Ryan Preece was reflecting on what truly matters in life as his No. 60 car soared through the air with just five laps remaining in the 67th Daytona 500. Positioned in the middle of the pack, Preece was caught in a wreck triggered by an incident at the front of the race, where Christopher Bell’s No. 20 car collided with him, sending his vehicle airborne. Upon landing, Preece’s car flipped upside down while still traveling at a high speed before finally righting itself and crashing into the wall.
Fortunately, Preece emerged from the wreck without injury, but during the airborne moment, his thoughts turned to his family, particularly his daughter, Rebecca Marie. “When the car took off like that, and it got real quiet, all I thought about was my daughter. So, I’m lucky to walk away,” Preece shared in an interview after the incident.
Various angles of the crash highlighted its severity, including footage from Erik Jones’ No. 43 car, which was also involved in the spin-outs. From Jones’ perspective, Bell’s car appeared unexpectedly, and Preece bore the brunt of the impact. The windy conditions, exacerbated by two weather-related delays during the race, contributed to the car lifting off the track.
This incident marked the second time in Preece’s career that he has flipped at Daytona. Despite having experienced this before, he expressed the ongoing concern about safety in racing. In a post-race interview, Preece emphasized the need for changes to the cars, stating, “We know where there’s a problem at Superspeedways. I don’t want to be the example of when it finally gets somebody – I don’t want it to be me. I got a two-year-old daughter, and just like many of us, we have families. Something needs to be done because cars lifting off the ground is a serious issue.
