'You Don’t Play Defense': Cup Star Fired Up as RFK Concedes to NASCAR Penalty

May 9, 2026; Watkins Glen, New York, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece walks on pit road during practice and qualifying for the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

'You Don’t Play Defense': Cup Star Fired Up as RFK Concedes to NASCAR Penalty

Originally posted on RFKRacingDigest
By Chionia Libania Colaco | Last updated May 29, 2026 12:57 AM ET

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Ryan Preece has been in the spotlight since Texas after he was slapped with a $50,000 fine and also docked 25 driver points for wrecking out Ty Gibbs. However, despite this setback, the driver is confident of making it to the chase.

RFK and Preece had appealed the Texas penalty. The hearing for the same took place on Wednesday. However, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld the penalty, which means that the No. 60 driver currently sits in 16th place. Before being docked off the 25 points, he was in 13th place.

During his recent appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the RFK driver discussed his approach to the upcoming races, including Nashville.

“I want to continue to move forward, you know, much like probably around a month ago, we were kind of flirting around the 12th to the 11th, and really going forward, it almost creates this thing where you’re playing defense, and you’re playing offense, and right now you don’t play defense, you play offense,” he said.

“I have a lot of respect for Chip [Bowers] and taking a look at all the things that we had put together in saying this is worth appealing.”@RyanPreece_ on the upholding of his penalty and @RFKRacing deciding to not appeal further.

More → https://t.co/WGRTG5gnEd pic.twitter.com/fVrSCUOicK
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) May 28, 2026

Preece managed to score two top-10 finishes in the last 13 races and has accumulated 303 points in the drivers’ championship. He currently sits on the Chase bubble with a 29-point cushion to Joey Logano.

It will be interesting to see how Preece and the team perform at the upcoming Nashville race. The track has been a strong suit for the team, with 29 top-10 finishes there.

Ryan Preece talks about NASCAR’s penalty hearing

After the hearing of the penalty on Wednesday, RFK put out a statement via their social media explaining their ‘disappointment’ with the decision.

Preece has now come forward to talk about the ruling in the aforementioned interview. The RFK driver talked about the respect he had for the panel and went on to praise his team’s efforts.

“But I have a lot of respect for Chip (Bowers) and taking a look at all the things that we had put together and saying, ‘Okay, this is worth appealing,’ and I mean that’s all that’s there to say. I certainly am looking forward to Nashville and moving on, so yeah, not a whole lot other than that,” he said.

The panel consisted of former Truck Series team owner Tom DeLoach, motorsports marketing executive Dixon Johnston, and former NASCAR driver Lake Speed.

According to a statement put out by NASCAR, reported Bob Pockrass, the team has till Friday to appeal to the final appeal officer. But so far, there have been no updates about the same.

This article first appeared on RFKRacingDigest and was syndicated with permission.

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