NASCAR penalized and fined Ryan Preece on Tuesday after he intentionally wrecked Ty Gibbs during Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. These repercussions were announced amid speculation over another incident: Kyle Busch’s apparent feud with John Hunter Nemechek later in the race.
Preece was docked 25 points and $50,000. Due to his penalty, he dropped from 12th in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series standings to 13th. Preece is presently 31 points above the Chase cutoff line.
Ryan Preece vs. Ty Gibbs
Here’s what Ryan Preece was so mad at Ty Gibbs about. Gibbs charged the entry to T1 on his inside and slid up towards Preece’s left front and cost him spots. Got on the mic immediately.
“What a fucking idiot that kid is! He is SO lucky his car is so fucking fast!!”
You can also… https://t.co/h0fMxhVbMZ pic.twitter.com/DDGnKaDKQg
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) May 4, 2026
In Stage 1 of Sunday’s Würth 400, Preece complained over the radio about the way Gibbs was racing him. “Alright, when I get to that No. 54 I’m done with him,” Preece was heard saying. “F—ing idiot. That car is so f—ing fast, pisses me off. I can’t stand when idiots like him have fast race cars when they can do stupid s–t and get away with it.”
On Lap 101 of the race, Preece made contact with Gibbs’ back bumper and sent him spinning in Turn 4. The No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sustained race-ending damage, and Gibbs finished 36th.
“There are people that you know you can race with respect around and cut breaks to,” Preece said in a Monday appearance on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. “Like I can think of multiple times yesterday that instead of putting another driver in a pretty tough spot, you make the decision not to do that. And I feel like I just grew up racing against people that I learned that lesson a long, long time ago, when I was a lot younger. And sometimes I question if those same lessons are learned by the time you get to Cup.”
No Penalty to Kyle Busch
Though only Ryan Preece was penalized, Kyle Busch’s run-in with John Hunter Nemechek was the dominant storyline from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas. Busch and Nemechek made contact with two laps to go, which Busch claims was due to Nemechek running off of the wall. He then appeared to intentionally wreck Nemechek as the field came to the white flag. Busch and Nemechek finished 20th and 21st, respectively.
Busch took to social media after the race to defend his stance, posting data which he claimed reinforced Nemechek’s fault. He did not appear to deny accusations that he retaliated against Nemechek on social media. NASCAR Managing Director Mike Forde said that Busch attempted to avoid Nemechek, but collided anyway due to damage to his car.
