Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Championship Race Media Availability — Phoenix Raceway
Saturday, November 1, 2025
Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 60 Fry’s/Celsius Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing, has set personal bests for most top 10 finishes in a season (13) and most top fives (3). He stopped by the infield media center at Phoenix Raceway to talk about his season and what lies ahead.
RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Fry’s/Celsius Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT 2025? “Honestly, I’m excited on how we’re finishing the season. When we didn’t make the playoffs and a lot of people usually talk about trying different things and kind of throwing away the final 10 races to find a direction for 2026, but I’m proud and happy that we kept trying to build on momentum, and I feel like the past four races we’ve just continued to build that. Martinsville was really strong and I’ve just really enjoyed my time here at RFK and the opportunity between having Kroger and Celsius on the car this weekend, it’s been a lot of fun. We’re definitely looking forward to 2026 and all of the things we can accomplish.”
HOW MANY ROLLS OF INDUSTRIAL SHRINK WRAP DID YOU USE YESTERDAY? “Three. It was pretty good. I don’t even think he’s on his way here yet because there’s one more thing that he might find out this morning, but it was three rolls and I wish somebody could get a video of him trying to cut it off.”
LOOKING AT YESTERDAY’S PRACTICE. ALL OF THE STUFF WE SAW WITH FLAT TIRES, DID THAT APPEAR TO BE AGGRESSIVENESS WITH AIR-PRESSURE? “That’s just teams trying to push the limits, so, yeah, I think it’s just pushing limits. Do I think there’s gonna be problems in the race? That’s on how aggressive you want to be. It’s also not gonna be good if you blow a tire and wreck yourself out of the race, so I think there’s a fine line and we as drivers and teams we know what that line is.”
WHAT WAS A TURNING POINT FOR YOU THIS YEAR? “I feel like every week is a process in learning those things and, for us, I felt like we had some pretty good moments early on in the season and certainly were really consistent, but, for our group, the 60 team, it was trying to find how can we go from being consistently finishing in the top 10 and being a part of the conversation to being faster and running top five and doing those things. Las Vegas about three or four weeks ago was one that I started to find what I’m looking for and Derrick and the guys are doing a great job on giving it to me, so I feel confident. We’re heading down a path and one that I’m excited about, so it’s all really good stuff. For me, I’ve been grinding at this for six years and sometimes you’ve got to keep fighting and swinging and I’m glad that this has been the opportunity that I’ve been really looking for. I have a great group of guys. We talk about it. This team really didn’t come together until mid-January and for how it’s developed and the teamwork and all those things, it’s been truly amazing to be a part of.”
CHRIS SEEMED TO INDICATE YOU’RE EVEN WITH THE PRANKS. HOW FAR WILL THIS GO? “It just depends if he wants to keep going. When he got me the first time and the second time that’s when I knew. When you get me, I’m gonna get you really bad, so it doesn’t matter. It’s almost like if you ram me on the track, I’m gonna make sure I get you pretty good, so the same thing goes with pranks.”
HOW IS THE PREP GOING FOR THE SNOWBALL DERBY? “I’m excited. I actually just fired it up last week before Martinsville. For me, having our son and all the things throughout the year, usually when I get a race car I’ll put it together in three or four weeks. I just constantly think about it and thrash on it. This one, I picked the chassis and the body up in mid-December and it took all the way until the middle of September, October to get it prepared to where it could be fired. Once the season is over I’m ready to be in my race shop and finish setting it up and getting ready to go test down there in two or three weeks. I’m excited about it because, as a race car driver, I think you guys follow along, some like to play golf or like to go do different things away from racing. Racing is my golf game. Typically, if it’s racing a modified, racing a super late model, it doesn’t matter what it is, where it is, it’s something I enjoy doing as well as working on the race cars and building them. I enjoy it, so it’s going well. How the Snowball Derby is gonna go I’m not entirely sure yet because in the past I’ve had Chris Gabehart help me as the crew chief. He’s a really great super late model driver and crew chief as well, so I’m planning on going on down with a group of my friends as well as people that I trust and like racing with, and I’m gonna make the best calls that I can on my race car to make it drive good.”
