● Still looking for his first NASCAR Cup Series career victory, a short track like Martinsville (Va.) Speedway could be the place where Ryan Preece gets it done. Preece is ready to get back to his short-track roots this weekend as the series heads to the .526-mile paperclip-shaped oval Sunday afternoon for the NOCO 400. Preece has made seven starts at Martinsville in his Cup Series career with a best finish of 16th coming in the March 2019 event. Sunday’s race will mark Preece’s first Cup Series start there with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).
● Preece has tasted success at Martinsville in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and hopes that translates to his No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang this weekend. In his six Modified Tour starts at Martinsville, the 2013 series champion has one win in 2008 to go with two top-fives and 423 laps led, with an average start of 7.8 and an average finish of 13.5. He started on the pole and led a race-high 110 of 200 laps en route to a 12th-place finish in the April 2021 race.
● Eight races into this season, Preece is 27th in the driver standings with 108 points.
● Introducing the Haas Tooling Winner’s Circle from HaasTooling.com. The No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang will sport a similar but different look this weekend, adding a new Winner’s Circle logo to the red, white and black paint scheme. HaasTooling.com, the online tooling division of the U.S. machine tool builder Haas Automation, Inc., introduces the Haas Tooling Winner’s Circle, a membership program that offers customers free next-day delivery, discounted pricing on all products, and a lower threshold for free shipping. HaasTooling.com already offers industry-leading pricing and fast delivery on an expansive selection of cutting tools, toolholders, and workholding products. Now, Haas Tooling Winner’s Circle members will get the added benefits of free shipping on all orders over $49, free next-day delivery anywhere in the contiguous United States (on most orders), and 5% off every tooling purchase. For even greater savings, the 5 percent discount may be combined with other promotions, and a single membership may be used by an entire company.
● HaasTooling.com is back again in 2023 on the No. 41 SHR Ford Musting, the cutting tool division of Haas Automation led by SHR co-owner Gene Haas. HaasTooling.com was launched as a way for CNC machinists to purchase high-quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas cutting tools are sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end users. HaasTooling.com products became available nationally in July 2020. Haas Automation, founded in 1983, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers, rotaries and indexers, and automation solutions.
● The Cup Series took to the dirt at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway last weekend for a Sunday-night race under the lights. Preece made his second start on the dirt surface. Saturday, he started third in his qualifying heat race and finished second, giving him a starting position of ninth for the main event Sunday. Preece ran up front during the first stage and finished fourth to earn seven bonus points. A broken toe link put him two laps down during the second stage and he spent the remainder of the laps trying to make up spots, ultimately salvaging a 24th-place finish.
● In the season’s first short-track race two weekends ago at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, where he won a 2021 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event, Preece started 33rd and finished 18th.
● The previous weekend, Preece and his Cup Series competitors took part in their first road-course race of the season at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. It marked the series’ third visit to the 3.426-mile, 20-turn circuit. Preece started 26th for his second COTA appearance and finished 36th. He had a promising start as he rallied for a 10th-place finish in Stage 1. But he was ultimately caught up in a multicar accident in the closing laps of the race.
● Preece concluded the 2023 West Coast swing with his best points-paying finish of the season – 12th – at Phoenix Raceway on March 12. He followed that with a 28th-place result in his fifth Cup Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19.
● At the season’s second event at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Preece was a victim of circumstance, getting caught up in a multicar accident on a lap-88 restart and ultimately finishing 33rd. The following weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he battled a tight racecar all day and was credited with a 23rd-place finish.
● Preece opened the 2023 season with a strong showing in the 65th running of the Daytona 500. He and the No. 41 Ford Mustang qualified 20th and logged the best 10-consecutive-lap average in final practice. On race day, Preece finished second in Stage 1 before getting caught up in a multicar accident on lap 181. He was unable to return to the race and finished 36th.
● Win a trip to the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and meet Ryan Preece! RaceChoice.com, a proud partner of Preece, has launched a giveaway for fans. The winner will receive airfare and a two-night stay in Daytona Beach. RaceChoice.com will also give the winners two pit passes for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, August 26 at 7 p.m. ET, preceded by a meet-and-greet with Preece, driver of the No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang. Visit https://racechoice.com/2023-daytona-giveaway/for more information.
We’re heading back to another short track, what is the strategy going to be for you and your team?
“We’re putting a huge emphasis on qualifying this weekend. We are going to be focused on practice and seeing where our car stacks up. Hopefully, we’re fast right out the gate and, from there, we’ve got to be strong in qualifying so we can start up front. At a track like Martinsville, we’ve seen it at the other similar tracks this season, you don’t want to start in the back. It’s so hard to pass and move up front when you start in the back at Martinsville. So, we just want to qualify up front and stay there for the race. It’s a long race, so maintaining that track position and staying out of trouble will be really important. I like Martinsville and I have experience there; it goes back to my short-track background and I’m excited to get out there and be in the mix fighting for a grandfather clock.”
What’s the racing at Martinsville going to be like?
“To me, Martinsville is a big Coliseum, so there are some things that we can take from that race. There are also some things that we have to change. I feel like our short-track stuff has been really good and shows a lot of promise so, going into Martinsville, I’m obviously very optimistic. The racing at Martinsville is always very aggressive, you have to be aggressive to stay in it. You also have to be smart so you don’t get wrecked in the corners. I’ve had a lot of success there in Modifieds, so hopefully that translates over to the Cup car. I’ve got a lot of momentum on my side right now, I’m ready to get out there and get the finishes this 41 team deserves.”
You finished second in your heat race at the Bristol dirt race and you were running up front in the beginning. Do you feel like things are finally trending in the right direction?
“I think if we could’ve kept track position, we had a top 10 car. But when it got slick like that, I don’t know how many people were actually moving forward, but it was just try and hold on. That’s the third week in a row we’ve run in the top-10. It starts with running there to win races and we’ve showed speed, so that’s something. I’m glad we’ve got the speed but, ultimately, it’s frustrating to not get the results from where you’re running. At the end of the day, the clock always resets at midnight. We’re moving forward and we’re focused on Martinsville.”
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