t’s been Ryan Preece vs. the world for much of 2026.
Whether “the world” knows it’s involved in the skirmish remains unclear.
Either way, Preece seems perfectly comfortable playing the underdog role.
After spending much of the 2026 season battling the Chase cutline, a 25-point NASCAR penalty, and, according to Preece, an army of “keyboard warriors,” the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford did what it needed to do Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway: Win.
“Two years ago, there were a lot of keyboard warriors saying I was nothing… Well, we just kicked their butts tonight.”
When reports surfaced in August 2024 that RFK Racing was considering Preece for a potential third NASCAR Cup Series entry, the NASCAR corner of Reddit responded with all the warmth and optimism you’d imagine.
“Preece will never exceed expectations. Never has, never will.”
“Seriously, PREECE?? This has to be a joke.”
“No one gets regurgitated upward like Ryan Preece.”
Preece’s us-against-the-world campaign hasn’t been limited to just the internet though.
Even the sanctioning body threw a haymaker. The sanctioning body fined Preece $50,000 and assessed a 25-point driver penalty for intentionally wrecking Ty Gibbs. Preece appealed the penalty, which was upheld by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel.
When asked for his thoughts on the appeal process a few days later, Preece kept his response brief.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Preece said.
And because nothing says “moving on” quite like commemorative merchandise, “Don’t Hit the Button” T-shirts followed.
Following the penalty drama, Preece caught a stray even before making the Chase.
While discussing the battle around the Chase cutline on Inside the Race, NASCAR analyst Kyle Petty offered his take on the annual attention surrounding the bubble.
“I’m going to be the bad guy here. I don’t care,” Petty said. “We spend so much time talking about the bubble every freaking year. That’s all we talk about … bubble, bubble, bubble. And as soon as we get to the playoffs, we never mention those guys again.”
As if the keyboard warriors and NASCAR weren’t enough, Preece has history to contend with, too.
No driver has started the postseason lower than ninth in the standings and gone on to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Fortunately, being told the odds are against him appears to be exactly Preece’s thing.
“We’re going to do our best to be a contender and be a part of the battle that Kyle Petty thinks even if you’re 16th in the Chase, you can’t be a part of,” Preece said after winning at Daytona.
Believe in him or doubt him, Ryan Preece has already made a few keyboard warriors eat their words… so watch him and whatever rocket ship RFK Racing can build this Sunday evening, September 6, during the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (5 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
— NASCAR —