Ryan Preece shared his frustrations with NASCAR by delivering them a physical cone following the conclusion of the NASCAR All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro.
Preece, who was running in second and in a position to transfer to the All-Star race, was penalized by NASCAR and forced to start at the rear of the field “for driving over the choose box” on the final restart.
The reason the caution even came out was a suspect call at best. Riley Herbst got into the wall after Michael McDowell got into the back of him. However, Herbst continued on and there did not appear to be any cars that would have been in danger of hitting him.
🟨 78/100
Riley Herbst ve vnější zdi po kontaktu s McDowellem. pic.twitter.com/xaki02dNYl
— NASCAR-live.eu (@nascar_cz) May 18, 2025
Nevertheless, when they came to the choose cone, Preece clearly went low to pick the bottom lane given Carson Hocevar had went high. However, he believed he had already passed the painted arrow on the track and drove back up to the middle to begin clearing his tires. Unfortunately, he had not passed the arrow yet and drove under it. NASCAR then issued him the penalty. Preece ended up finishing in 11th.
Following the race, Preece found an orange cone and delivered it to the outside of the pit wall for NASCAR officials to pick up and place on the track for the All Star race.
— RFK Racing (@RFKracing) May 18, 2025
Speaking with the media, Preece said, “It was a restart. It was a cone that was nonexistent. So if you’re going to-. I don’t know. You can’t even see it right now. A rule is a rule. I understand that, but-. At the end of the day I made a mistake. Just frustrated with the outcome or the decision.”
He later added, “Sorry, I’m just really, really f***ing pissed. A rule is a rule.” When asked by Matt Weaver if it was normal to have that much rubber covering up the arrow, Preece said, “I don’t know. Put a cone out there. If we’re going to have a cone rule, put a cone.”
“A rule is a rule.”
“Im just really fucking pissed.”Ryan Preece couldn’t see the choose V because of all the caked on rubber pic.twitter.com/DXRHOMnuVf
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) May 18, 2025
To Preece’s point, he shared a photo from the pit lane where the arrow is barely visible.
It appears that NASCAR is repainting the arrow on the track following the Open and Preece’s mistake.
Former PRN anchor Doug Rice confirmed that NASCAR did repaint the arrow, “The Choose marker is getting a fresh coat of paint here at North Wilkesboro after Ryan Preece brought a real cone out to the pit road wall, you can see it in the background.”
What do you make of NASCAR’s decision to penalize Preece?