By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
UPDATE: Ryan Preece was disqualified after failing postrace inspection due to a spoiler violation. He was relegated to a 38th-place finish
Ryan Preece only had the side-draft to make the difference on the last lap of Sunday’s Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Running side-by-side with Austin Cindric on his inside, Preece lost the drag race to the line, as the 500-miler ended by 0.022 in Cindric’s favor.
“I feel like we did everything right today. We just needed that little bit,” Preece said.
With William Byron pushing Preece’s RFK Racing No. 60, the momentum of the lanes granted Cindric the nose at the line.
“I think if the momentum would have came, the No. 24 [Byron] shaded up like maybe he wanted [to make a move for the win],” he said. “I wish I could have gotten that last little push. But at that point, you can’t drag back, you don’t want to give up anything.
“I wish I didn’t have to shade up so much to cover those runs. Maybe I could have side-drafted [Cindric] back a little bit. In that situation, the bottom line formed up through the tri-oval coming to the end and I think that’s what helped him the most.”
Preece was surprised the race ended without an accident, a feat that has proven rare in recent years on superspeedways. A 62-lap green-flag run to the end kept Preece up front with the opportunity to win with track position.
“When we made it halfway down the backstretch [on the last lap], you’re just trying to edge yourself ahead as if you’re not going to race to the line,” he said. “But when I crossed the line, I said, ‘Holy shit, I can’t believe we didn’t wreck in the final laps. So, that was nice.”
What’s also nice is a career-best finish.
Preece’s runner-up was his best Cup finish since placing third earlier this year at Las Vegas. And after multiple rollover crashes on superspeedways since 2023, the mood was relatively high for a second-place finisher.
“You want to win. You don’t come out here to just be in the show and blend in,” he said. “Over the past five years, I’ve done a whole lot of freaking losing. I feel like the dues are paid and I’m putting in a lot of work.
“We are getting closer and closer [to win]. I don’t know if people write me off because of my past years. But I think we are proving that we will be a threat. We’ll be a threat at short tracks, 1.5-mile, superspeedways and road courses.”
Preece joins teammates Chris Buescher in the top 15 in points after 10 races while team co-owner Brad Keselowski is still looking to get his season in gear from 31st in points.
“As a group, we are going to keep pushing and work on the details,” he said. “I can’t thank Brad and Chris enough just for how open they are. Just advice or different perspectives, that’s been super helpful to me to keep escalating and being a better racecar driver.