June 18, 2021 | By Lee Spencer

Ryan Preece's win has Grant Enfinger singing the blues at Nashville

Ryan Preece’s coming out party in the Camping World Truck Series ended in Nashville Superspeedway’s Victory Lane.  

Following a decade-long absence from the track, the 30-year-old racer from Berlin, Connecticut wheeled the No. 17 received an iconic Gibson guitar for his effort.

Preece took the lead from Grant Enfinger with seven laps remaining in the Rackley Roofing 200. 

“That was a lot of fun,” Preece said. “Really, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know anything. I was just taking the guidance from Chad (crew chief Johnston) and my teammates and told them I’d be better in the race then I was in qualifying and practice. And fortunately, I lived up to that.”

Preece, who pilots the No. 37 Chevrolet for JTG Daugherty Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, crossed the line .950-seconds ahead of his teammate Todd Gilliland.

“It stings not to get that last spot especially because I was under the 17 and got too loose,” Gilliland said. “But that’s racing.”

Enfinger, who led three times including 34 of the final 42 laps, finished third followed by Zane Smith, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski, Austin Hill and series points leader John Hunter Nemechek. 

“I feel like we had the track position, he was just able to get me on the restart and I was able to get him back a little bit. It was fun racing there with Ryan,” Enfinger said. “You know, I like racing with racers so that one was special. 

“I wish we could have come home with the win. We had the advantage with the track position, just used up the tires a little too much. I don’t really know what we really could have done differently, maybe started the pressures a little lower or something like that, but he was just too good for us there at the end.”

Derek Kraus, who won his first career pole then led the first 48 laps en route to the stage 1 win. Kraus had a dominant truck but found the backstretch wall on Lap 111 after contact with Josh Berry.

Chandler Smith took the lead for Stage 2 and led 48 laps en route to the second stage win before finishing 13th. 

Preece became just the fifth driver in Camping World Truck Series his to win in his tour debut, joining an elite fraternity that includes Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Robert Pressley and Mike Skinner—the tour’s first champion.