Ryan Preece is no stranger to scary wrecks. It wasn’t the first time the Connecticut native ended a Cup Series race upside down, but hopefully, the crash at the Daytona 500 was his last. Making his debut for RFK Racing, the 34-year-old suffered a horrific accident at the 2.5-mile oval after his No. 60 Ford went airborne after slamming into Bell, giving a sense of déjà vu to the racer who has been in a similar situation at the ‘World Center of Racing’ before.

Preece not only feared for his life in that instance but also for those around him. Recalling Austin Dillon’s scary crash in at the Coke Zero 400, the racer hoped to avoid going past the fence after his car was airborne, to not risk the lives of the fans in the stands.

Ryan Preece’s worst fears were realized at Daytona

History was repeating itself at Daytona International Speedway. With just eight laps remaining for the season-opener to conclude, Ryan Preece found himself in the middle of a horrifying wreck once again. While airborne, the cockpit of his No. 60 Ford was dead silent, with the driver saying, “All I thought about was my daughter.” However, it’s a testament to the robustness of the Next-Gen car that the 34-year-old escaped the incident unscathed, but things could have been far worse very easily.

Reflecting on the wreck, Ryan Preece candidly told Corey LaJoie on the Stacking Pennies podcast, “All I heard next before this all happened was they’re wrecking, you know. And then bam! It was like split second. Yeah, it was kind of like Talladega nights. That’s actually, right there in that moment I’m like eyes are closing and it gets, as you know, dead silent. And I knew for how long it was dead silent, I’m like in my head I think I’m like 10 feet, 15 feet in the air and I’m launching it past the grandstand. And you’re like, damn past the fence. Did you see the rear brakes lock up when I hit the brake pedal in the air? Thought I was gonna stop it. I was like, ‘Here’s my ticket, I want off the ride. I don’t wanna get on here.’”

Controlling an airborne car is impossible, but Preece had to try. In 2015, Austin Dillon hit the catch fence after the finish of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, bruising his tailbone and forearm. However, what made the situation worse was that his car went into the stands, injuring several fans who were witnessing the action from the sidelines. According to track president Joie Chitwood III, 13 fans were examined out of which eight declined treatment. Out of the five that received medical aid, one had to be transferred to the local hospital while others received assistance at the infield medical center.

When Ryan Preece said “past the fence”, his worst fears were playing on his mind. He desperately wanted to avoid hitting the stands and repeating the incident that occurred with Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Chevy. Thankfully, the worst didn’t occur as No. 60 Ford crashed back down head-on, preventing the roof flaps from being deployed and the wind extended the crash.

However, when the car finally came to a rest, the Connecticut native took his window nets down to signal that he was okay, much to the relief of everyone at the iconic track. The situation could have easily gone out of hand, especially considering the Next-Gen car’s tendency to go airborne.

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Preece compares season-opening crash to 2023

Seeing the No. 60 Ford lift off from the ground and effectively be used as a sail was not a surprising sight. The Next-Gen machine has received plenty of criticism in the past, especially for its tendency to take flight under the worst circumstances. Josh Berry’s vehicle slammed the roof first at the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 while Harrison Burton turned upside down at ‘The Great American Race’ in 2022. Chris Buescher had a similar experience at the Coca-Cola 600 last year, highlighting a growing trend for the car.

Comparing the two crashes he experienced at the ‘World Center of Racing, Ryan Preece said, “Cars lifting off the ground like that, like I mean that felt honestly worse than Daytona in ’23. Everything about it. I mean everything about the airborne, heading towards the fence. I mean it’s just, it’s not a good place to be in so…honestly with a hit like that, a head-on impact, I don’t really think should have gone airborne right?”

Preece was lucky. NASCAR has not seen a fatality in any of its major races since Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s passing in 2001, but the Next-Gen car has been sending plenty of warning signs. The sanctioning body needs to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to implementing higher safety standards to avoid an unfortunate incident on the track. While the Connecticut native was fortunate for the second time at the iconic superspeedway, he wouldn’t want to be in a position to test his vehicle’s robustness with a third such incident.