Richmond a missed opportunity for Ryan Preece in playoff hunt

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece. Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Richmond a missed opportunity for Ryan Preece in NASCAR playoff hunt

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 11:18 PM ET

Saturday's Cook Out 400 may be the biggest missed opportunity of Ryan Preece's NASCAR Cup Series career.

Preece and the No. 60 RFK Racing team entered the weekend 34 points below Chris Buescher for the 16th and final provisional Cup Series playoff spot.

But a pole run in qualifying coupled with Preece's short track prowess made the Berlin, Conn., native a favorite to win in the hours leading up to Saturday's race. However, the result was far from a win.

Preece led twice for 60 laps, but faded throughout the race. After finishing 15th in Stage 1, Preece earned five stage points with a sixth-place finish in Stage 2.

In Stage 3, however, Preece's race fell apart. Brake issues plagued him throughout the race's final stage. When the checkered flag flew, the No. 60 Ford crossed the line in 35th, four laps down.

Ryan Preece: “My brake pedal is $&@!ing gone.”

He's been on and off pit road.#NASCAR
— Chris Knight (@Knighter01) August 17, 2025

Austin Dillon's victory moved the playoff cut line regardless, but a win or top-five effort from Preece could've put him in a much better position going into the regular-season finale at Daytona on Aug. 23.

Pending post-race inspection, Preece is now 96 points below the playoff cut line and will need a win at Daytona to make the Cup Series playoffs for the first time.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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