Ryan Preece has put in the work over the last calendar year to become a real force in the NASCAR Cup Series. Wednesday night at Bowman Gray Stadium, it all came together for the 35-year-old.

Preece took the checkered flag in the season-opening exhibition, the Clash. While not an official points race, Preece got the chance to feel what it’s like to jump out of his car the victor of a Cup Series event. While momentum might not be a real thing in motorsports, confidence is, said Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. Preece has plenty of it coming out of Wednesday’s race.

“I think this is big for Ryan Preece in the sense of like, look, it’s an exhibition race, it doesn’t go down in the record books and when we talk about winners at the end of the year, if he doesn’t win another race, people are not even gonna mention this,” Gluck said on The Teardown. “It will be one of those things where people go, ‘Wait Ryan Preece won the Clash, too.’ This race can kind of easily be forgotten but what this race does is you go, ‘OK, I can do it, the team knows you can do it, the driver and the team know together we can do it, the organization’s like, OK, we didn’t win anything last year, this is good for us.’

“Momentum wise, going into a season where you’re going to have to have consistency, and I think RFK is one of those teams, like, with [Chris] Buescher, we don’t know [Brad] Keselowski‘s status after his injury, but it’s gonna be one of those things where Preece can absolutely make the top 16 on points. What does he have to do to do that? He has to have confident nights like tonight. So, while this doesn’t change his career, I think it’s a big thing that could change his season. People say is momentum really a thing in racing; I think confidence is. So, when you look at something like this, it’s like, ‘Hell yeah, I can do this.’ That’s a big thing. I think that goes a long way.”

Ryan Preece full of confidence after Clash win

It’s been a long road for Preece. He found himself out of a job in 2024 when Stewart-Haas Racing closed its doors. Preece found a new home at RFK Racing, thanks to Keselowski, who trusted him enough to give him a seat in the No. 60 Ford.

Preece had a career year in 2025, just missing out on the postseason and finishing 18th in the points standings. He made the Clash on speed and was fast throughout, leading 27-of-200 laps. It felt good for Preece, who was emotional and fought back tears as he spoke to FOX Sports‘ Regan Smith in Victory Lane.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Preece said. “To be honest with you, it’s been a f*cking long road. It’s the Clash but man, it’s been years and years of grinding, and I’m just super thankful for Brad Keselowski, Kroger, Coca-Cola, all our partners — break open the Pappy — Jack Roush, the Fenway Group. Two years ago, I didn’t think I was gonna have a job. I thought I was going back to Connecticut. Man, I’m just super, super, super emotional.”