NASCAR borrows Ryan Preece’s car from SHR to analyze the damage done in his clash with Kyle Larson at Talladega

NASCAR Cup Series' visit to Talladega Superspeedway last weekend saw drivers battle on the 2.66-mile-long track with hopes of visiting Victory Lane at the coveted venue. GEICO 500 saw many twists and turns throughout the 188-lap-long event, with several drivers challenging at the front for a shot at the win on Sunday (April 23).

Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Bush managed to steal another victory as drivers around him managed to take themselves out of contention, marking the second win of the season for the Las Vegas, Nevada native.

Another storyline that came out of the 500-mile-long race was that of the 2023 Martinsville winner and Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson. During one of the overtime restarts in the race, Kyle Larson found himself spinning out due to Ross Chastain's ambitious move on Noah Gragson in front of him.

The resulting out-of-control #5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was seen careening back on the racetrack after skidding towards the inside wall.

With cars coming in towards Larson, Ryan Preece's #41 Ford Mustang made contact with the right side of Larson's car, sending them both out of the race. The impact of the crash left a detached door crash-structure bar visible inside Larson's car, along with his side window that flew off immediately on impact.

NASCAR has now called upon both teams to borrow their wrecked cars and take them to the R&D Center to better analyze the impact. The move comes in favor of improving the safety of the cockpit, with pointers surrounding the crash being taken from both vehicles.

With concerns about such a big impact taking place on the drivers' i.e., the right side of the car, NASCAR aims to study and hopefully improve on whatever causes the deformation of the door crash structure to such lengths.

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Ryan Preece labels his clash with Kyle Larson as the hardest hit of his NASCAR career

Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Preece once again came into contact with Kyle Larson's car last weekend in Talladega, this time unintentionally.

In an incident that saw the #41 Ford Mustang driver drive hard into the side of the Hendrick Motorsport driver's car, Preece labeled his clash with Larson as the hardest hit he has taken till date.

He elaborated in a post-race interview and said:

"That was P1 for hits I've taken in my life. That kind of like was somebody poking at me and saying, 'This is going to nudge you a little bit.'"

It remains to be seen what comes of NASCAR's evaluation of both the cars at its Concrod, North Carolina R&D Center.