Ryan Preece’s ride will have a new look next year.
Preece, who won the first Cup Series race of his career this season at Daytona in the Coke Zero Sugar 400, will remain with Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, but is switching numbers. His Ford Mustang Dark Horse will have a No. 6 on the side of it instead of No. 60.
Derrick Finley will remain as crew chief for Preece as well, RFK announced on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Preece will become the sixth full-time driver to pilot the No. 6 for RFK, a number that has a lot of deep history tied to the team.
"To be trusted with the 6 means more to me than I can put into words," Preece said in a statement. "When you think about what this number means to RFK Racing, you think about Jack Roush, Mark Martin and everything
they built together. To know this team believes I'm the right person to carry that number into the future is incredibly humbling."
The No. 6 has been driven by Brad Keselowski since 2022, but Keselowski will not return to the team next season and is beginning the process of selling his 20% equity in ownership.
Part of the reason for Preece switching to the No. 6 is because it is one of RFK’s chartered entries in the Cup Series, along with the No. 17 driven by Chris Buescher. The No. 60 raced with a leased charter this season from Rick Ware Racing, but that has been sold to Legacy Motor Club for next season. Charters guarantee spots in every Cup Series race regardless of qualifying, creating a reliable and stable stream of revenue. Charters are estimated to be worth about $100 million each.
History of No. 6 in NASCAR
When Roush Racing began competing in the NASCAR Cup Series in 1988, it did so with Hall of Famer Mark Martin behind the wheel of the No. 6 Ford. He would stay behind the wheel of that machine through 2006, earning 35 Cup Series victories in the car while finishing top five in points 12 times. Martin was the runner-up for the championship four times, finishing second to Dale Earnhardt in 1990 and 1994, Jeff Gordon in 1998 and Tony Stewart in 2002.
The No. 6 was later driven by David Ragan, Trevor Bayne, Ryan Newman and Keselowski on a full-time basis, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt Kenseth and Ross Chastain all made spot starts in the car. Aside from Martin, Ragan and Keselowski are the only other drivers to take the No. 6 to victory lane.
"I like Ryan Preece because he's a racer, plain and simple," Martin said in a statement. "He came up the hard way, and he's had to fight for everything he's gotten. That's something I respect. When he gets in a race car, he gives you everything he's got, and he's not going to be satisfied just riding around. That number means a lot to me, and I think Ryan is a great fit to carry it forward."
Long before Roush Racing began, Hall of Famer David Pearson drove the No. 6 Dodge for Owens Racing, winning the championship in 1966.
Ryan Preece career in NASCAR
A native of Berlin, Connecticut, Preece got his start in racing modified stock cars around the northeast. In 2013, he won the Whelan Modified Tour championship, the only open-wheeled division that NASCAR sanctions. He won 26 races in the Whelan Modified Tour, plus three more in the southern division of the series.
Preece often raced the No. 6 in the Whelan Modified Tour for Ed Partridge.
“When I say the No. 6 feels like home, it’s because it represents more than racing,” Preece said. “It represents the people who believed in me, the relationships I’ve built, and the memories that got me here. To have the opportunity to carry that number into the next chapter of my career means more than I can put into words.”
Preece made his debut in the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2016, running a full season in the No. 01 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports, but failed to register a top-10 finish. The next season, Preece borrowed money to pay Joe Gibbs Racing to run a few select races in the series. In top-tier equipment, Preece placed in the top-five in each of his four races with JGR in 2017, which included a crucial win at Iowa. The next season, Preece ran 15 O’Reilly races for JGR, placing inside the top-10 in 10 of them, including a second series win at Bristol.
The next year, Preece was in the Cup Series full-time with the team that is now Hyak Motorsports. He would remain with the team for three years, earning nine top-10 finishes, but never finishing higher than 27th in points. In 2022, he ran a mixed schedule across NASCAR’s three national touring circuits. Preece performed best in the Truck Series that year with David Gilliland Racing, never finishing worse than 11th, winning at Nashville, and earning eight other top-10 finishes.
He was back in the Cup Series in 2023 with Stewart-Haas Racing, driving the No. 41 Ford for two seasons. When the team closed up shop, he joined RFK ahead of the 2025 season.
The 36-year-old Preece is coming off his best season in the Cup Series and was one of the 16 drivers to make the postseason Chase after taking the checkered flag in the final race of the regular season at Daytona in an overtime finish. Preece also has nine other top-10 finishes on the year. He also won the preseason Clash this year at Bowman Gray Stadium.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ryan Preece changing to No. 6 with RFK Racing for 2027 NASCAR season
