Following his first-ever win in the NASCAR Cup Series, Ryan Preece opened up on how relieving the milestone was, given his journey in the sport so far. And now that it’s ticked from his bucket list, Preece has a simple, three-word message for anyone who’s ever been told to give up.
Ryan Preece advises taking action
“Don’t listen to somebody if they have an opinion of what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. If it’s your dream, chase after it,” Preece said.
The RFK Racing driver recently visited his hometown, Berlin, the place where his story as a racecar driver began. Preece was a regular fixture at the short tracks, from which he graduated to the Northeastern Midget Association, to the Whelen Modified Series, to the Xfinity, to the Cup, to being a part-time driver, to finally being a full-time Cup driver with a win to his name at present.
Upon his return to Berlin, when the word got out that the local hero was in town, hordes of fans formed lines and waited to meet Preece. And just as a hero does, his words inspire aspiring racecar drivers in the room to do what he did: believe in their dreams.
But beyond giving just motivation, the #60 driver also spoke about the bitter reality of the business.
“The tough part about racing is if you don’t have a fast car, you’re just not going to go fast. You can’t drive a slow car fast,” he said. “As a racer that grew up racing on the wheel of a modified tour, there were a lot of lessons that I learned along the way before I got here. How aggressive to be and not to be, and the level of respect that you have to be,” he recalled.
“Inside Tavern on the Tracks, fans lined up to meet [Ryan Preece], many sharing stories of watching his career grow. … ‘Don’t listen to somebody if they have an opinion of what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. If it’s your dream, chase after it.’” https://t.co/FNitTnwfCU
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) April 4, 2026
It’s worth mentioning that despite his relatively early success in the Xfinity Series, it took a while for Ryan Preece’s Cup career to get going. He made his debut in the top flight of NASCAR in 2015. But after that year, he returned to Cup years later in 2019.
During his time with JTG Daugherty Racing, from 2019 to 2021, Preece scored only two top-five finishes. This was followed by his becoming a part-time driver in 2022 for Rick Ware Racing.
A year from that, in 2023 and 2024, he drove for Stewart-Haas Racing. However, once again, he couldn’t manage more runs and finishes up front as he only finished inside the top 5 on two occasions across two seasons.
But for 2025, he was signed by RFK Racing, and in his very first season, he finished thrice in the top 5. In fact, he scored four top 10s in the last five races of the season.
This season, he opened up the year with a win at Bowman Gray, his first at the Cup level, coming after over a decade since his debut.
Preece wants to balance being a good father and a good racer
After winning his first-ever Cup race at Bowman Gray in February this year, Ryan Preece spoke candidly about how much the win meant to him.
“I’ve dedicated my entire life around it. My family has taken a backseat to my career, so going out and doing that, yeah, I am super blessed and really thankful to have been able to experience winning at the Cup Series level but now I want to do it more,” he claimed.
Preece mentioned that every day, he is learning to be better at the balance of being a better father and husband and being a better racecar driver. He claimed it is a difficult balance because he wants to provide, and to provide, he has to succeed, and to do that, he has to spend a lot of time at honing his craft.
Fortunately for the NASCAR driver, he has shown his growth and consistency so far this season. After a disappointing start at Daytona, he hasn’t finished outside the top 20 even once.
With that said, it’ll be interesting to see if Ryan Preece can win another race this season, one which would also pay him some points.
