An appeals panel upheld NASCAR's penalties against Ryan Preece for wrecking Ty Gibbs in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
CONCORD, N.C. — An appeals panel upheld NASCAR's penalties against Ryan Preece for wrecking Ty Gibbs in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
The National Motorsports Appeals Panel heard and considered Preece and RFK Racing's appeal Wednesday. Ultimately, the panel upheld the penalties, stating Preece "violated the rule(s) set forth in the penalty notice)."
“Although not a unanimous decision, NASCAR and RFK Racing presented competing interpretations of common data. Neither side clearly proved their point but Mr. Preece’s comments showed that he chose to not cut his competitor any breaks," the panel ruled.
RFK Racing issued a statement after the ruling, expressing their disappointment.
"RFK Racing is extremely disappointed in today's ruling by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel. We stand by Ryan Preece and believe our argument was fair, sound and without question," RFK Racing stated on social media. "We appreciate the forum provided by NASCAR to both provide detailed evidence and defend our stance through thoughtful data and digital evidence.
"Let's get back to racing - See you in Nashville!"
NASCAR issued a $50,000 fine to Preece and docked him 25 driver points, citing rulebook sections 4.3 and 4.4A:
Over the radio, Preece said he "never touched him" and replays of the incident appeared inconclusive as to if he did touch him.
However, radio communication from the end of the first stage, when Gibbs and Preece had a run-in, proved to be more of a smoking gun.
"What a f---ing idiot that kid is! He is SO lucky his car is so f---ing fast!" Preece said, adding during another caution, "Alright when I get to that 54, I'm done with him. F---ing idiot. That car is so f---ing fast. It f---ing pisses me off. Stupid. I'm going to vent for 15 seconds. I can't stand when idiots like him have fast race cars, that they can do stupid s--- and get away with it. End of rant."
Then, on lap 102, Preece drove into turn three behind Gibbs and Gibbs spun.
Preece reportedly said that he hated that Gibbs wrecked, emphasizing he wants to race drivers with respect and that he wants it in return or else he won't cut them a break.
NASCAR has often penalized drivers based on what they have said about on-track incidents, such as when they docked points from Denny Hamlin for an incident at Phoenix Raceway with Ross Chastain. On his fittingly-named "Actions Detrimental" podcast, Hamlin admitted the incident was intentional, leading to a 25-point penalty.
With Preece getting the same penalty, he effectively earned four points on the day. That gave some karma to Gibbs who earned eight points in the race and ultimately outpointed Preece on the day post-penalty.
Without the penalty, Preece would be tied for 13th in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings, 40 points above the Chase cutline.
Instead, Preece is currently 16th in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings, 15 points above the Chase cutline.
