Ryan Preece’s triumph at Daytona was a double win for the No. 60, snapping the 76‑year drought between its first Cup victory—by Bill Rexford in 1950—and Preece’s 2026 success.
The 2026 No. 60 Breakthrough
Preece chalked up his first points‑paying Cup win on his 249th start, earning the 16th and final Chase spot after taking the checkered flag at Daytona with RFK Racing.
That moment also closed a 400‑race void for the No. 60, making it only the sixth Cup event where the number has appeared to win. Preece’s outcome is the first because it followed Rexford’s lone Cup victory decades earlier.
Bill Rexford: The Forgotten Champion
In 1950, 23‑year‑old Rexford captured the NASCAR Cup Series title while running the No. 60 in seven of 17 scheduled races. His lone Cup win came in the Poor Man’s 500 at Canfield Speedway, a half‑mile dirt track in Ohio, where he dominated 80 of 200 laps to finish more than two laps ahead of Glenn Dunaway.
Rexford remains the youngest champion in Cup history, a record that only Jeff Gordon later approached. He is the sole NASCAR Cup champion never inducted into the Hall of Fame, earning the moniker “forgotten champion.”
Only One Lap Laid Down
Although Rexford holds the record for most laps led during the 1950 race while wearing the No. 60, Preece has been closing the gap in recent starts and could one day outpace that tally.
Modern Revival and Statistical Context
After a 13‑year absence from the series, RFK Racing revived the No. 60 part‑time in 2024 and full‑time in 2025. The 60s, a group of numbers that have collected just eight Cup wins in total, saw three victories this season alone, courtesy of Heim’s No. 67 and Preece’s No. 60.
The resurgence of the number is more than a numerology headline; it mirrors Rexford’s improbable title run born from a single victory and underscores how history can echo in the present racing landscape.
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