Ryan Preece fined, penalized for Texas crash; Kyle Busch not penalized

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver Ryan Preece was issued a fine and a points penalty for intentional contact with Ty Gibbs in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

NASCAR fined Preece $50,000 and docked him 25 driver points for the action, citing an infraction of the sport’s behavioral guidelines.

Preece clipped Gibbs on lap 101 of the Texas race, ending Gibbs’ day and relegating him to a 36th-place finish. Preece finished 14th.

“I try to race everybody with an amount of respect that I’d like in return,” Preece told Fronstretch after the race. “When you don’t do that, I’m not gonna cut you a break. And that’s what happened.”

Preece told his team over the radio during the race that he was planning to wreck him for the way he raced him. Gibbs responded on social media, saying “atleast he is honest.”

The penalty drops Preece from 12th to 13th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. His 63-point buffer above the Chase cutline shrank to 38 points with the penalty.

RFK Racing has not stated if it intends to appeal Preece’s penalty.

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Another seemingly intentional crash resulted in no points penalty, though. Kyle Busch was not penalized for contact with John Hunter Nemechek in the penultimate lap of Sunday’s race. 

Busch hit the wall after making contact with Nemechek on the straightaway while running in the top 15. When the two approached turn 3, Busch slammed Nemechek, sending the latter driver for a spin. Busch finished 20th. Nemechek finished 21st.