Ryan Preece clarifies Brickyard 400 incident amid fan frustration over NASCAR’s no caution decision

Ryan Preece triggered the caution on the penultimate lap of the Brickyard 400, which made way for an anticlimactic finish. NASCAR officials delayed the decision to display the yellow flags, allowing Kyle Larson to take the checkered flag under caution.

In a thrilling fuel mileage race, Preece was running short on fuel as the race got extended to an overtime restart. While running inside the top 10 on the restart, the #41 Ford ran out of fuel exiting Turn 2, causing a drop in fuel pressure that significantly slowed him down.

Chase Elliott bumped into Preece, who hit the inside wall and attempted to rejoin the race. NASCAR officials were initially hesitant to trigger the caution, denying the viewers another overtime attempt and a green flag finish. The controversial end to the race drew ire from fans, who were critical of the officiating body.

Ryan Preece cleared the air on the incident, elaborating that he ran out of fuel on the penultimate lap and got collected. He wrote on X (previously Twitter):

"To clear the air. Normal operating Fuel Pressure is 66psi. When I slowed, the engine went to 12 psi. The engine would not go at WOT. (Wide open throttle)...I ran out of fuel."

Speaking to NBC Sports about the incident, the #41 Stewart Haas Racing Ford driver said:

"We just got caught in a tough spot there at the end of the race. We decided to stay out and risk it on fuel and it just didn’t work in our favor today."

Preece was involved in another restart pileup earlier in the race, triggered by his teammate Briscoe, collecting William Byron, Harrison Burton, and AJ Allmendinger. The #41 Stewart Haas Racing driver survived the incident but the fuel shortage in the overtime restart dropped him to 26th in the race classification.

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NASCAR official elaborates on delay in caution for Ryan Preece's incident

Elton Sawyer, Senior VP of competition, explained why NASCAR didn't trigger the caution after Ryan Preece was spun around, which could have made way for another overtime restart.

Sawyer explained that the delay was because they aimed to end the race under green flag conditions. However, once it was clear that Preece had stopped moving, the leaders had already taken the white flag, and the resulting caution ended the race.

"Obviously we’d like for it to play out naturally. We want our teams to race to the checkered flag. We did everything we possibly could. We kept an eye on the #41. He got turned around. He was really giving a solid effort and once he came to a stop and we could tell that he had, I think, a flat left-rear tire he wasn’t going to move. We’d already taken the white, we just couldn’t run by there again. So it was unfortunate, but it was the right call," Sawyer told NASCAR media.

Kyle Larson won the Brickyard 400 ahead of Tyler Reddick, with Ryan Blaney settling for a third-place result.