considered an appeal of a behavioral penalty issued on May 5, 2026 to driver Ryan Preece in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Upon hearing the testimony, the decisions of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel are:
1. That the Appellant violated the Rule(s) set forth in the Penalty Notice.
2. That the Panel affirms and upholds the original Penalty assessed by NASCAR. In reaching the above decision, the panel provided the following explanation: “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.”
— RFK Racing (@RFKracing) May 27, 2026
UPDATE (5-7-2026): RFK Racing will appeal the 25-point penalty and $50,000 fine that Ryan Preece received for getting into Ty Gibbs at Texas Motor Speedway.
“RFK Racing has decided to appeal the penalties issued by NASCAR against Ryan Preece,” the team statement said. “We appreciate the opportunity to share our findings with the National Motorsports Appeals Panel at the appropriate time.
“Additionally, our organization respectfully embraces the forum provided by NASCAR to present our case.”
The penalty dropped Preece from 12th to 13th on The Chase grid, 38 points above the cutline.
Statement on Ryan Preece’s Penalty. pic.twitter.com/1S5eJKvwlu
— RFK Racing (@RFKracing) May 7, 2026
UPDATE (5-6-2026): Based on its review of team radio, race video and driver data, NASCAR punished Ryan Preece for an incident with Ty Gibbs at Texas Motor Speedway.
The same type of review yielded no penalty for Kyle Busch for his collision with John Hunter Nemechek late in the race.
…
During a prior yellow flag, Preece had radioed his team about Gibbs: “What a [expletive] idiot that kid is. He is so lucky his car is so [expletive] fast. … All right, when I get to that 54, I’m done with him. [Expletive] idiot.”
Forde said the audio factored into the penalty.
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Explaining why NASCAR declined to penalize Busch, Forde said competition strategist Scott Miller determined that SMT data was inconclusive as to whether the No. 8 Chevrolet driver had intentionally wrecked Nemechek’s No. 42 Toyota.
The handling on Busch’s car was also altered by damage from a previous incident with Nemechek.
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Forde said NASCAR officials will meet with Busch and Richard Childress Racing leadership about the two-time Cup Series champion being involved in two incidents over the past four races. Busch tangled with Riley Herbst at Bristol Motor Speedway last month.
— NASCAR.com —
ORIGINAL POST: Ryan Preece was penalized 25 points and fined $50,000 following an incident with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Preece, driver of the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford, was penalized under Sections 4.3 and 4.4.A in the NASCAR Rule Book, which state NASCAR’s member conduct guidelines and specifically list “wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from competition as a result” as a potentially punishable offense.
AND: The #34-Layne Riggs was penalized for lug nuts not properly installed. Crew chief (Dylan Cappello) has been fined $2,500 and suspended from the next NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship points event, including Watkins Glen, May 8, 2026.
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Penalty Sheet 2026 Updated 05 05 26