Preece frustrated with NASCAR after choose rule penalty in All-Star Open

Ryan Preece took an orange traffic cone from the garage and walked out to pit road at North Wilkesboro Speedway and set it atop the pit wall closest to the racing surface.

It was a message to NASCAR, even after he said his piece in his television interview, that the designated choose marker painted on the racetrack was not visible to the drivers. Preece was penalized during the All-Star Open for running over the choose box and was sent to the rear of the field.

The penalty took him out of contention to advance into the All-Star Race. He was running second, in a transfer spot, before the penalty.

“It’s really non-existent from inside the car; you can’t see it,” Preece said. “I just hooked a hard left going across the line, figuring it’s in that area, and then I started ... to clean my tires because, as you can see, there is a lot of rubber caked up here. What are you going to do?

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“I’m frustrated. If you have a situation like that, put a cone out there so we can visually see it. I’m just frustrated, but I think the thing to be said about it is that our Boston Common Golf Ford Mustang was super fast. It could run [all the way up top] and get around guys and not waste time, and I think we were really the only ones that were making some waves. ... We were in a position there. It’s just heartbreaking to have a run like that taken away by somebody up in the tower.”

Preece drove to second place on lap 73 of 100 and was in a transfer spot behind Carson Hocevar. The second and final caution came out on lap 78 when contact from Michael McDowell sent Riley Herbst bouncing off the wall.

The caution changed the complexion of the race. Hocevar would hang on to win, but it was the caution where Preece ran over the choose marker.

Preece admitted it was his mistake at the end of the day. He also reiterated that if it’s a cone rule, where drivers are able to pick the lane they want to restart in, then put a cone out where the drivers can see it.

“Maybe we need to rethink how we do it if there is a lot of rubber caked up on it,” Preece said. “Sorry, I’m just really, really, [expletive] pissed. A rule is a rule, but I don’t know.”

The choose marker was repainted ahead of the All-Star Race.