Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Richmond Media Availability
Friday, August 15, 2025
Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 60 Kroger/Kleenex Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing, is 34 points behind teammate Chris Buescher for the final transfer position into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Preece spoke about his situation, along with being named one of the 40 Greatest Modern-Era NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers earlier this week.
RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Kroger/Kleenex Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING NAMED TO THAT IMPRESSIVE GROUP EARLIER THIS WEEK? “That was years and years of hard work, so it was nice to be a part of that and being on that list. It’s certainly one of the highlights of yesterday since it didn’t go exactly the way we wanted it to, but a lot of my accomplishments and who I am as a racer and person was groomed through the Whelan Modified Tour. That had a huge impact on me, so really reflecting on it, along with Justin Bonsignore, Jaime Tomaino and many others that are on that list. It’s a great accomplishment and something to be proud of.”
WHAT KEEPS BRINGING YOU BACK TO THE MODIFIED EVENTS AND HOW FUN WAS IT TO RACE WITH YOUR DAD? “I think that’s the real reason why I truly do it. There are a couple things. My passion for modifieds. There are a lot of great people in that pit area as well as loving to drive those race cars, and then racing with my father. The challenge of it can be all the work that comes along with it. I have to explain this to race fans all the time that ask me why I don’t do it more, I’m not like Kyle Larson with Paul Silva, where he shows up and he’s racing. If I’m not working on that race car, it’s not really coming. My father does a lot, but when it comes to setup stuff and coming up with strategies and all that, I’m a huge piece in that, so it’s really fun. It’s great in that aspect because there’s nobody else to blame except myself, so if we’re terrible, I can just yell at myself all day long. I enjoy doing it and I enjoy the passion of people that love modified racing.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY INDICATION WHAT TIRE WEAR WILL BE LIKE TOMORROW NIGHT? “It’s hard to say just yet. I think we all kind of saw some of it last year when we put the option tire on, and I think all of us are kind of anticipating the same thing. When we weren’t handling very well yesterday I was just kind of searching around for grip, trying to figure out if your car is not handling well, what can I do to make it better? But as far a tire wear and what we’re all projecting, I think we’re gonna have a lot better idea in about an hour.”
WHAT ARE THE TEAM MEETINGS LIKE AT RFK WITH YOU AND CHRIS BATTLING EACH OTHER ON THAT CUT LINE? “I would agree with what Chris said last week because I actually watched his media availability, which is that nobody is hiding anything from anybody. That’s the truth. I was talking about the blacktop here today in turns one and two. I don’t think a lot of us really knew about it, and I didn’t even know about it until I went out in modified practice yesterday and noticed it, so I just communicated some of the thoughts I had on that. Scott, Jeremy, Derrick, they work really well together just like all of us drivers do, so I think the environment that we have at RFK right now is a really good one and I don’t hide anything from them, they don’t hide anything from me and that’s what’s nice about being there.”
IS IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT AFTER ALL THESE WEEKS IT COMES DOWN TO YOU TEAMMATES? “I think ideally we would have all liked to have either won by now and kind of locked ourselves in, but when you looked at the past however many weeks, 24, to be right there with each other and both of us have penalties. It’s not like one of us had a penalty and all that, where we’ve been neck and neck. I’m just grateful to be a part of this opportunity or to have this opportunity because it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been a lot of fun for me as a racer who has put a lot into my career and really been able to finally put something together that is allowing me to go and contend and race again and feel like I’m racing again. I always used to have to go race my modified to feel like I’m racing because the biggest thought to me in the past was, ‘When is the leader coming to lap me?’ Not because I didn’t know how to drive, but you were fighting so many different things. It’s just nice to be on the other side of things to where you’re continuing to try and find grip to race for a top five or race for a win or race for a top 10 or whatever it is. There’s a lot of factors as race car drivers that come into that and I’m grateful to be on the one that I’m in.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE RACING CHRIS FOR THE FINAL SPOT OR ARE YOU ASSUMING THERE WILL BE A NEW WINNER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS? “It’s hard to say. I think we’re at two racetracks, superspeedway especially Daytona, anything can happen. We saw that last year. At Richmond, you don’t know who is gonna show up with the right package today for this option tire. We all, as you guys have already heard, how is the tire wear going to be. How impactful can that play into this race? I think there’s a lot of thoughts. Yeah, you’re gonna have to win to get in to really lock yourself in, unless you’re Tyler Reddick. I think Chris and I are both trying to figure out what’s the best strategy for us. I know Scott and Derrick are working hard on that. I have really fast race cars and go execute great races. If you’re in a position for a green-white-checkered and you have an opportunity to win, when it comes Monday don’t think about what I should have done different.”
YOU DO THAT EVEN AFTER WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR? “Well, I didn’t say wreck somebody. I think you need to be a racer and not leave anything on the table at the end of the day. You’ve got to do it with respect, but at the same time a half a lap can change your entire season.”
HAVE YOU SEEN THE A-POST FLAP AT ALL THAT THEY’RE PUTTING IN FOR NEXT WEEK? “I know about it, but I haven’t seen it in person.”
