Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece, who initially finished second in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway but was later disqualified due to a technical issue with his car. This interview (conducted before the race) has been edited and condensed, but the full version is available on the 12 Questions podcast.
1. What was one of the first autographs you got as a kid and what do you remember about that moment?
It was probably at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, just because if you’re in New England, that’s the track you go to (Preece is a Connecticut native). My grandfather used to park his motorhome outside of Turn 1, basically as close to the track as you could get from the campground. I used to go up there and have my bike and ride around.
2. What is the most miserable you’ve ever been inside a race car?
In 2016 in the Xfinity cars, they would tape up all the little ducts on the side for qualifying. But (after qualifying), they didn’t pull the ducts. So all the air flow and everything wasn’t coming in the car. And it was at Richmond in August, so it was really hot. I just remember how miserable it was.
So they just forgot?
Yeah. It was a tough one. I remember it was a mental battle of, “I’m not pulling in, but this is ungodly hot.” It was brutal.
3. Outside of racing, what is your most recent memory of something you got way too competitive about?
Usually, whenever my wife and I go mini-golfing. I don’t like to lose, and the tough part about it is she doesn’t either. So usually, (it) will be our one mini-golf game for the next two or three years until we decide we’re bored enough to go do it again.
“It won’t go bad this time.”
That’s what we always say.
4. What do people get wrong about you?
My wife says I’m unapproachable. I think I’m pretty approachable. But when you’re in your element at the racetrack, I’m pretty focused, so I can be mislabeled as unapproachable at times.
5. What kind of Uber passenger are you and how much do you care about your Uber rating?
I don’t really care about my Uber rating. The type of passenger I am, it just depends on the feel of the Uber driver. If he’s really good at carrying a conversation, then I’ll talk if it’s a 30-minute ride or whatever. But if you feel like you’re prying at each other, I’ll sit there and put my headphones on.
6. This is a wild-card question. You have this intense personality I’ve seen in other people who have this absolute drive and passion for what they do. You’re hard-wired that way and you’re going to go full-throttle. So for someone like you, how do you deal with people who don’t care as much or don’t have that same work ethic?
I just don’t deal with them. It’s like cutting the cord. I wouldn’t even say it was learned at a young age: I never really felt the need to surround myself with others who are like that. They say a tiger doesn’t change its stripes. There are certain people who would probably try to put this energy in you, to want you to go and want to be better. I learned … if somebody’s not wired that way, they’re just not going to be. You’re just wasting your efforts you can be putting in other places.
So it’s not about motivation for you. You just recognize they have it or they don’t.
That would be pretty accurate. You can tell if somebody is teachable or willing to listen or has a good work ethic. Then there are others who think they have it figured out and they’re going to do it their way — and maybe their way is right for them. Who knows? That’s one thing I’ve learned, is there are a million different ways to go about it.
“It’s talent or ability that separates us from everybody else,” Ryan Preece says of his patience for drivers crossing the line, “… or it’s supposed to be.” (Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
7. This is my 16th year doing these 12 Questions interviews, and I’m going back to an old one I asked people and bringing it back. One of my favorite ones was from 2017: What is your middle finger policy on the racetrack? Do you have one?
Absolutely, if you race like an a—. I’m pretty strong on this: If you are going to choose to race on Friday, Saturday or Sunday (in NASCAR) at a national level like you would at a go-kart track 10 minutes from your house, that’s when you deserve the middle finger. At the end of the day, we all can overstep that line. We’re all capable of driving through each other. It’s talent or ability that separates us from everybody else racing across the country — or it’s supposed to be. So I have a very, very short fuse when it comes to something we label as “learning” at this level. We’re professionals and are supposed to have learned those lessons a long time ago.
8. Other than one of your teammates, who is a driver where if they won a race, you’d be one of the first people to congratulate them in victory lane?
Josh Berry. I didn’t walk over there, but I texted him. It already happened (at Las Vegas). I still haven’t gotten a beer with him, because I can’t, but we both said to each other, “When one of us wins, we’ll go drink a beer with each other.” I was pumped for him. On the restart, lining up behind him, I just wanted to push him and give myself a great opportunity — but also give him, another Ford racer, a great opportunity. So I was happy for him.
Is there a story behind why you can’t have a beer?
Nothing bad. That was my New Year’s resolution.
So like instead of doing Dry January, you’re doing Dry Everything?
Well, until we win a race. That was the thing.
9. How much do you use AI technology, either for your job or your daily life?
You’re a journalist, so you’re really good at putting your thoughts into words on a computer. But I’m terrible. I’m good at talking; I could have a conversation and put my thoughts into words. But for me to sit on a computer, I feel like my mind will just fight with itself on, “Does this sound right? Does this come across right?” If I was giving a speech or I want it to sound a certain way, AI has actually been really helpful for me to do that. I don’t use it for everything in life, but I feel like it’s been a great tool.
10. What is a time in your life you thought was really challenging, but you’re proud of the way that you responded to it?
In my racing career after the point of 2007 or 2008, there have been difficult times all the time. But I’ve learned a lot of lessons about team management, people — all those things most people pay to go to school for. I’ve gotten life experience. The past five years have been pretty tough, but I take a lot of good things away from it. You learn the people you surround yourself with, who is there and who are your real friends. It’s been a long road, but certainly one I wouldn’t change any bit because it’s been great.
11. What needs to happen in NASCAR to take this sport to the next level of popularity?
I’m an advocate for “Boys, have at it” (the former NASCAR approach with altercations) — within reason. As drivers right now, we have a respect problem in racing at this level because the cars are so durable. I don’t think we should change any of that (with the cars), but we’ve got to figure out a way to get respect back for your equipment, for your fellow racers, for the teams. I don’t know another way to get that back other than when you have a problem, it needs to be taken care of (with a fight).
They do a really good job of allowing us to do that, but you get afraid of, “I don’t want to pay a $75,000 fine” or anything like that. That’s pretty impactful.
I see what you’re saying. They let you get close to someone, but you’re thinking, “I don’t want to hurt my kid’s college fund.”
Or just life in general, right? This sport was built off of rivalries, and you want that. I think (allowing drivers to fight without fines) would just help take it to the next step.
12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next interview. The last one was Todd Gilliland, and he wanted to know: What is the best thing about having kids and the hardest thing about having kids?
The best thing about having kids is a bad day is really not that bad. When you see your kid and they’re smiling, at the end of the day, you’re their hero. There’s nothing that can replace that.
The hardest thing about having kids is when you go from not having kids to kids. The adjustment in life goes from, “I want to go do this right now” to, “Well, her nap is going to be at this time. Should we really go do this?” I’d love to take her during the middle of the day and go to the shop, but then she’s going to get a 30-minute nap on the way to the shop and then she’s not going to sleep and then she’s going to be mad. There’s just a lot of life adjustments and a lot of planning that goes into that. That’s the toughest part, but it’s very rewarding.
Do you have a question I can ask the next person?
(Preece said he’d prefer to wait until he knew who it was.)
(Top photo of Ryan Preece during driver introductions for the Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier this month: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
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