Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is one of only a handful of road course races on the Cup Series schedule, and after Sunday’s race, quite a few drivers walked away angry about on-track action – particularly Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 NASCAR Ford Mustang.
Preece recently replaced Cole Custer behind the wheel of the No. 41 Mustang, and is in his first year at the Cup Series level. During the race at COTA, Preece and the No. 41 Mustang were on the receiving end of the No. 54 Toyota TRD Camry of Ty Gibbs during a NASCAR Overtime finish. Gibbs’ No. 54 Camry struck the rear of Preece’s No. 41 Mustang, sending him spinning into the No. 42 Chevy Camaro ZL1 of Noah Gragson. Preece’s No. 41 Mustang had been enjoying a top-10 run at the time, but the wreck relegated him to a 32nd-place result.
After the melee, Preece took to Twitter to voice his displeasure, writing, “What a bunch of hacks,” referencing the disorganized racing style seen all day at COTA.
In a postrace interview with Frontstretch, he reiterated his feelings, saying, “I got wrecked by a bunch of hacks.” He added, “A lot of these guys just pay their way and they don’t respect cars… they just run into everyone and they just ruin days. Someone needs an ass-kicking for sure.”
Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 6 NASCAR Ford, suffered a mechanical failure that ended his day with 11 laps left, finishing 35th. Jenson Button piloted the No. 15 Mustang to an 18th-place finish, while Austin Cindric quietly finished sixth in the No. 2 Mustang. The No. 45 Camry of Tyler Reddick wound up in Victory Lane after a series of NASCAR Overtime attempts.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Monster Energy Toyota | 75 | 41 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 2 | 9 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Netspend Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 6 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 12 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 1 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 75 | 28 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 3 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Discount Tire Ford | 75 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 18 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Blue Buffalo Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 32 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 75 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 17 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | He Gets Us Toyota | 75 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 36 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Ruedebusch Ford | 75 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 27 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | OpTic Gaming Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 12 | 20 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 75 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 29 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Mobil 1 Ford | 75 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 13 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 19 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 75 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 21 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 75 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 17 | 25 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 75 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 18 | 24 | 15 | Jenson Button | Mobil 1 Ford | 75 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 23 | 31 | Justin Haley | Celsius Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 10 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 38 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Knauf Ford | 75 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 16 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 75 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 8 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 4 | 9 | Jordan Taylor | UniFirst Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 37 | 51 | Cody Ware | PublicSq Ford | 75 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 33 | 78 | Josh Bilicki(i) | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 5 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 75 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 15 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 75 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 22 | 91 | * Kimi Raikkonen | Onx Homes/iLOQ Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 39 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 74 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 14 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Toyota | 73 | 1 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 32 | 26 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 68 | 0 | ford Mustang |
| 33 | 28 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 62 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 7 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Farmsmart Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 30 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Wyndham Rewards Ford | 56 | 0 | ford Mustang |
| 36 | 35 | 50 | * Conor Daly | BitNile.com Chevrolet | 16 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 37 | 11 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | MoneyLion Toyota | 10 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 38 | 31 | 84 | * Jimmie Johnson | Club Wyndham Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 39 | 34 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
Gibbs time will come. Wait for it.
As in a victory by Truex, Ty Gibbs, Bell or Hamlin is on the way, or one of them is gonna get their ass kicked?