Ryan Preece, who missed all of the incidents last week at Daytona en route to an impressive eighth-place finish, was victimized by his own error in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
With 52 of 325 laps remaining, Preece had just exited his pit stall when he slammed into the rear of BJ McLeod.
McLeod was attempting to enter his pit stall – eight spots in front of Preece’s stall – when Preece’s No. 47 Chevrolet hit him from behind, spinning McLeod’s car around.
Preece suffered significant front end damage, ending his day. McLeod was able to continue.
Preece said on his team radio that he was looking down at his tachometer when the incident occurred, and that he simply didn’t see McLeod’s car.
“I was just trying to make sure I wasn’t speeding and when I looked up, he was coming into his pit,” Preece told Fox Sports. “It was a mistake. What are you going to do?”
Also caught up in the wreck was Anthony Pasut, fueler for Chris Buescher, Preece’s JTG Daugherty Racing teammate. Pasut was struck by McLeod’s spinning car. According to NASCAR, Pasut was awake and alert and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
What a tough pill to swallow. Days like today, you don’t want to give up.
— Ryan Preece (@RyanPreece_) February 24, 2019
Move on to @LVMotorSpeedway next week and continue building on the speed we have.
Sucks for @RyanPreece_ & @bjmcleod78. BJ had a tire down & looked like he couldn’t see his stall - Ryan had a great run going & was wrong place wrong time. BJ definitely wasn’t trying to jack the race up for anyone. Stinks. https://t.co/hYCl6kUJZb
— Tommy Joe Martins (@TommyJoeMartins) February 24, 2019