Ryan Preece reveals effects of Daytona crash on his eyes and it's not pretty

"I figured you were going to ask, so here you go," Preece said, removing his sunglasses, which showed blood-filled eyes and noticeable bruising under each. "They aren't bad. I'm just going to put an end to it right because obviously people — what I want you all to know is racing, in general, whether you're racing a sprint car, a modified, anything, it's dangerous. So there's consequences to everything."

Preece said he never had a headache or concussion-like symptoms and suffered no broken bones, which is remarkable and a contrast from what Davey Allison endured 31 years ago in a similar violent crash at Pocono that included multiple flips. 

Allison suffered a concussion and broke his right arm, wrist, and collarbone. He showed up to the following week's visit with reporters at Talladega with his arm in a sling and wearing sunglasses. After being questioned numerous times to remove the shades, the driver relented. 

"If y'all want to see it, I'll show them to you, but it's ugly," the driver said, taking off his sunglasses. Both eyes were filled with blood and had bruising below and above each, similar to Preece.

He finished third at Talladega and went on to win at Phoenix late in the season before scoring third in the final points standings. Preece, who has struggled most of the 2023 Cup Series season with a single top-10 result to his credit, can only dream of such success. But after what he experienced last week at Daytona, simply being able to dream is a win.