Ryan Preece’s career in NASCAR has been anything but a smooth ride. After years of grinding and underfunded rides and watching opportunity slip away, he found himself on the brink of stepping away from the sport altogether. Just when it seemed his path might lead back home to Connecticut, a single phone call from Brad Keselowski changed the trajectory of his career. That call didn’t just offer Ryan a seat at RFK Racing; it reignited his hopes, pulled him out of obscurity, and set him on a new mission to prove he belongs at the NASCAR top level.
Before joining RFK Racing in 2025, Ryan Preece had endured a rocky Cup Series journey marked by inconsistent results and limited resources. He began full-time racing in NASCAR’s top tier with JTG Daugherty Racing in 2019, earning a single top five at Talladega and just three top 10 finishes that year. His average finishes were in the low 20s, and over three seasons, he failed to score any wins or secure a playoff berth.
In 2022, Preece shifted into part-time roles and found sporadic successes in Xfinity and Truck Series events, including a Truck win at Nashville, but his Cup prospects remained uncertain. Preece’s trajectory shifted dramatically when RFK Racing announced a third Cup entry for the 2025 season. Co-owner Brad Keselowski personally reached out to Ryan, offering him the seat. RFK had recently surged under Keselowski and Chris Buescher, with both drivers posting multiple event wins and consistent top finishes.
And now recently, speaking on DJD with Dale Junior, Preece embraced the offer wholeheartedly, describing the opportunity as a last-chance reset in a team on the rise. Reflecting on his earliest struggles, Ryan acknowledged the team’s reluctance to sign a driver with consistently lower results. He said, “We started running like, and they thought it was probably me. I don’t know. You know, it wasn’t, you know, are you going to hire a guy that’s running 30th every week? Yeah, but you know that’s the tough side. And this is the part that I have a strong understanding,. I feel like the sport and race cars, and you know, if it’s not working, it’s not working. Doesn’t mean that you’re not a bad driver or you’re not a good driver. It’s just it’s not working.”
Brad Keselowski’s involvement in RFK, formerly known as Roush Fenway Racing, began in 2022, with the stated goal of growing the team into a three-car operation. Since then, RFK has seen a transformation; Buescher and Keselowski combined for five wins and over 30 top-five finishes across 2023 and 2024. That long-term investment helped establish RFK as a serious race-winning organization and created the kind of infrastructure Preece needed to finally chase his 1st cup victory.
Preece goes on to say, “But Brad calls me, says, ‘Hey, if there was an opportunity for starting a third car, would you have any interest?’ And I’m thinking to myself, ‘F— Yeah,’ because, you know, I’m watching that organization go from what and just getting better. There was there was a stretch of weeks where Brad or Chris was like second every week. And for a two‑car organization to be in the top two, like that’s not easy. You know, it takes a lot.”
As of 22 races in the 2025 Cup season, Ryan has no wins but has logged nine top 10 finishes, including a season-best third-place finish at Las Vegas and a fourth at Indianapolis. Through these races, Ryan has an average finish of 16.5, an average starting position of 18.5, and has led 68 laps total. He has been consistent without being dominant, a hallmark for a first full season in a brand-new third RFK entry.
The 34-year-old added, “I’m still not sure if everything’s going to play out like, and ultimately ended up, it ended up working out. And you know, thank you to, you know, Tad and, and Bam and Kroger and Mohawk and, you know, Al Hanky. It’s like you, you try to get these opportunities. And I really thought I was moving back to Connecticut and I was going to be looked at like this guy that could never do it. Now, I haven’t won. That’s the goal. That’s what I want to do. I know I can, though. So, every week, it’s a grind.”
One standout performance came at Kansas in May, where he earned his fourth top 10 of the year with a P7 finish, ranking second best in passing rating and top five in crew timing and restart. Notably, those metrics put him ahead of race winner Kyle Larson in key categories, a promising sign for the RFK program. But Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski are pushing for a playoff spot.
Ryan Preece is done playing games and aims to race aggressively for a playoff spot
Brad Keselowski’s influence has brought a sharper edge to RFK Racing’s playoff push, injecting a level of urgency and intensity that is reshaping their Cup Series campaign. With only four races left before the postseason, Brad and Ryan have discarded the safe, points-based approach, opting instead for bold, aggressive tactics. The mission to win is crystal clear. That mindset, born from both pressure and hunger to win, has transformed RFK into one of the most unpredictable teams on the playoff bubble.
For Preece, that strategy isn’t just about how he drives; it extends to every detail of preparation. He put extra emphasis on flawless pit stops, scheduling additional practice sessions to sharpen execution under pressure. In a conversation with NASCAR Live, Preece said, “They had some really solid stops, and you know, we’re gonna do that (pit practice) tomorrow and do that as many times as it takes to make him feel comfortable. That when we show up these last four weeks, you know the bolts are in the chamber and we’re ready to go.”
The switch to an all-or-nothing mentality came after Bubba Wallace’s recent win that shifted the playoff standings, pushing RFK off the points path and into must-win territory. Preece admitted, “We were so close to within pointing our way in that it changed the way we raced at Omaha. We try to put ourselves in a position to have an opportunity to win. We’re all about being aggressive and doing things people don’t do.”
That attitude was on full display at Indianapolis, where Preece leaned into unconventional strategies that left other teams scrambling. “As you saw at Indy, that worked out for us. We’re gonna go into these next four races and try to make people play our game and not play theirs.” Under Keselowski’s guidance, Ryan has become the face of RFK’s disruptive, high-pressure play of charge, and with the season hanging in the balance, that strategic aggression might be exactly what keeps their championship hopes alive.
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