Ryan Preece returning to RFK Racing's No. 60 Ford in 2027

NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 25, 2026

Preece stays at RFK

RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece will return to the team’s No. 60 Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027, giving the organization a clear answer on one of its seats well ahead of the move. Brad Keselowski made the announcement at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday before Sunday’s Brickyard 400, and the news comes after RFK exercised an option on Preece’s multiyear contract a few months ago. The decision keeps Preece in place after he joined RFK Racing in 2025 and gives the team continuity around a driver who has spent the season in the middle of both the points race and the day-to-day grind of the schedule. Preece enters the rest of this year with a guaranteed future at the organization, and RFK now has one of its key Cup plans locked in for 2027. That matters because the No. 60 Ford has become part of the team’s long-term structure, and the extension signals that RFK wants to keep building around a driver it brought in to strengthen its Cup program. Keselowski’s announcement also put the focus back on Preece’s work since arriving at the team, where he has taken on a full-time role and handled a heavy race load. The extension gives both sides another layer of stability and takes one more piece of uncertainty out of the team’s lineup planning.

Preece season

Preece has run every one of RFK Racing’s 21 NASCAR races this season, and he has backed that effort with four top-10 finishes and a career-best three top-five results in 2025. His best finish this year came in the preseason Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, a strong start that set the tone for his early stretch with the team. He also went through a tough run in late May and early June, when three straight races ended in DNFs, but he has kept enough pace and consistency to stay in the mix through the summer. The numbers show a driver who has held up the weekly demands of the Cup Series while producing his strongest stretch of top-tier results in his career. Preece is in his seventh full Cup season, and the RFK ride has given him another chance to show what he can do over a full schedule. Before he joined RFK, he spent two seasons at Stewart-Haas Racing, and that experience has helped him settle into another high-pressure seat. The team has leaned on him for every race so far, and he has remained a steady presence in the lineup while the No. 60 program has worked through the ups and downs that come with a long Cup season.

Preece playoff push

Preece still has work to do if he wants to reach the playoffs for the first time in his career. He sits 18th in the Cup standings with five races left in the regular season, 48 points below the cutline, and that gap leaves him with a clear target as the schedule moves toward the final stretch. He narrowly missed the playoffs in 2025, and this season has given him another chance to break through and make the 16-driver field. The margin is tight enough that every strong finish carries added weight, and the results he has already put together give him a path to keep fighting. Four top-10s and three top-fives have kept him within reach, even after the DNF stretch that slowed his momentum in late spring. Preece’s situation also reflects how competitive the Cup standings remain when the regular season starts to close. He has stayed in every race for RFK this year, and that durability has given him a base to build from as he tries to climb back toward the line. The playoff race leaves him little room for error, but the extension from RFK shows the team sees enough in his work to invest in what comes next, even as he pushes to turn this season into his first postseason berth.