Ryan Preece clears the air after spinning out with two laps left in Brickyard 400

During the second overtime of the Brickyard 400, Ryan Preece found himself spinning around and into the inside wall on the backstretch. Preece appeared to try to get going again, but NASCAR threw the caution flag on the white flag lap.

There has been a lot of confusion and frustration over that final overtime. Many fans felt that it was clear Ryan Preece wasn’t going to get back going. Yet NASCAR wouldn’t throw the caution flag until Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick were heading into Turn 1 on the last lap.

From there, Larson rode at caution speed to the finish line and the Brickyard 400. Races end under caution, it happens. But this one didn’t sit right with many.

Today, Ryan Preece cleared things up. Andrew, @Basso488 on X.com, formerly known as Twitter, posts a lot of onboard videos. He shared Chase Elliott’s onboard from the final overtime.

Elliott gets into the back of Preece and more or less pushes him off the track. Preece addressed that in his own post.

“To clear the air. Normal operating Fuel Pressure is 66psi. When I slowed, the engine went to 12 psi. The engine would not go at WOT. (Wide open throttle). I ran out of fuel”

To clear the air.

Normal operating Fuel Pressure is 66psi.

When I slowed, the engine went to 12 psi.

The engine would not go at WOT. (Wide open throttle)

I ran out of fuel. https://t.co/TAUUy0fY8R

— Ryan Preece (@RyanPreece_) July 22, 2024

If Ryan Preece was low on fuel, then there was no way he was going to get his car re-fired. NASCAR thought that Preece could get going again, wanted to give him a chance. But did they wait a little too long? Should they have thrown it before the white flag?

NASCAR explains Ryan Preece incident

Elton Sawyer, NASCAR executive vice president of competition, talked to NASCAR.com after the race. Sawyer was not made available to other media at the time. In that interview, Sawyer answered as to why NASCAR held off on throwing the caution in the final overtime.

“Obviously we’d like for it to play out naturally,” Sawyer said. “We want our teams to race to the checkered flag. We did everything we possibly could. We kept an eye on the 41 [Ryan Preece]. He got turned around. He was really giving a solid effort and once he came to a stop and we could tell that he had, I think, a flat left-rear tire he wasn’t going to move. We’d already taken the white, we just couldn’t run by there again. So it was unfortunate, but it was the right call.”

Sawyer reiterated the desire to keep the race green.

“I think when it comes to safety and we have cars that have spun out and they’re trying to make an effort to move, we’re going to do everything we can to stay green,” Sawyer said. “But again, it’s a case-by-case basis. We’d have to, it’s a lot of hypotheticals there.”