Preece “lucky to walk away” from secon...

It was not a primary time for Ryan Preece to go airborne at Daytona, however hopefully Sunday night time’s was his final.

With simply 15 laps of the Daytona 500 to go, Christopher Bell was turned from the lead and got here skidding again down the monitor. Eventual race winner William Byron narrowly prevented him, however the automobile instantly behind — Preece, was not so lucky. The No. 60 Ford instantly went up into the air after slamming into Bell, however not in the way in which we have come to anticipate. The automobile did what can solely be described as a wheelie because it moved in the direction of the doorway of Flip 3 earlier than twisting sufficient to let the air totally get below it, flip the wrong way up, and skid down the monitor earlier than rolling again over and slamming the surface wall. 

Fortunately, he climbed out of the automobile below his personal energy. 

“I do not know if it is the diffuser or what that makes these automobiles like a sheet of plywood if you stroll out on a windy day,” stated Preece after being launched from the infield care heart. “However when the automobile took off like that and it obtained actual quiet, all I considered [was] my daughter. I am fortunate to stroll away however we’re getting actually near anyone not with the ability to. Very grateful however yeah, that sucks. This factor was quick.

“It is irritating if you finish your day like this.”

Ryan Preece, RFK Racing Ford

Photograph by: James Gilbert / Getty Pictures

This was purported to be the beginning of a brand new starting for Preece, becoming a member of RFK Racing within the crew’s third entry. The 34-year-old driver hoped to open a brand new ebook in his NASCAR profession, however his file of being on the fallacious place on the worst time continues to observe him. On the identical backstretch in the course of the summer season of 2023, he took an much more terrifying tumble whereas driving for Stewart-Haas Racing. The automobile flipped practically a dozen instances in a endless wreck that resulted within the grass being fully faraway from that part (the ‘Le Mans Chicane’ or ‘Bus Cease’) of the two.5-mile superspeedway.

NASCAR will certainly additional examine the crash as they usually do when wrecks like this happen. However for now, let’s hope Preece’s historical past of airborne excursions is lastly behind him.

Images from Daytona 500