Ryan Preece has been released from Halifax Medical Center near Daytona International Speedway and is on his way home to North Carolina after a multi-flip crash in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Coke Zero Sugar 400, Stewart-Haas Racing announced Aug. 27.
SHR offered no further details about Preece’s status.
Saturday night at Daytona (Aug. 26) with six laps to go in the Coke Zero Sugar 400, Preece made contact on the backstretch with Erik Jones, causing his car to spin into the infield grass.
The car then got airborne and corkscrewed and pirouetted down the backstretch in a violent crash.
The No. 41 Ford Mustang came to rest and safety crews responded quickly. Preece got out of his car under his own power but was placed on a stretcher to be transported to the infield care center.
It was later revealed that Preece was transported to the local hospital but was awake and alert.
There has been no update as to his status for next weekend’s playoff opener at Darlington Raceway.
Garrett joined Frontstretch as a news writer in 2023, and became a fantasy racing and betting writer in 2024. Hailing from the heart of coal country in southern West Virginia, he's a married father of three and a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant there.
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Glad he’s okay. Hitting the grass in these types of crashes is sometimes worse than hitting the wall.
While flipping through the air looks violent and scary, from an impact stand point it’s likely better then the abrupt stop against a wall that Blaney experienced. All that spinning and shedding of parts will also dissipate energy to some degree.
Nascar needs to address the smooth bottom of the car. It’s like a sail once air gets under it. While you watch the up-close replay, you can see the natural arc of the spin to the ground. It looks like it lifts again during that spin and takes an additional spin. It didn’t take a lot to get him off the ground. The hatch lid tore open, and the window net came off the car. He was luckier than you think.