As part of a longer, exclusive interview with RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece, Motorsport.com wanted to get his thoughts on the ever-present threat of airborne accidents in NASCAR. Unfortunately, he has some first-hand experience with that, especially with the current generation of car.
Preece barrel-rolled in a terrifying accident at Daytona in 2023 in a violent airborne crash that lasted eight seconds. Despite suffering some bloodshot eyes, he was able to walk away from the wreckage. NASCAR and Daytona reacted quickly, removing grass from the backstretch at the famed speedway as they believed it played a role in the severity of the incident.
Unfortunately, it happened to Preece once again late in the 2025 Daytona 500. While running in the middle of the pack, he was unable to avoid a spinning Christopher Bell, who suddenly crossed his path. The impact sent Preece’s car upwards, performing a bizarre wheelie down the backstretch before going completely over at the entrance of Turn 3.
Watch: Preece “lucky to walk away” from second terrifying airborne crash at Daytona
We decided not to ask Preece about what it’s like to go up and over as it’s a question he’s unfortunately had to answer plenty in the past. “If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked that, I could retire,” he smiled.
We were more interested in hearing his thoughts about what NASCAR could or should be doing to help counter such incidents. While the sanctioning body implemented some changes during the 2024 season, no further updates have been made between February’s Daytona 500 and this weekend’s race at Talladega where Preece’s No. 60 Ford will be carrying Celsius colors for the first time this year.
What’s the solution?
“I’m not too sure,” said Preece when asked about what could be done. “I’m not in the wind tunnel, I’m not an aeronautical engineer, I’m not somebody who studies CFD (Computational fluid dynamics) for these types of situations, but I have lived through it twice.
“I’m sure with time, we’re going to find a solution that everybody is happy with. I don’t necessarily know what that solution is. I just hope that it’s sooner than later. As a person, as a racer, as someone that respects the other drivers I’m racing against as well as the car owners, I don’t want to see anybody get hurt or anything of that nature.”
Ryan Preece, RFK Racing Ford
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
Preece continued, saying, “I understand the risks. We all understand the risks. If you make a bad decision, there’s repercussions, but there’s also — when you’re in those types of situations where you’re almost helpless, even based off of a decision that you didn’t necessarily make, you don’t want to see that. Racing is dangerous and I feel like a lot of fans say that and it’s easy to say, but I think we all need to remember that there’s a person inside that race car so you don’t want to see them get hurt because of a situation somebody else made.”
You can read the rest of Motorsport.com’s exclusive interview on Friday where Preece discusses his strong start with RFK, moments of doubt in his career, expectations for Talladega, and his unique mindset as he chases his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory.
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