DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Fireworks popped as Ryan Blaney did a celebratory burnout. Meanwhile, Ryan Preece leaned on his RFK Racing Ford experiencing a mix of frustration and understanding.
"It just seems to be another week where we didn't win, but it wasn't for a lack of trying," he said.
Preece turned heads the day before the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway by saying that the winner of the race would have to go through an RFK Racing Ford. One day later, he led the field in the closing laps. It was his opportunity to score his first career Cup Series win and put himself into the playoffs.
The only problem for Preece -- a pair of Hendrick Motorsports cars lined up behind him on a mission to prevent a new winner. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott both wanted to win the race for selfish reasons, but they also wanted to help teammate Alex Bowman, who had been knocked out of the race in an earlier wreck.
If a driver below the cutline won the race, Bowman would become the lone Hendrick Motorsports driver to miss the playoffs. So, the two Hendrick drivers dove to the outside and left Preece in the middle of a three-wide pack.
Preece lost momentum and fell back into the pack. He ultimately finished 14th and failed to make the playoffs. This frustrated him, but he also understood their reasoning.
"I mean, I had two Hendrick cars behind me and they're worried about keeping their teammate in more than pushing me to a win or staying in line, right," Preece said to AltDriver. "So, in that situation, I can hate it all I want, but...
"Frustrated because I felt like I did everything right, put the car where it needed to be, and managed the lanes just to put it to where we got the white flag and then eventually would have won the race. But, can't control what teammates do to help their teammate. I would have done the same thing."
Preece was not alone at the front of the pack before the Hendrick cars ditched him; teammate Chris Buescher also raced in the bottom lane as he sought the win that would put him in the playoffs.
Yet, these two RFK Racing teammates could not get connected in the closing laps. As Preece explained, he could have jumped down in front of Buescher, but he would have given the front row to the two Hendrick cars. This wasn't a recipe for success.
Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography
"I'd have to go back and even try and figure out exactly how it worked out," Buescher said about the closing laps to AltDriver. "I know once we got going there, we were in opposite lanes where I could see them the whole time.
"I know (Kyle Larson) has been under team orders not to push another manufacturer in the past, so we knew he wasn't going to push (Preece). We knew it wasn't just going to be a straight-up race, and we just had to try and do everything we could to find him, and we're boxed in."
Two of the RFK Racing cars had the speed and the position to contend for the race win, one that would have put a car in the playoffs. This situation didn't play out as they planned or hoped.
Now, all three RFK Racing drivers will move forward looking back at the missed opportunities from earlier in the season. They can't move higher than 17th in the Cup Series standings; they can only try to build momentum for next season.
"So, shitty situation," Preece added. "Thought we were going to win that one because we did everything right today. It just didn't work out."