Yahoo Autos Just being back in Cup not enough for hungry Preece
Ryan Preece isn’t happy just being a NASCAR Cup Series driver.
“It’s not just about getting back here,” Preece tells RACER. “I’ve said this in the past; I don’t do things because I want to be there. That’s not what I’m about. I’m a racer and I want to win. I’ve sacrificed a lot of racing years with a lot of potential championships and other things, but this is what I’ve always wanted.
“This is what I’ve worked really hard to get to. I’m not going to let it slip away or say, ‘Well, it didn’t work out.’ I’ll figure out how to make it happen. It’s what I’ve always done.”
Preece, however, does recognize the unique position he’s in getting a second chance at the premier level. He didn’t race full-time in NASCAR last year after JTG Daugherty Racing released him after three seasons together after the end of 2021.
Not only did Preece get a second chance, but he did so with a championship-winning organization. Stewart-Haas Racing is the best equipment Preece has driven in the Cup Series.
It’s an interesting position for Preece to take in: there was a lot of anticipation around him and the No. 41 team coming into the season. Preece’s talent and gamble on himself for it to result in a ride with a group like Stewart-Haas were lauded.
But the performance and results haven’t been there. So, has that been a damper on the experience thus far?
“I am having fun,” Preece says. “I tell this story to a lot of people. When I graduated high school, my parents had an HVAC business, so I worked for that. I worked at a steel plant. I worked at a go-kart track. All these different little jobs and I’d take being a race car driver over that. At the end of the day, we have awesome jobs.”
The numbers are disappointing: one pole, one top-10 finish, one top-five finish. It took until Richmond, the last race of July, for Preece to earn his season-best result (fifth). Other opportunities, the biggest being Martinsville Speedway in the spring thrown away by a speeding penalty. Preece won the pole and led every lap in the first stage (135) before the penalty.
Preece dominated at Martinsville before he was hit with a pit lane speeding penalty. Motorsport Images
Preece is 25th in the championship standings. He takes a deep breath when asked if it seems the reason has been a roller coaster.
“Years like this were there are certainly things that are beyond your control and that’s not making excuses that’s just a reality, you see it across the board,” Preece says. “We definitely came out of the gate really strong in L.A., and then Martinsville I felt like we were going to have a really good day. I don’t feel like I’m putting myself in bad situations and causing myself to wreck.
“You end up being a victim of circumstances and if you have to look back at what we can continue to work do better to help ourselves is probably qualify better. But as far as how our races go and how many cars we end up passing and doing all those things, I don’t think I have anything to hang my head on right now.”
It has been an “effortless” transition for Preece into the Stewart-Haas system. Although he didn’t race competitively much in 2022, Preece spent a lot of time behind the wheel of the organization’s simulator.
Preece and crew chief Chad Johnston are no strangers, having previously worked together in the Craftsman Truck Series. The duo won in their first of two races together in 2021 in Nashville and had six races together last season. There is comfort and honesty between the two in their communication.
Being a driver for Stewart-Haas, however, does bring new experiences and this year, Preece has learned to soak up all the information at his disposal (race car, aero, mechanical, etc.). Having the information is one thing though as Preece then has to decipher how to use it in the correct way.
“You have to make educational guesses on what’s good and what’s not and go to the racetrack,” he says. “You get 20 minutes of practice and right into qualifying, so when you leave that race shop, you leave with the same shocks and springs, you can’t change your geometry, you can’t change anything. So you live and die by what you’re showing up with. What are you going to do? Change ride height, change wedge and air pressure. That’s all you can do.
“Well that doesn’t make you go from a 35th-place car or a 20th-place car to a winning race car. That’s not how it’s done. Races right now are won by execution and coming to the racetrack being a winning race car. That’s what it takes.”
Kevin Harvick has drilled into Preece’s head the process of what it takes to win races, something Harvick and the No. 4 team have perfected. Preece and his team have been working on the process they need to succeed, and he feels there are things they do well and still more to do better.
“We’ve had steady progress since May,” Preece says. “We’ve certainly had some dips, but we’ve had progress from the (Coca-Cola) 600 on. I’ve felt like we’ve been working to maximize our days and for whatever reason, sometimes things don’t go as you want them to, and I wouldn’t say it’s completely in your control sometimes.”
Ford has been the third manufacturer in the pecking order this season and their struggles on the bigger racetracks clear. There have been four victories for Ford with three different drivers (Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Chris Buescher), and they are in position to have five drives make the postseason.
For as good as Preece has been some weeks, there have been others where the team was not in the ballpark. Even with the struggles being what they are, Preece isn’t making any excuses. A down year for the manufacturer doesn’t alleviate the pressure to produce.
“I wouldn’t be a racer that wants to win if I said, ‘Oh, pressure’s off’ because by no means is that (true),” Preece says. “That’s the attitude that we all have within our team. You can go into a meeting on Monday morning and look at everybody, and we aren’t willing to settle or be complacent. All you can do is continue to work and figure out what’s going to make the difference between you being a winning car and not being a winning car.”
Preece wants to work on ending the year with better qualifying results – inside the top 15 – and then consistently run inside the top 10. With where the No. 41 team is right now, those are the goals Preece believes they need to have, because being in the Cup Series field is great but for those like Preece, it’s not the end destination.
“What I really enjoy about working with my 41 team is the passion and desire to not just be OK,” Preece says. “Chad’s passion matches my passion and my personality – I have a very strong personality when it comes to racing and sometimes because you want to run so good that you can almost be, I don’t want to say overbearing, but I work really well with his personality.
“Everyone on our team, it meshes really well. We have a really good group and I hope it continues to keep building and we can show what we’re capable of because I know we’re capable of winning races, we’ve just got to put it all together.”
