Ryan Preece Is Racing With What Look Like Burst Blood Vessels In His Eyes

On Friday, Ryan Preece was cleared by NASCAR to participate in Sunday’s race at Darlington. That may seem like a surprise to anyone who saw his massive, barrel-rolling crash last weekend. It is an even bigger surprise to anyone who has seen the bruises around Preece’s eyes after the crash.

In a video shared by NASCAR on Fox reporter Bob Pockrass, Preece takes off his sunglasses to reveal the extent of the bruising. His eyes are still visibly bloodshot, which Pockrass attributes to blood vessel bursting “typical after a flip.” Despite how painful it all looks, Preece says that his eyes “aren’t bad,” adding that he has no concussion-like symptoms and feels ready to race.

Preece did not make the NASCAR playoffs field last week, so his season is already effectively over. That makes Sunday’s race relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but rumors of major changes at his Stewart-Haas Racing team have put him under some pressure and Preece has just one top ten finish in his first 26 races with the team, a fifth at Richmond. Nearing the end of what has so far been a disappointing first full-time Cup season back after a three-year stint at JTG Daugherty and a one-year intermission, Preece may be hoping to prove that he belongs in the series going forward. Feeling healthy and medically cleared to race, Preece will run Sunday’s event no matter how painful it all looks from the outside.