NASCAR has taken action against Ryan Preece following the incident between him and Ty Gibbs on Sunday in the Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Preece, the driver of the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford, was issued a $50,000 fine and the deduction of 25 driver points under Sections 4.3 and 4.4.A in the NASCAR Rule Book, which detail ‘wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from competition as a result’ as punishable offenses.
In this case, Preece crashed Ty Gibbs on Lap 101 in Turn 3, and a NASCAR review determined intent. In real time, Preece told his team that he felt like he did not make contact with the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54, but a radio transmission earlier in the race indicated potential motive following an on-track sequence between them.
“All right, when I get to that 54, I’m done with him. Fucking idiot,” Preece said.
Preece appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday night and said he simply decided to not cut Gibbs a break.
“There are people that you know you can race with respect around and cut breaks to,” Preece said. “Like I can think of multiple times yesterday that instead of putting another driver in a pretty tough spot, you make the decision not to do that. And I feel like I just grew up racing against people that I learned that lesson a long, long time ago, when I was a lot younger. And sometimes I question if those same lessons are learned by the time you get to Cup.
“So for me, it was more along the lines of he pretty much was very close to clear getting into (Turn) 3, and I could lift, but I didn’t.
“I was right there and I felt like he came down, and I was not going to cut him a break because in the past, him and I have had problems. So I’ve got a little bit of a short fuse with him and I, with how we’re racing. And that was just one of those situations that, could I cut him a break? Probably could have, but I didn’t. And ultimately, I didn’t feel like I hit him. I felt like I stayed right on him, and he got loose, and from there on, unfortunately, he wrecked.”
Due to the penalty, Preece loses a spot in the championship standings and falls to 13th, 38 points above the cutline to make the Chase for the Championship.
NASCAR also reviewed the last lap incident between Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek and found nothing that reached this level as his steering wheel was pointed to the left to go straight.
In the Craftsman Truck Series, post-race inspection confirmed two unsecured lug nuts on the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 truck for driver Layne Riggs. That results in a $2500 fine and the suspension of a crew member, and NASCAR selected crew chief Dylan Cappello.
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