Ryan Preece will have a new car number next year, taking over Roush’s historic No. 6 with the looming exit of Brad Keselowski.
Preece joined RFK Racing ahead of the 2025 season, driving the No. 60 Ford. He has since earned an impressive win in the Bowman Gray Clash exhibition race, while also claiming his first-ever points paying win in the Daytona cutoff race, which vaulted him into the Chase. He’s also the first driver to win a Cup race in the No. 60 since 1950 NASCAR Cup Series champion Bill Rexford.
However, Preece will take on a new look in 2027. With Keselowski’s exit from the team after five years as the co-owner and driver of the No. 6, Preece will take over the historic number. The No. 60 leases a charter, and is set to be charter-less going into next year unless some deal can be reached.
Preece will take his current team and personnel, including crew chief Derrick Finley, with the only change being the number on the door.
“I hate losing more than I love winning, and the people that are around me since the beginning know that,” said Preece in a video posted by RFK Racing. “I’ve had a lot of great moments with this number, so I’m looking forward to making many more. My plan to build on this legacy (is) by doing exactly what we did with the 60, and that’s winning. I don’t go and half-ass things so I’m not gonna half-ass this.”
The No. 6 is the team’s original car number with over 30 Cup wins, piloted by Martin from 1988 through the 2006 season. David Ragan drove it from 2007 through 2011, and then is disappeared a full-time entry until Trevor Bayne took over in 2015. Ryan Newman became the next full-time driver of the No. 6 in 2019, before Keselowski’s arrival in 2022.
“I like Ryan Preece because he’s a racer, plain and simple,” said Martin. “He came up the hard way, and he’s had to fight for everything he’s gotten. That’s something I respect. When he gets in a race car, he gives you everything he’s got, and he’s not going to be satisfied just riding around. That number means a lot to me, and I think Ryan is a great fit to carry it forward.”
Preece also has some history with the number, winning over a dozen NASCAR Modified races with the No. 6 during his career.
“I drove that number for Ed Partridge, who was more than just a car owner to me. He was one of my best friends and someone who believed in me and helped fund me an opportunity that changed my life. We didn’t know it at the time, but we won our final Whelen Modified Tour race together Richmond 2021,” said Preece. “So, when I say the number 6 feels like home, it’s because it represents more than racing. It represents the people who believed in me, the relationships I’ve built, and the memories that got me here. To have the opportunity to carry that number into the next chapter of my career means more than I can put into words.”
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