The NASCAR world held its breath on February 16, 2025. In the final laps of the Daytona 500, Ryan Preece’s No. 60 Ford took flight again—literally. It ramped off the back of Christopher Bell’s car and flipped onto its roof in a violent crash at nearly 180 mph. Sparks flew, the crowd gasped, and emergency crews rushed to the scene. This was déjà vu of the terrifying wreck from August 2023 at the same track, where Preece’s car barrel-rolled nearly a dozen times across the grass.
Back then, he walked away with swollen eyes. This time, he walked away again—shaken, but intact. The images were haunting. In-car audio revealed the fear in his voice. “When the car took off and it got real quiet, all I thought about was my daughter,” Preece said. His escape, once again, was borderline miraculous. But the close calls are piling up. “We’re getting really close to somebody not being able to [walk away],” he warned after the wreck.
He knows it, his crew knows it, and now, so do the fans. And as Talladega looms—the other superspeedway that often delivers “The Big One”—many aren’t expecting a clean weekend. They’re bracing for the next take-off. Fans are already holding their breath… and cracking jokes. Because while Preece pushes to break through with RFK Racing, fans online believe he’s preparing for another mid-air show.
Ryan Preece enters Talladega with some momentum. Since the Las Vegas race, he has delivered three straight top-10 finishes and finally found his rhythm at RFK Racing. He drives the No. 60 Ford with Celsius colors and looks confident. But for all the recent success, no track erases the memory of airborne wrecks like Talladega. It’s the next stop on the calendar—and fans are already expecting another airborne moment from Preece.
One fan on Reddit put it bluntly: “Flight 60 from Preece Air has a scheduled departure of 4:03 p.m. Central on Sunday.” It’s funny. But there’s truth behind the sarcasm. He has become synonymous with superspeedway flips. Fans now treat it as a punchline, a prediction, and, for many, an expectation every time he races at Daytona or Talladega. And the stats don’t help his case.
LONG POND, PA – JULY 23: Ryan Preece 41 Mohawk Northeast Stewart Haas Racing Ford during driver introductions prior to the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Highpoint 400 on July 23, 2023 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire AUTO: JUL 23 NASCAR Cup Series Highpoint 400 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon23072321184
Since 2019, Preece has racked up multiple high-impact crashes at superspeedways. In 2020, at Kansas, he nearly went upside down after contact with Bell and Newman. At Daytona in 2023, he barrel-rolled for nearly eight seconds. And at this year’s Daytona 500, his car did a front-wheelie before flipping again. That’s not a trend—it’s a pattern. The RFK Racing driver hasn’t just accepted the danger—he’s spoken out about it.
After the Daytona 500 crash, he called for NASCAR to make changes to the car or the track. “There’s a person inside that race car. You don’t want to see them get hurt because of a situation somebody else made… I don’t want to see anybody get hurt. It might not be me next time,” he said. His concern isn’t just for himself—it’s for the entire field. Yet, despite his words, nothing changes this weekend.
Kelly Crandall reported that NASCAR has no new safety changes for this weekend’s race. They’re planning some updates for Daytona later this summer—but for now, it’s business as usual at Talladega. That’s sad, as the Alabama superspeedway has produced chaos before. Just last year, a single wreck wiped out 28 cars during the playoff race. This is the biggest big one in NASCAR’s history. And there were isolated incidents as well where the infamous Next Gen car flipped mid-air.
Add that to Josh Berry’s recent flip in the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400, and it’s clear: the problem isn’t just Daytona. Superspeedway wrecks are a pattern, not an exception. So as the green flag nears, the NASCAR world braces itself for another wreck fest!
NASCAR fans brace for horror!
With another Talladega race around the corner, fans aren’t exactly crossing their fingers for safety—they’re cracking jokes instead. Social media lit up with wild predictions, sarcastic math, and creative commentary. A user asked fans to predict the chances of an airborne crash in Talladega. This stirs the social media as fans predicted another Ryan Preece moment. “If I had a nickel for every time Ryan Preece flipped, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot… but it’ll be three by Sunday,” a user posted.
Though meant as a joke, it highlighted how Preece has often been involved in crashes at Daytona. Another user echoed the sentiments and said, “So you take the 50% chance of flipping, and add Preece’s 100% chance… that means a 150% chance of flipping at Talladega.” Math teachers everywhere might cringe, but it hits the point—Preece flipping at a superspeedway feels inevitable. Even the installation of the shark fins on the right-hand side of the race car didn’t help, and it was seen as a huge failure.
However, a user slightly downplayed the Talladega threat, saying, “Talladega doesn’t seem to have beef with drivers named Ryan like Daytona does.” It’s a nice thought, but Preece’s Dega stats may tell a different story. In his ten cup races at the track, Preece has just one top-5 and three outside-30 finishes. He never had a start in the top 10 and has struggled to navigate his way through the 2.66-mile track. Despite that, some fans had hopes.
“Based on recent drafting races and the fact that there are multiple races, I’d say better than 50/50. I’ll say Cup race. It’s not Daytona, so maybe not Preece,” a user posted. This fan is clearly still holding onto hope that someone else will take the spotlight, for better or worse. If you remember, last year’s spring race at Dega, we saw Corey LaJoie finish the race on two wheels sideways, crossing the finish without the contact of the tires on the racetrack. Well, he was caught up in the late pile-up that happened on the final lap, so do not count out chaotic accidents from this weekend’s blockbuster event.
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