RFK Racing was understandably disappointed with NASCAR’s decision to uphold Ryan Preece’s penalty from Texas. However, the 25-point deduction is not holding the #60  driver back as he shifts his focus to the remaining races in the Regular Season. While most drivers would be rattled standing on the edge of the Chase, Preece seems to be standing strong with an ‘offense’ and ‘defense’ plan in place.

“It’s all right. I’m not worried. We’re going on offense. Honestly, you know, being in that where we were 12th or Drivers’ points, I am on the bubble. In owners’ points, we are 12th or 13^th,” Preece said, while discussing his situation on the SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Of the three full-time cars RFK is fielding, Preece has the worst position in the championship table. However, he is still not out of championship contention. The NASCAR ruling dropped Preece from 12th to 13th, and then to 16th. So, he is right on the edge to make it to the Chase, but even the smallest mistake could hamper it, and his penalty does not seem to be fitting too well.

While battling in 23^rd place at the Texas Motor Speedway earlier, Preece was overtaken by Ty Gibbs, who then slowed down into the corner. However, Preece was seemingly going a bit too aggressively into the same corner and ended up making contact with the #54, spinning his car around. NASCAR then deducted 25 points and fined $50,000 as a penalty. RFK Racing was quick to appeal, but NASCAR recently upheld the decision, as the panel voted 2-1.

It all, again, came down to Preece’s comments.

“Although not a unanimous decision, NASCAR and RFK Racing presented competing interpretations of common data. Neither side clearly proved their point, but Mr. Preece’s comments showed that he chose to not cut his competitor any breaks,” the panel said in its ruling.

The team, understandably, wasn’t too happy.

“RFK Racing is extremely disappointed in today’s ruling by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel,” a statement from the team read. “We stand by Ryan Preece and believe our argument was fair, sound and without question.”

Preece, however, seems to have a set goal in mind. To get within the top 10 – a win would be crucial here – Preece wants to keep the aggression as is.

“I want to continue to move forward, but, you know, much like it was probably a month ago, we were kind of flirting around that 12th, 12th to 11th and, you know, really going forward. But it almost creates this thing where you’re playing defense but you’re playing offense. And right now, you don’t play defense. You play offense,” he added.

Apart from his finishes at the Daytona 500 and the Coca – Cola 600, Preece has managed to put himself within the top 20 in all of the races. This also includes two top 10 finishes at Atlanta and Bristol. Although by this time last year, he had also accounted for a top 5 run, his consistency has improved massively, which is sure to help him this season, considering how the Chase format works.

Ryan Preece has not lost faith in RFK

“I want to keep climbing our way up and, you know, I feel like our RFK Ford Mustang Dark Horses have speed. We show that at points at times, it’s just trying to put the entire recipe together for the entire race,” Preece mentioned further in his conversation with SiriusXM.

As a group, RFK Racing has been quite impressive so far this season. Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher were even close to winning races. This was partially because of the lack of performance Chevrolet had showcased earlier in the season. While Toyota dominated the field with race wins, Ford managed to hold on to the traction and extract some impressive performances.

Although Ryan Preece wasn’t as impressive as his teammates on the field, he still made quite an impression, and hopes to continue improving his performance:

“Definitely feel like our group has been getting stronger, and we have a lot of potential. And certainly, you know, Nashville could be an opportunity to break out and then just keep climbing our way forward.”

With NASCAR heading towards the final races of its Regular Season, the race at Nashville could turn out to be a turning point for the #60 team. There is currently a 47-point gap between Preece in 16^th place in the standings and Daniel Suarez in 10^th place. So even a moderately strong performance could give Preece a breakthrough, or at least put him in a much more comfortable position compared to the edge he is on right now.

Moreover, a strong finish in the championship this season could change the scenario for next year, as RFK Racing’s Chip Bowers revealed the team’s plans: “We will run three cars,” Bowers said. “That’s unequivocally our focus moving forward.”

Now this steers the team away from the earlier speculation that they would have four full-time charters running in 2027. But to look at the silver lining, the team would now be able to focus on their current lineup more. And Ryan Preece, who is currently struggling the most within the team, could find himself in a better spot.