Ryan Preece was disqualified from the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, with his team deciding not to protest against the decision. The RFK driver had initially finished the race in P2, just missing out on his first career win.
In the post-race inspection, the officials found his No. 60 car’s rear spoiler to be in violation of the regulations. There were three shims on the car, while superspeedways only allowed for two shims to feature on each car.
Ahead of the Würth 400 in Texas, Preece has reacted to his DSQ in Talladega, claiming his team was only trying to get through tech day.
Ryan Preece Reacts to Talladega DSQ Ahead of Texas Race
During his media availability in Texas, the No. 60 driver talked about an unfortunate DSQ that he suffered last weekend. NASCAR needs the rear spoilers to be at a certain angle, failing which can lead to a car being disqualified.
In Talladega, the first round of checks left over 30 cars in violation of the rule, and each team had to come up with their own solutions. And RFK Racing decided to add an extra shim to pass inspection.
In an oversight to pass the rule, the team left the extra shim in place, leading to a subsequent DSQ.
“I mean, it’s not ideal, what happened but it’s not like it was a performance thing. I don’t think you’d want to add a shim to put spoiler angle in a car. It was to meet the rule, to pass tech and in the heat of the battle, you’re just trying to get through tech on tech day.”
Ryan Preece on the hit in points for the DQ from Talladega for the team having more than two shims on its spoiler (they added a third when trying to get the spoiler angle right and while allowed at other tracks, two shims not allowed at superspeedways). @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/hkgyXFkp6T
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 3, 2025
For Preece, it would be a relief that he didn’t win the race in Talladega. Had he won, it would have been his first-ever NASCAR Cup Series victory, only to be taken away from him. However, he doesn’t see it that way and still wanted to win, and the DSQ doesn’t change anything in his mind.
As he looks back at the race, the No. 60 driver is immensely proud of the outing he and his team had last weekend. With each stage being different, RFK Racing’s strategy was on point. They meticulously worked through the race and executed their green flag pit stops with perfection.
Given the same, Preece is excited for the upcoming race in Texas so his team can double down on their performance from last week.
Preece now sits 11 points below the playoff cutoff line, but things could have been much different going into the Texas race. Meanwhile, NASCAR has decided to display the illegal car part of Preece at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Notably, Preece wasn’t the only driver to be disqualified on the day owing to a rear spoiler violation. Defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano also had to face a similar verdict from the NASCAR officials.
The Ford No. 22 car was in violation of NASCAR Rulebook Section 14.5.8.E, which covers spoiler braces used in superspeedway races under General Vehicle Assembly. As a result, the P5 finisher in Talladega was also disqualified, and his spoiler is also up for display in Texas.