Ryan Preece climbed from 35th to 20th at the Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday. It was a solid recovery drive, but the RFK Racing driver was more focused on the work still ahead than the ground gained.
The No. 60 Kroger/Force Factor Ford started deep in the field and steadily improved throughout the afternoon. But Preece made clear afterward that the result papered over a bigger issue heading into a difficult stretch of short tracks. Speaking to Jeff Gluck after earning 17 points in the race, he said:
Thanks for the submission!
“I guess from a points perspective, Derrick (Finley), everybody worked really hard to make the car better. So I’m thankful for that, but if we’re going to make the Chase, we’ve got to be better on short tracks. Richmond, New Hampshire, these are all places that we’ve got to work hard on. So, we put a lot of effort in and appreciate everybody with Kroger, RFK, Ford, Force Factor, and Mohawk Northeast for the support. It’s just, we got a lot of work to do.”
Ryan Preece sits 17th in the standings, just 29 points below the cutline with Austin Cindric holding the final position in 16th. It is a significant improvement from the 33-point deficit he carried into Iowa. Two races remain in Richmond and New Hampshire before the Chase field is locked in at Daytona.
Preece’s history at the two remaining short tracks is also not encouraging. He has no top-10 finishes in seven races at New Hampshire and just one in 10 tries at Richmond. He will need to improve significantly at both venues to jump Cindric before the season concludes in the unreliable Coke Zero Sugar 400.
However, two out of the five top-10 finishes Ryan Preece has recorded in 2026 have come at short tracks, Bristol and North Wilkesboro. The other three have come at a superspeedway (Atlanta), a road course (Sonoma), and the Indianapolis oval. That range across track types is an encouraging sign for the No. 60 team.
Ryan Preece’s explains his recovery in the Iowa Corn 350
Ryan Preece’s weekend started poorly before the race had even begun. NASCAR’s pre-race inspection at Iowa Speedway flagged the No. 60 for failing twice, resulting in the car losing pit selection for the event and car chief Jerry Cook being ejected. The same penalty applied to Todd Gilliland’s No. 34 team. Preece then fell a lap down early in the race before a caution allowed him to take the free pass and rejoin the lead lap. He acknowledged the break afterward:
“We got the lucky dog… I think our car got better, but we hit a point, and we weren’t any better than (that)… Some cars that started in the back and the ability that their car has right now, it’s there. You can’t just say it’s all track position.”
Ryan Preece’s RFK Racing teammates Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski had contrasting days of their own. Buescher charged from 27th to 13th on a fuel-saving strategy that stretched a tank an impressive 137 laps, while Keselowski fought tire issues after Saturday repairs following his qualifying crash and finished 27th. All three RFK cars leave Iowa with a chance to make the Chase.
Edited by Anurup Chakraborty