Ryan Preece Second In Qualifying For The NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 At Darlington 

With three consecutive top-finishes in his last three NASCAR Cup Series starts, Ryan Preece has been setting the bar for RFK Racing of late. 

Saturday, in qualifying at Darlington Raceway, Preece continued that trend of leading the team. 

Preece was second fastest in qualifying Saturday to set the field for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. 

William Byron won the pole with a fast time of 28.774 seconds. Preece got around in 28.858 seconds. Denny Hamlin was third fastest at 28.867 seconds. 

Preece, who is in his first season with RFK Racing, finished seventh in last Sunday’s Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. It marked the first time in Preece’s Cup Series career that he has recorded three consecutive top-10 finishes. 

Preece, of a former NASCAR Modified Tour champion and regular at Stafford Speedway, Thompson Speedway and Riverhead Raceway, ran full-time for JTG Daugherty Racing in the Cup Series from 2019 to 2021. He ran full-time with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2023 and 2024. He made the move to RFK Racing before the start of this season. 

Preece finished third in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 16. He was ninth in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 23.

Preece’s average finish of 6.3 over the last three Cup races is second best in the series over the span, bested only by Kyle Larson’s average of 5.0 over the same span.

Preece has 10 Cup Series starts at Darlington dating back to 2019. His best finish at the track is 12th, which he has done twice.