Ryan Preece Will Drive RFK’s No. 6 Ford in 2027
Ryan Preece will move from RFK Racing’s No. 60 Ford to the organization’s chartered No. 6 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season. RFK confirmed the move on November 4, making Preece the successor to Brad Keselowski in one of the team’s longest-running entries.
This is more than a number change for the driver. RFK says Preece’s current No. 60 personnel, led by crew chief Derrick Finley, will transfer with him. Keeping the group together gives the team continuity in engineering, race preparation and communication while placing it under the No. 6 identity.
Preece’s crew moves with him
Preece joined RFK for the 2025 season and has driven the No. 60 for two years. In 2026, he won the preseason Cook Out Clash and then earned his first points-paying Cup victory at Daytona in August, securing a place in the NASCAR Chase. The move to the No. 6 follows that career-best stretch rather than introducing Preece to a new organization.
RFK described the No. 6 as a full-season chartered entry for 2027. A charter guarantees the car a starting position and a defined share of race revenue under NASCAR’s team structure. Because the existing crew is moving with Preece, the announcement does not describe a newly assembled fourth team.
The future of the No. 60 entry remains unresolved. RFK currently operates three Cup charters, but NASCAR reports that one will transfer to Legacy Motor Club for 2027. RFK said additional details about the No. 60 will be announced later. The team did not identify a replacement driver, sponsor lineup or separate plan for that number.
Why the No. 6 carries unusual weight at RFK
The No. 6 dates to Jack Roush’s first Cup entry in 1988. Mark Martin drove it through 2006 and won 35 Cup races in the car, turning the number into the visual center of the organization’s early identity. Preece will become the sixth full-time driver of the No. 6, according to RFK.
Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion, has driven the entry since joining the organization as a driver and co-owner in 2022. RFK and Keselowski have already announced that they will part ways after the 2026 season. The team’s November 4 statement confirms Preece as the driver replacement but does not add new detail about Keselowski’s next move.
Preece also has a personal connection to the number. He drove a No. 6 in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for team owner Ed Partridge, including their final victory together at Richmond in 2021. That history gives the assignment meaning beyond the Cup Series lineage RFK is promoting.
The competitive question is continuity versus expectations
Moving the entire No. 60 group is the practical part of the decision. Crew-chief and driver continuity can preserve setup language and decision-making processes that took multiple seasons to establish. The change also removes one common variable when evaluating the group’s 2027 performance: Preece will not be starting over with an unfamiliar crew.
The symbolic side is harder to measure. RFK is explicitly linking Preece to Martin and the history of the No. 6, but the number itself does not create performance. Results will still depend on car development, execution, reliability and how the team adapts to any 2027 technical or sporting changes.
Preece enters the transition after a season in which he has already demonstrated winning speed, but one victory does not establish a long-term trend. His 2027 benchmark will be whether the current group can convert more competitive runs into consistent top-five finishes and championship position. For current Cup context, William Byron’s Martinsville win and Kyle Larson’s points lead show how tight the final stage of the 2026 title fight has become.
What RFK has not announced
The release confirms the driver, car number, manufacturer, crew chief, team continuity and charter status. It does not reveal the 2027 paint scheme, primary sponsors, the length of Preece’s agreement beyond the coming season or the disposition of the No. 60. Those details should not be inferred from the announcement.
The confirmed takeaway is narrower and more important: RFK is promoting from within, preserving Preece’s operating group and assigning it the organization’s flagship number. That gives the No. 6 a defined 2027 direction before the 2026 championship weekend at Homestead-Miami.
Sources and image credit
Primary sources: RFK Racing’s November 4, 2026 announcement and NASCAR’s confirmation and charter context. Related reading: Hasport’s Prelude club-racing build.
Featured image: Ryan Preece during driver introductions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October 2026. Photo by TaurusEmerald via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. No changes were made.
