NASCAR has handed down a penalty from the Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, and it goes the way of Ryan Preece, and only Preece. Surprise is caught by fans as Kyle Busch exits his wreck of John Hunter Nemechek unscathed by penalty. Yet, fans do not so much agree with the matter, nor does Dale Jr.
In a video posted by Dale JR after the penalty went public, he condemned the decision. Dale JR stated how he expects neither driver to be penalized. Nonetheless, if Preece was hit with a setback, then so should Busch, whose action was deemed worse by a consensus of fans and drivers alike.
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NASCAR Penalizes Ryan Preece
Zach Sturniolo of NASCAR.com first reported that Preece has been hit with a dock of 25 points in the standings and a $50,000 fine. The penalty comes from an incident on lap 101 in which Preece kept on the gas into Ty Gibbs, who was coming down the track clear on turns 3-4.
The fact of the matter here is that Preece is likely not so much punished for his action as for his reaction to the action. Preece had said on the radio that, “When I get to that 54, I’m done with him.” Preece also vocalized that, “I had a chance to avoid making his situation worse, and I chose not to.”
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Not only did Preece say the comments, but he had a much longer expletive-ridden rant on his radio. Preece later told the media, “When you don’t do that, I’m not going to cut you a break.” While he did not directly say he meant to wreck Gibbs, he implied it was definitely not an accident. He could have lifted, but he did not.
Why was Kyle Busch Not Penalized?
Kyle Busch at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)(Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
While Busch clearly wedged his car into Nemechek, he went on to say post-race that his initial contact was not intentional. That is a fact that Busch has stood on, explaining that he had a backstretch visual mark to put his left tires on the hash mark. While this does not adequately defend himself from the contact, Busch seems confident that it was not a purposeful contact.
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What appeared more on purpose was the contact in turn 3, which happened moments later. Busch ran right up the race track, seemingly making a right turn into Nemechek, and spinning him out. Busch lost a few spots on what was a rather good race in a bad season to date.
NASCAR deems that Busch gave them plausible deniability. He made his case about what happened, and NASCAR could not clearly prove that the action was that blatant. While fans will argue against it, the fact is the fact. Retaliation may be in store for Nemechek in the coming races…
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on May 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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