After experiencing one of the most vicious wrecks in the recent history of the NASCAR Cup Series, Ryan Preece will race Sunday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Last Saturday night, the crowd at Daytona Int’l Speedway anxiously held its breath as the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was bumped by Erik Jones, sent directly into Chase Briscoe, caught air and flipped 10 times before coming to rest on the backstretch grass.
“As you go in the air, it gets real quiet,” Preece recalled. “Everything beyond that is happening so fast and you’re just flipping through the air. Until that ride stops all you’re thinking about is trying to contain yourself. You tense up and you hope that you’re going to be OK.”
Though Preece was transported off the track on a stretcher and taken to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona for further evaluation, by 11:30 p.m., he was asking to go home.
“I was looking at them saying, ‘Let me go. I’m ready to leave.’ But I guess so they felt better, I decided to stay until six in the morning, but I felt fine,” Preece said.
The 32-year-old had no broken bones, no soreness and minimal bruising — somewhat miraculous, considering the visual intensity of the flip. Preece added that he experienced more soreness following the frontal impact he took on when he T-boned Kyle Larson at full speed at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway earlier this year.
However, with two bruised eyes, he admitted he looks worse this time around.
“My vision is perfect, everything about it. (My eyes) don’t hurt. They look bad to you guys, but you look at a 410 (sprint car) driver after some flips and they get this. It’s from spinning in the air, all that, the blood flow,” Preece explained.
There was no doubt in Preece’s mind he would be back to race the Southern 500 at Darlington, ready to do his job for Stewart-Haas.
“The difference between us and most people that would go and drive a car is that this is what we’re supposed to be — we’re supposed to be tough. And it’s OK to be tough. It’s OK to do those things,” Preece said.
While he knew no one would fault him for sitting out after the wreck, Preece was clear it simply wasn’t in his DNA as a race car driver.
“I feel completely fine, so why stop?” Preece said. “It’s OK to not race, but it’s OK to race, and I think that’s what really needs to be said here.”
He has yet to see the car he crashed last week, but plans to be involved in the post-accident process with NASCAR to help them find a way to keep the Next Gen car on the ground moving forward.
“I’d rather be a part of history for a better reason, for sure, but at the end of the day, this is a moment for our sport to continue evolving the car, which is important, not that I want to be the one or any of us to be that person to figure out what we need to work on, but it’s going to help us get in the right direction,” Preece said.
The No. 41 will start 34th during the Southern 500 on Sunday night.