Ryan Preece, Michael McDowell exchange heated words following Crayon 301 at New Hampshire

After a hard-fought Crayon 301 in New Hampshire, Ryan Preece and Michael McDowell were not seeing eye to eye on pit road. Something must have happened between that final restart and the checkered flag between the Stewart-Haas Racing and Frontrow Motorsports drivers. Preece was livid and McDowell had to calm him down before it got physical.

By the time it was all said and done, Michael McDowell finished P13. Meanwhile, Ryan Preece was relegated to P28. Whatever the contact was, it was clear that Preece felt McDowell was responsible. The NBC cameras caught the tail end of the disagreement.

You can see McDowell jog to catch up to Preece. Both are Ford drivers and haven’t really had issues in the past, at least not public. So, it made sense to see McDowell try to mend that divide.

After the race, @Mc_Driver caught up with @RyanPreece_ for a post-race discussion. pic.twitter.com/TUzlfJyi2x

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 17, 2023

However, this was just the back half of things. The two got on the same page and walked away smiling together. So, clearly, something seems to have been worked out by the two of them. To his credit, McDowell took the blame for the contact the two had with one another on the track.

It looked much more serious when the two drivers got out of their cars. Ryan Preece went right up to the No. 34 and confronted him. It almost looked like Noah Gragson and Ross Chastain at Kansas for a moment.

@RyanPreece_ @Mc_Driver @jeff_gluck @bobpockrass pic.twitter.com/qVvHEuWcDx

— KO__ (@K_O___21) July 17, 2023

This was a race that both drivers wish they had done better in. Ryan Preece did have speed at times, he just never got out of the dirty air and traffic. As for McDowell, he ran in the top-10 at times. That didn’t matter much as he fell back in the latter laps of the race and couldn’t get back in that group by the time the checkered flag came out and Martin Truex Jr. took the win.

Ryan Preece playoff hopes rely on surprise win

While Michael McDowell is in a points battle on the playoff bubble, drivers like Ryan Preece have one option for the postseason – win. Preece has had a hard go of things this year. He has led 141 laps. However, he has nothing to really show for it. No top-5s, no top-10s, and four DNFs.

After this race, things get more dire. Six chances to get a win and sneak into the playoffs, that isn’t much. Then again, did anyone really expect to see the 41 in the playoffs? This is a car that finished 25th last season with Cole Custer and it is well on its way to finishing about the same this season.

Now, Preece didn’t have a chance at winning today. His car lacked true speed and he just wasn’t in the right place. It stings to underperform at your home track, but it happens.

There can be a lot of frustrations for drivers this time of the season. So, it is understandable that he might feel a certain way towards McDowell for a racing incident. Ryan Preece is a talented driver, but he has a lot to prove in the Cup Series still.