With the 2026 NASCAR playoffs around the corner, every point and every finish matters. And RFK racing driver Ryan Preece knows that he needs to fasten his racing gloves and gear up to push in the upcoming races.

Preece has managed to claw himself back inside the chase bubble after a spectacular performance at San Diego. He currently sits in 16th with a five-point buffer to the chase bubble, with SVG right behind him.

However, he is aware of that the chances of him making it through to the Chase could turn slim or disappear if he loses consistency. While assessing how an 11th-place finish in San Diego aided his Chase hopes, Preece said on SiriusXM NASCAR radio:

"When you have weeks like we’ve had, it can be extremely, extremely challenging, and those are the days you need to have to kind of make feel… get you back to where you need to be, and for me, it was nice to be able to put together a complete race."

In the three of four races before the San Diego comeback, Preece suffered DNFs. Talking about about what he needs to do in the remaining nine regular season races to make it to the playoffs, the No. 60 Ford driver added:

"I honestly think if one of the stints went a little different for us (in San Diego), we had a really good opportunity at top five or top three. And yeah, proud of the speed, and likely moving forward for the next nine races it's important to keep stacking a lot of points, and that's something that we need to keep trying to hustle on and do."

Ryan Preece’s pursuit of the Chase has become significant considering the setback he faced earlier in the season. The No. 60 driver was docked 25 points as a part of his penalty after he was found to intentionally wreck Ty Gibbs at Texas. 

With his playoff hopes alive, the RFK driver reflected on how the race at Naval Base Coronado panned out for him.

Ryan Preece looks back on his San Diego result

For the Anduril 250 race at San Diego on Sunday, Preece had qualified in 28th place. However, he showed strong pace, finished the first stage in second place, and won the second stage of the race.

While speaking to the media post-race, he expressed his feelings after securing an 11th-place finish and also spoke about becoming stronger at the road courses. He said (via NBC Sports):

"We had a great points day, then climbing from 28th late in the race to 11th to close it out. It was a good day. We want to be strong on road courses and capitalize on those days, and we did that today. This whole trip to San Diego exceeded all expectations."

While San Diego may not have earned him a top five finish, it stopped the negative momentum, which was much needed. As he heads into the final stretch of the season, Ryan Preece will be looking forward to putting in consistent performances to secure a spot in the chase.

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Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Yash Kotak