Does SHR-ignored Ryan Preece deserve a seat at Brad Keselowski’s RFK Racing?
RFK Racing announced today that they tapped Ryan Preece as their full-time driver for the 2025 Cup Series season. This comes after Brad Keselowski's team welcomed Preece's long-time sponsor Kroger, and leased a charter from Rick Ware Racing for their #60 Ford. But is Preece a deserving driver? We'd say yes.
The former Stewart-Haas Racing driver has been subjected to immense backlash about his lackluster performance in NASCAR's premier level. Moreover, the Ford driver was the only SHR racer who was sidelined from the team's business on a couple of occasions. One example can be dated back to the regular season when SHR made a study group for the Kansas race but didn't invite Preece.
The most recent example is the team's penultimate race at Phoenix Raceway, where Preece wasn't present with other SHR cars during the cool-down lap when they paid tribute to Tony Stewart and Gene Haas' team.
That said, here are three reasons why Ryan Preece is a deserving candidate for a full-time Cup Series entry.
#1. The Connecticut native had an impressive Truck Series career
Even though Ryan Preece's Truck Series stint was short-lived, he proved his dominance in the handful of races he contested in 2021 and 2022 for David Gilliland Racing. From 12 starts behind the #17 Ford Truck's wheel, Preece produced remarkable performances as he won his debut race and ended up with two wins, eight top-5s, and 11 top-10s.
It's worth mentioning that Preece never finished outside of the top 10 except for his 11th-place finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2022.
#2. Promising Xfinity Series performance despite juggling between teams
Ryan Preece began fielding Xfinity entries in 2013. However, it was a two-year part-time deal with Tommy Baldwin Racing. Preece got his full-time break for JD Motorsports. However, that lasted for the 2016 season and since then, he couldn't secure a full-time ride in the National Series.
Nonetheless, throughout the 62 races he competed in, the RFK Racing driver clinched two wins, 13 top-5s, and 21 top-10s. Notably, he ran three races for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2017 and he didn't disappoint the team owner, collecting a runner-up finish in his first run for JGR and topping it with a win at Iowa Speedway, and a third consecutive top-5 at the Kentucky Speedway.
#3. Underlooked statistics of Ryan Preece's Cup Series performance through the years
It's true that Preece couldn't replicate the domination savored in the other two Series since he entered the NASCAR Cup Series. However, when comparing his year-end statistics to SHR teammates and JTG's former drivers Chris Buescher and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who drove the same package, things reflected that Preece exhibited similar potential.
During his three-year run in JTG Daugherty, Preece fielded the #47 Chevy in 2019 and was shifted to drive the #37 for the remainder of his term. He finished the 2019 Cup Series season in 26th place. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took over the #47 Chevy in the 2020 season, wrapped his debut season with the team in P26, and is still under a contract with them. Thus, Preece can't be altogether sidelined as a bad driver.
Moreover, during his two-year run in the #37 Ford, Preece salvaged a P29 and P27 finish in seasons 2020 and 2021. Chris Buscher used to drive that car before Preece's arrival and wrapped his 2017, 18, and 19 seasons in P26, P24, and P20, respectively. A stark difference between Buescher and Preece cannot be ascertained.
Talking about Ryan Preece's final year with SHR, even though he gained the spotlight for all the wrong reasons like being uninvited in the study group and final race drama, he did outperform one of his teammates -Josh Berry -who secured a contract way before than Preece. He settled his 2024 season in 26th place. Meanwhile, Berry stood the worst in P27, Noah Gragson in P24, and Chase Briscoe in P14.
It's worth mentioning that Ryan Preece aced NASCAR's Wheelen Modified Tour championship in 2013 and stood as the runner-up in 2009 and 2012.