Josh Berry, Ryan Preece clear the air about controversial Stewart-Haas tribute after Phoenix championship race

Following the end of the championship race at Phoenix, Stewart-Haas Racing drivers lined up for a tribute…but where was Ryan Preece? Strangely missing from the final NASCAR sendoff of SHR, Preece was on pit road while his teammates were three-wide in Turns 3 and 4.

This season there have been a lot of rumors and stories out of SHR. Ryan Preece happens to be at the heart of those bits of drama and intrateam squabbles.

Earlier this season it was revealed that Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, and Noah Gragson were having extra study sessions before races. Preece was not invited until word got out about the meetings.

Fast forward to last Sunday, Ryan Preece was left out once again. He did not line up for a four-wide Stewart-Haas salute. Why is that?

Thanks to onboard footage from Andrew (@Basso488) on X/Twitter, and comments from both Berry and Preece – we have an answer.

“There’s really nothing to this,” Berry wrote. “Ryan and I are good friends. Eddie mentioned them lining up, so I thought there may have been direction from a higher power. We ride side by side for 50 ft [sic] and stop and back up because no one wanted to be in championship celebration.”

To which Ryan Preece replied, “This,” with a finger emoji pointing up to Berry’s response.

👆🏻this.

— Ryan Preece (@RyanPreece_) November 13, 2024

Judging from the onboard video of Preece, it was miscommunication. Still, given the times he has been left out of SHR-related team moments, the optics weren’t great.

Ryan Preece and Stewart-Haas were never lined up

When Ryan Preece came to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2023, he showed up to a team in decline. An organization that would soon downsize from four to one car and rebrand to a different name. The writing was on the wall.

To his credit, Preece kept the No. 41 car about on the same level Cole Custer had it from 2020-2022. Custer did manage a win at Kentucky in 2020, but the following two seasons he finished 26th and 25th overall in points with only five top-10s in that time as well as a pole at Bristol Dirt.

In his two years at SHR, Preece finished 23rd and 26th overall. He earned seven top-10s, two of those being top-5 finishes, and earned a pole award.

Next year, Ryan Preece will almost surely be with RFK Racing. Preece performed a wet-weather tire test at Homestead-Miami for RFK recently. It feels like the organization will likely lease one of the Rick Ware charters, allowing them to expand to three teams and add Preece into the mix.