Ever since the start of the NASCAR Cup Series' Next Gen era, Texas Motor Speedway has, for whatever reason, been its most chaotic intermediate track. Sunday's Wurth 400 was in fact one of the tamer ones, featuring "only" seven caution flags, and yet it still had more than its fair share of drama.
On the penultimate lap, Kyle Busch drove across John Hunter Nemechek's nose, and then, because he's a frustrated old man, intentionally spun the driver of the No. 42 Toyota for good measure in turn three. If we had a nickel for every instance in which the two-time champion has dumped someone on purpose at Texas, we would have two nickels, which isn't much, but it's weird that it's happened twice.
Anyway, that is what has generated the most post-race attention this week, with questions even raised as to whether or not Busch should be suspended for this coming Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International. But it wasn't the only intentional wreck of the race.
Ryan Preece dumped Ty Gibbs for no reason, and yet nobody is even batting an eye
In the early going, Ryan Preece was shoved up the track by Ty Gibbs and decided right then and there that he had had enough. After declaring that he was going to wreck the driver of the No. 54 Toyota the first chance he got, he did exactly that.
Here's what Ryan Preece was so mad at Ty Gibbs about. Gibbs charged the entry to T1 on his inside and slid up towards Preece's left front and cost him spots. Got on the mic immediately.
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) May 4, 2026
"What a fucking idiot that kid is! He is SO lucky his car is so fucking fast!!"
You can also… https://t.co/h0fMxhVbMZ pic.twitter.com/DDGnKaDKQg
Big trouble for Ty Gibbs!@TyGibbs @RyanPreece_ @AlwaysRaceDay #Wurth400 pic.twitter.com/d1yR57KRGA https://t.co/oQ6ORy2Hil
— Bubba Elofskey (v2) (@BubbaV239368) May 3, 2026
It's rich from Preece, who fell upward into an opportunity to drive for a fast RFK Racing team after underwhelming results with multiple other organizations, to be complaining that someone else is only good because of his car.
Thankfully for him though, he's a "blue-collar", "working man's driver", and Gibbs is a "spoiled nepo baby", so everybody will take his side.
In the past, threatening to wreck a driver and then following through on it has been considered an admission of guilt and has even been considered suspension-worthy on occasion. We'll see if NASCAR has any further discussions about Preece's actions, likely at the same time they are investigating Busch's.
It's unlikely that either incident will result in a suspension, since neither was a right-rear hook, which has become NASCAR's line in the sand in recent years.
Still, the fact of the matter is that one of the two guilty drivers is being universally ridiculed for his actions, while everyone seems to have forgotten (or ignored) the fact that the other one even happened.
Let's not let Preece off the hook here. It was a clown move on the Connecticut native's part.