Ryan Preece, after another airborne Daytona crash, calls for NASCAR safety improvements

Alex Zietlow, The Charlotte Observer on Feb 17, 2025

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As the final laps of a thrilling Daytona 500 whizzed around him, Ryan Preece was somewhere else — physically and mentally.

Physically, after an admirable run that ended in a gnarly wreck with fewer than 10 laps to go, he stood in the infield care center grass, somehow safe.

Mentally, he was with his child.

“I don’t want to be the example, when it finally does get somebody,” Preece said. “And I don’t want it to be me. I got a 2-year-old daughter, just like a lot of us.”

The driver of the No. 60 Cup car added: “Something needs to be done.”

Preece was referring to the wreck he endured on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway: the one where he was knocked in the side by an out-of-control Christopher Bell, into Erik Jones, and up into the air at 190-plus miles per hour — floating and flipping upside down until he crashed into the wall, almost into the fence.

It was eerily similar to a tumble in 2023 in the Daytona summer race. In that one, he somersaulted 10 times, was transported to a local hospital, was released and was racing the next week — bloody eyes and all.

And yet, even though this one wasn’t as flashy, Preece said this wreck was scarier than his previous tumble. He did what he didn’t do two years ago: show that he wasn’t only fearful for his health but for his life and express his frustration that NASCAR’s car let this happen again, less than two years removed from his previous scare.

He also, in a departure from his choices in 2023, called out NASCAR this time around.

“Cars lifting off the ground like that — that felt honestly worse than Daytona in 2023, so I don’t know,” Preece said.

What felt worse?

“Everything about it,” he said. “Airborne. Heading toward the fence. I mean, it’s just not a good place to be. Honestly, with a hit like that, a head-on impact, I don’t really think it should’ve gone airborne, right? So I’m just not very happy.”

Preece specifically said the Next Gen car package needed to be safer on superspeedways. NASCAR made steps to combat going airborne, specifically, in October, but those changes weren’t enough in Preece’s eyes.

Others in the NASCAR garage who saw the wreck empathized with Preece.

“What is that, two years ago that he had that other incident?” said Jeff Gordon, the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, a team that got into Victory Lane with William Byron’s win. “Of course he’s going to be vocal about that. You never want to get airborne in a car once, let alone what he’s been through.

“I know NASCAR always is looking at those incidents and trying to figure out what they can do better to keep the cars on the ground.

“I think as teams we’ll offer everything we can, but we’re focused on building fast race cars to go win and be safe. And we have to rely on NASCAR to do the testing to try to keep the cars on the ground and be as safe as possible.”

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