AI Summary
5 min readRyan Preece won his first Cup Series points race at Daytona, and in this episode of SPEED with Harvick and Buxton, he sits down to explain what that moment meant—and how he got there. The conversation moves beyond the victory lane celebration into the stubbornness, the self-funding, the near-misses, and the mental recalibration that made the win possible. Preece is candid about the parts of his career that held him back, the decisions that looked like quitting but weren't, and why the hardest thing he ever did was walk away from the path that wasn't working.
The Win That Almost Didn't Happen
Preece went into Daytona knowing he had to win. A points penalty earlier in the season meant that a playoff berth wasn't coming through consistency. "There is no ifs, ands, or buts. I need to win," he says, describing the week leading up to the race. The final restart came down to a green-white-checker finish, and Preece read the draft in real time. The Penske cars had reason to keep him from winning—the No. 2 was close on points—so Preece knew he couldn't rely on anyone pushing him. He watched Zane Smith move up, saw the opening, got to his left rear, and forced him to stay high. Then chaos erupted behind him. His spotter told him the caution was out and he had won, but Preece didn't believe him. "I am racing him. I want the picture at the start-finish line to be me first." He kept
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:08) **Welcome & The Emotional Weight of Daytona** - Harvick introduces Ryan Preece after his first official Cup Series points win, setting up a conversation about the mental journey behind it.
- 2 (02:13) **The Mental Aftermath of a Life-Threatening Wreck** - Harvick asks how surviving a violent crash changed Preece's perspective on racing and family.
- 3 (03:28) **Maturity and Self-Awareness as a Racer** - Preece explains how age and fatherhood have taught him to recognize his own flaws and handle situations differently.
- 4 (04:51) **The Instant of Victory: Standing on the Car** - Preece recalls the surreal moment of getting out of the car alone in front of the crowd before his team arrived.
- 5 (07:18) **The Hardest Lessons: Stubbornness as a Double-Edged Sword** - Preece diagnoses the core challenge of transitioning to the Cup Series: learning when to take control and when to let go.
- 6 (09:50) **Pride in Being a Complete Racer** - Preece lists his wins across Modified, Xfinity, Truck, Cup, and K&N cars, expressing pride in the diversity of his accomplishments.
- 7 (10:48) **The Hardest Career Decision: Moving Back to Connecticut** - Preece identifies his toughest decision as leaving North Carolina in 2016, not the 2017 "borrowing money" narrative.
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Show Notes
NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece joins Kevin Harvick on SPEED to break down his epic, high-stakes victory at Daytona International Speedway and what it takes to survive as a true blue-collar racer. Fresh off taking the checkered flag in a dramatic overtime finish to lock himself into the Cup Series Playoffs, Preece opens up about the relentless pressure of a must-win scenario, navigating split-second draft decisions at 200 MPH, and proving the critics wrong. Plus, Harvick and Preece dive deep into the mindset of a pure racer—from grinding through Modified short tracks to conquering NASCAR's highest level.
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