Ryan Preece saw his race end early at Dover Sunday. And it could be the result of an issue that plagued NASCAR, specifically the Fords, not too long ago.
Preece, in a Stewart-Haas Racing Mustang, saw smoke entering his cockpit near lap 60. Fearing a fire, he pitted under green. The crew put the fire out, and he returned to the track, but the smoke again rose from the passenger side door. Fearing a fire, Preece pitted again and headed to the garage area.
After trying to diagnose the exact issue, the crew decided not to risk it and parked the car for the day.
“I felt like I was on fire,” Preece said. “I went the first 70 laps just trying to push through and then it got so bad that I couldn’t put my hands on the wheel. I was worried that an oil line or something would melt and then the whole car gets engulfed in fire and I don’t want to be trapped in there having that happen, so I pulled off. Whatever happened it was completely unnecessary, and we can’t afford days like this.”
After the Next Gen car made its debut, several Fords suffered issues with the safety foam lining the side panels catching fire. It came to a head at Darlington in September of 2022 when another SHR car being driven by Kevin Harvick caught fire and he was forced to abandon the flaming car.
Kevin Harvick’s car bursts into flames! #NASCARPlayoffs
: @USA_Network pic.twitter.com/WWW53y2y3d
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 5, 2022
“I just stopped because I couldn’t see anymore because the flames were coming through the dash, and I couldn’t make myself sit in there and burn up.,” Harvick said at the time.
“I’m sure it’s just crappy parts on the race car like we’ve seen so many times,” he added. “They haven’t fixed anything. It’s kind of like the safety stuff. We just let it keep going and keep going. The car started burning and as it burned the flames started coming through the dash. I ran a couple laps and then as the flame got bigger it started burning stuff up and I think right there you see all the brake fluid that was probably coming out the brakes and part of the brake line, but the fire was coming through the dash.”
During the caution for Harvick, J.J. Yeley brought his Ford to pit road. NASCAR officials were forced to waive off the restart as Yeley’s car was engulfed in flames as well.
Earlier that same year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course both Chris Buescher and Joey Logano, in Fords, had in-car fires.
After the incidents at Darlington, NASCAR made several rule changes prior to the following race at Kansas hoping to address the issues. There were no further reports of the foam catching fire in a Ford, or any car. That is until Sunday.
For his part, Preece wasn’t ready to blame the foam.
“I’m not going to be the one to say what happened,” he said. “But it wasn’t necessary. It could have been prevented.”
The next race on the schedule is at Kansas Speedway.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.