Preece plans on making his presence known in 2019
It’s moving day—one of many Ryan Preece has made over the winter during his transition from Connecticut to North Carolina.
In December, he and his wife Heather closed on their new home outside of Charlotte. The 2013 Whelen Modified champion was transferring his base of operations before embarking on his rookie year in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with JTG/Daugherty Racing.
And with just a few weeks remaining before the 2019 Daytona 500, Preece knew it was time to get his house and garage in order.
“I’m driving the U-Haul down right now,” Preece said as he spoke to RacinBoys.com. “It’s all going, moving along. I would say the off-season wasn’t very long, because we’ve been juggling stuff back and forth, trying to get cars done. But it’s finally going to be nice once the test session comes from Vegas and Speedweeks gets here.
“It’s almost funny. Most people will say things are going to pick up. For me, I feel like things are going to slow down. Things will be more predictable. Less running around between going back up north and driving down south. It’s almost been weekly at this point. It’s going to be nice to be in just one place. Thursday through Sunday being at the race track. Then Monday through Wednesday being at home.”
After a decade of competing in stock cars on a limited basis, the 28-year-old racer will be running just his second full season on one of NASCAR’s top tours. In 2016, Preece campaigned with Johnny Davis in the Xfinity Series for the entire year but finished 20th in the standings following a rash of mechanical issues.
The following year, Preece pooled what resources he had into a four-race deal with Joe Gibbs Racing. In his first start behind the wheel of the he finished second to Kyle Busch at his home track—New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Preece won from the pole in his next race at Iowa Speedway. He didn’t finish worse than fifth in his final two starts. Preece parlayed his opportunity into a half-season run for 2018. He won at Bristol, posted seven top fives and 10 top 10s in 15 starts.
More important, Preece captured the attention of team owner Tad Geschickter, who was searching for a solution to improve performance on the No. 47 team. Geschickter had full funding from Kroger. He has a solid turnkey program with chassis and engines from Hendrick Motorsports. In Preece, he found a racer.
And Preece has found a home.
“Working around guys like Ernie (Cope) and Tristan (Smith), it’s like being back home working on modifieds,” Preece said of his competition director and crew chief at JTGD. “Being around those types of people, it’s something I’m really looking forward to. It feels like racing. It feels like something I’m going to enjoy—working with these guys. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Preece’s first opportunity to work on track with his team will come later this week during a test of the new aerodynamic package at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He can’t wait to get started.
“You want the Vegas test to be here just to find the baseline or a direction that you should be heading,’ Preece said. “At this point, it’s just waiting to get on track. Everything is in motion. They're building cars. But to have a sense of direction as to where we need to go with aero package, we really need to get on track.
“At track is the best place for me to learn things. I wish we were still allowed to test. Yes, I know it saves teams money, but it hurts drivers—younger drivers like myself and Daniel (Suarez) where if you don’t have as much seat time as a guy like Kyle Busch or Kevin Harvick, to try and catch up with those guys and get to their level it takes years and years.
“I really want to do the best we can right out of the gate. So those two days at Vegas, we’ll be focused on learning as much as we can together.”
Preece admits this is the first “legitimate opportunity” he’s had to run for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year since he started racing.
While his main focus will be acclimating to the Cup Series, Preece will kick off the season racing his modified at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway. His cars and equipment were part of the extensive move south. The short-track ace has a stout record in both Modified tours. Preece has one title, 22 wins, 16 poles 77 top fives and 103 top 10s on the Whelen Modified tour and three wins, nine poles, 10 top fives and 11 top 10s in the Southern series.
“There are at least three nights at New Smyrna and about five to ten races overall on the schedule,” Preece said. “I only plan on doing two-to-three Whelen Modified Tour races and the other stuff is just like on our weekends off that really make sense on doing.
“Obviously, the Cup stuff is our number one priority. I’m not going to create any extra work for myself.”
Preece will have Stevie Reeves spotting for him this year. He’s grateful to have a former racer and veteran spotter guiding him through his freshman year.
Despite the holidays—and unpacking into his house, Preece has found time to get acquainted with teammate Chris Buescher. He describes the 26-year-old Texan as “easy going” and looks forward to working with him. Buescher, who begins his third season with JTGD in 2019, considers Preece a good fit with the organization.
“I don’t know if I’m a veteran to the point where I can sit there and try and give someone a whole lot of advice because I’m learning at the same time, but I feel like it will be good for us to be able to go through our debrief meetings or at the race track after practice, be able to get together and compare notes and be able to figure out how to get better,” Buescher said. “I think that's something that communication should be good, and we have been able to start talking about the season beforehand, and I feel like it’s going to be really good.”
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