DO YOU LET DERRICK LEAD THE STRATEGY PROCESS? HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE TRENDS OF WHAT THE RACE IS DOING? “That’s a challenge. I’m very knowledgeable when it comes to racing race cars if I see the entire picture, but my job on Sundays is to drive that race car as fast as I possibly can. Derrick has all the information, along with Brent, or engineer, and Matt in the war room to see how the race is playing out and understanding what the best strategy is and that’s their job, so I don’t want to know. I want to focus on driving that race car as fast as I can and also have them communicate to me what my job is in that moment, so it’s really easy to get wrapped up in the whole picture and think that you need to make those decisions. I’ve just learned that if I want to make those decisions, I’m gonna bring my modified to the racetrack and figure out pretty quickly why I drive a race car fast for a living.”
HOW MUCH RACING DO YOU CONSUME AND WHERE ARE YOU WATCHING WHEN YOU WANT TO WATCH SOMEONE ELSE RACE? “It’s my life. I’ve never run a 410 sprint car, but I was watching the nationals last week. I’m a modified guy. I watch Stafford on Friday’s sometimes. If I’m not at RFK or kind of doing farm chores around with Heather, typically I’m in my shop working on my own race car and sometimes I’ll have Flo on. I think as a race car driver, at least me, I can appreciate all forms of racing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Whelen Modified Tour car in the northeast, a Super Late Model in the southeast, USAC, Midgets, Sprint Cars, Silver Crown race cars. I grew up being a huge fan of them. I actually thought I was gonna go that Bobby Santos route or dirt cars, so I just enjoy racing.”
HOW VALUABLE DO YOU FEEL STAGES LIKE THIS, RACING AT RICHMOND, NORTH WILKESBORO, AS PART OF THESE CUP WEEKENDS ARE FOR THE TOUR AND IN GENERAL HOW VALUABLE IS THE TOUR TO THE NASCAR ECOSYSTEM? “What I can tell you is a lot of the people that race in the Whelan Modified Tour, there’s a lot of passion there. A lot of them are volunteers and they do it because they love racing, so it’s, honestly, a real grind for some of them to take off work on Wednesday, come down here, race on Thursday and then probably drive through the night to be at work at 7 a.m. the next day, but they do it because they appreciate racing on a facility like this at Richmond that is top of the class. So, really, for them to have the opportunity to come here and race that, they love it and I appreciate racing with them for everything they do. I think as far as the Whelen Modified Tour goes and modified racing and all the people that do it, I can’t give them enough credit as far as all the teams and everything that they do to go to those races and do. I read a lot and it puts a lot on all of those people, so it’s great that we’re able to come out here and do that. They’re gonna be at New Hampshire in a few weeks, which is their big race as well as going to Martinsville, so it’s a great opportunity for them to bring home some awesome trophies.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE MOMENTUM YOUR TEAM HAS RIGHT NOW HEADING TO THE FINAL STRETCH? “I feel really good about it. I’m really anxious to get out here in about 45 minutes or an hour. There’s just been so many questions with this tire and really a lot of preparation. For me, it’s trying to figure out what can I do as a race car driver to make it last better than somebody else. I think that’s gonna be the key tomorrow night and then let Derrick and those guys work the strategy and figure out what we need to do from there. My goal tomorrow is to win. You want to lock yourself into the playoffs you need to win.”
HOW HAS YOUR IDENTITY AS A DRIVER CHANGED FROM THE START OF THE SEASON? “I think it’s been fun talking to people that have known me for the past 15-17 years. We talk about this year and how we’re running. We’re running really well. I even joke with the merchandise trailer that we’re selling t-shirts really well. For me, the past five or however many years it was, I think I’ve even persuaded a few media people that Ryan Preece can do this. Outside of putting ourselves in position to win, we’ve executed a pretty good season, a respectable season that it would be nice to make the playoffs and then really see what we can do in there. It’s been a lot of fun and I think as a race car driver that’s sacrificed a lot to get to this point, to have this opportunity and do all the things that we’ve done and been consistent and not just having that flash of speed and kind of disappearing, it’s been really nice. The next step is trying to win these races. It’s been a great opportunity, one that I can’t thank Brad enough for being a great teammate, a great owner, and somebody that I can really rely on throughout a race weekend, along with Chris. I’ve been good friends with him, great teammates with him, and it’s been really great to be a part of this opportunity. I couldn’t do it without great sponsors like Kroger, Mohawk Northeast, FIfth Third Bank, and the list really goes on and on – Fastenal and many others. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and hopefully we can cap off tomorrow with a win and don’t have to worry about the playoffs.”
DO YOU FEEL THE COMMUNICATION ON YOUR TEAM HAS EVOLVED AND THAT’S LED TO YOUR SUCCESS? “Yeah, it started off really well and it’s only gotten better. It’s been a lot of fun to be a part of and, honestly, our trailer is just something like I’ve never been a part of in my life. It’s been great and I think for having a spotter that’s never spotted in the Cup Series before as well as a bunch of people on our team that this is really their first year in Cup, it’s been a great group.”
