Tony Stewart established a golden legacy in the NASCAR Cup Series. In 2008, Gene Haas and he put their heads together and fashioned something marvelous from scratch—the Stewart-Haas Racing team established itself as a stellar race team over 16 years, gathering two championships (2011 and 2014) and 70 race victories. Yet, even a championship-contending team has its flaws, as Brad Keselowski wants to believe.

The SHR glory had already been fading over the past few years. In 2023, its veteran driver Kevin Harvick failed to clinch a single race victory before hanging up his firesuit. In 2024, all four of its drivers fared badly, barely making it past the top ten in races. But one of them stood out in terms of a dismal performance—Ryan Preece, and Keselowski believes Stewart’s team is behind that.

Brad Keselowski is on a mission

Ryan Preece has shown remarkable sparks in the past; his stint in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has been exceptional. Preece won 25 times in this part of his career, but his entry into the sport’s national ranks has been slow. In 62 career Xfinity Series races, the Berlin, Connecticut native has found Victory Lane twice. In 12 Truck Series starts, Preece has additionally tallied two wins to his resume. Yet, hanging over these results is his dismal Cup career—in 2024, Preece tallied one top-five and five top-10 finishes. His SHR teammates did not invite him to a group study they conducted earlier this year. On top of these occurrences, Stewart announced the closure of his team.

Now, Preece is set for a different future—he will wheel the No. 60 Ford under RFK Racing for 2025. His team owner Brad Keselowski holds the utmost confidence in him, believing in a fire that Stewart failed to harness properly. Keselowski said in a recent video: “When I look at Ryan Preece, I see a lot of Chris Buescher in him…I don’t think he has been in the best situations throughout his career. And I am committed to putting him in situations where he can win and he can prove how talented he is,” optimistically adding about his team’s update: “Adding a third team was the biggest change for RFK.”

Besides making room for Tony Stewart’s past mentee, Brad Keselowski also shared the other upheavals in due process for his team: “Bringing in more talent – Ryan Preece, new crew chiefs, race engineers – is really an exciting time. Bringing in talents outside of the 60 team with a new engineering manager, a new performance manager to try to tune us up and make us more streamlined as an organization…Ultimately, to get that race-winning speed…We need to win a championship.” A few years ago, even Stewart harbored the confidence that Brad Keselowski has and had battled his team colleague for Ryan Preece.

He saw the spark in the driver

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Ryan Preece won the modified championship in 2013, the same year he made his debut in the Xfinity Series. In 2015, he clinched a runner-up finish on his Joe Gibbs Racing debut in the NASCAR Cup Series. Despite a slow journey with JTG Daugherty Racing, Preece managed to catch Tony Stewart’s attention. In 2022, Preece did simulator work for Stewart-Haas Racing to help the organization adapt to NASCAR’s new car.

Stewart promoted him to a full-time Cup Series role in 2023, believing in the prowess that Preece previously showcased. However, Stewart had to win a battle with partner Gene Haas over this decision. The latter wanted to give Cole Custer a fourth opportunity to go Cup racing. But Stewart was adamant: “The time and effort he’s put into our program, combined with his real-world racing experience, earned him this opportunity.”

He had also sung high praises of Preece’s talent: “I’ve run some Modified Tour races, and it’s a tough series with a lot of talent. Ryan’s Mod Tour championship speaks to his talent, and I think he proved that when he pushed all his chips into the middle of the table and bet on himself by getting those Xfinity Series races with Gibbs.” Yet, the tables have turned; now, Brad Keselowski has a reassuring faith in Ryan Preece’s capabilities. Let’s wait for the next season and find out how this works out.