STATISTICALLY. YOU’RE HAVING YOUR BEST SEASON BUT ALSO SEEMINGLY THE MOST FUN AS WELL. WHY HAS THIS DEAL WITH RFK CLICKED? “So, for me, in the past what I had to be as a race car driver was essentially, not a crew chief, but I had to micro-manage everything outside of driving the race car. I feel like in the final 10-12 races last year, I came to terms that as much as I was trying to help, I was doing more harm. So, coming into the 2025 season I said, ‘OK, I’m gonna focus on the things I need to focus on as a race car driver and trust that the people around me are gonna make great decisions and give me great race cars, and I’ll be able to go show what I’m capable of.’ So, a change in mindset was probably a big piece of that as well as coming over to RFK and seeing what Brad’s been able to help build and continue to build back up of what we can be. We’re all frustrated we didn’t make the playoffs, but there’s a ton of potential between all three of us and I’m excited for that. For me, it was probably a change in mindset as well as a great group of people that came together and are working on accomplishing the goal. That’s probably the biggest thing I can give you.”
CAN YOU LOOK BACK AT DATA FROM LAST YEAR OR TWO YEARS AGO TO HELP SET UP YOUR CAR, OR DO YOU COME THIS WEEKEND AND START FROM ZERO? “That goes back to the part I was talking about. I try to stay out of the setup conversations and some of those discussions. What I’ll say is I’ve been a fan of what Goodyear has been doing with their tire, so as we change I’m sure the setup has to evolve with that, and how you choose to drive the race throughout the course of the run changes as well. So, as much as, yes, you could continue to take previous races and kind of use that as a baseline, you also have to be willing to adapt and change.”
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST THING YOU LEARNED ABOUT BRAD IN YEAR ONE AT RFK? “I didn’t know Brad’s entire story, and it’s one that I’ve grown to appreciate. I think the biggest thing that opened my eyes to him is he’s a forward thinker. He’s not complacent. He’s always looking to continue to improve all aspects of the company. It doesn’t matter if it’s the race cars, the marketing or the hospitality side, he’s a forward thinker and that’s a huge part if you want to be successful on and off the track in racing, so that surprised me a lot. He’s very, very hands on.”
YOU ARE EXPONENTIALLY BETTER THIS SEASON. WHAT IS THE MINDSET YOU CHANGED TO? “My background is modified racing and what I’ll tell you is there has always been some things that I feel I excel at and passing race cars is one of them. That comes from where I’m from in Connecticut. We have a handicap system each week, where if I win one week, I cannot start ahead of 15th the next, and you have to find your way to get to the front. So, there are strengths that I’ve had and there’s weaknesses that I’ve also worked on for myself to make them better. On the flip side, Ryan Preece from 2008 through 2015 was a different race car driver than Ryan Preece was in 2016 to essentially where the mindset is right now. And that was because when I was racing part-time with modifieds I was racing for a guy, he hired me. I was full-time on the race cars. I was the crew chief. I was the driver. I was everything and that was a mindset that I got stuck in for a while, where I was very integrated into the setup, into the air-pressures, into everything that it took to make that car go around the racetrack, and the problem in my eyes when I got to this level is there are people here for that. I don’t need to micro-manage that. When I was racing my modified, there was a plumber, there was an HVAC guy and a buddy who ran an asphalt plant. They were races. The enjoyed racing. They were volunteers, but this wasn’t their job. It was my job and it was my job to manage all of that, and when I came here that’s not my job. My job is not to manage the crew chief, the engineer, the tire guy, every aspect of that race car. My job is to drive the race car, and I think changing the mindset and obviously trusting the people around me that they’re gonna give me a great race car because that’s what it takes. This is truly a team sport. As much as we get a lot of credit. We have to make the great decisions on the racetrack. You have to navigate traffic. You’ve got to execute. You’ve got to do all of those things, but it takes an entire team to go out and succeed.”
IT LOOKED LIKE THE NUMBER ONE PIT BOX WAS REALLY SLICK LAST NIGHT. WHAT ARE THE STALLS LIKE? DO YOU NOTICE A SLICNESS AND WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FOR YOU? “I think having the advantage of that stall, typically you don’t have to worry about exiting out of somebody, but there are certain stalls tat are more of a challenge to get in and out of. I’ve noticed that at this track there is definitely an advantage to being other place, but I still think stall number one is probably a massive advantage, but throughout the entire schedule there are tracks that it’s difficult to get in and out of the boxes, and then there are other tracks where it’s easy. That’s just one of the challenges that the team, the pit crew and the drivers, that’s what we face every week.”
SO IT’S NOT UNIFORM ACROSS EVERY TRACK? “You can look at when racetracks are paved. I noticed this at my short track racing level is you go to the northeast, the grip in the asphalt is different than you go in the Southeast and how they pave it and whatever materials they use to lay it down. I don’t know all the details of it, but I can feel a difference depending on which part of the country I’m in, the grip level the car has.”
