● After a solid 12th-place finish last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Ryan Preece carries that momentum to a track where momentum is paramount – Talladega Superspeedway. The sweeping 2.66-mile oval in eastern Alabama hosts the GEICO 500 NASCAR Cup Series race this Sunday, and when Preece last turned laps there in October, he finished eighth after leading eight laps.
● The GEICO 500 will mark Preece’s ninth career NASCAR Cup Series start at Talladega with his best result being a third-place drive in his Cup Series debut at the track on April 28, 2019. That race was just the 15th of Preece’s Cup Series career and it remains his best finish with 160 Cup Series starts now under his belt.
● Preece has two additional starts at Talladega outside of the NASCAR Cup Series – one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Preece’s Xfinity Series race at Talladega in April 2016 was his first start of any kind at the track and he came away with a respectable 15th-place finish driving for team owner Johnny Davis. Preece’s Craftsman Truck Series start at Talladega was more recent. He finished fourth in October 2022 for team owner David Gilliland.
● Heading into Talladega, Preece is 24th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings with 137 points. He has moved up six spots in the last two races thanks to his ninth-place finish April 7 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and his 12th-place run at Texas.
● Joining Preece this weekend at Talladega is United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI), the largest equipment rental company in the world. United Rentals has an integrated network of 1,449 rental locations in North America, 13 in Europe, 27 in Australia and 19 in New Zealand. In North America, the company operates in 49 states and every Canadian province. The company’s approximately 24,700 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The company offers approximately 4,700 classes of equipment for rent with a total original cost of $19.3 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the Barron’s 400 Index and the Russell 3000 Index®. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Additional information about United Rentals is available at UnitedRentals.com.
● United Rentals is dedicated to making every lap a lap of honor. Join United Rentals in supporting military veterans and their families through its Turns for Troops program where United Rentals donates $50 for each lap Preece completes during specific races in 2024. Preece has already raised more than $119,000 through the Turns for Troops program, with a goal of racing an additional $67,000 this season. Funds from the Turns for Troops program goes to Operation Homefront.
Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang Dark Horse
What are your expectations for Talladega, especially considering your strong performance at the track last fall?
“Whenever our team goes to a superspeedway, I feel pretty confident. Racing at superspeedways is like playing a game of chess, and I like to think a lot of us play that game pretty well. At superspeedways, passing and making runs is really tough, so positioning yourself within the first couple of rows is important to have a shot at the end to win. Talladega is also a great opportunity to score stage points, and we see the value in those. We just have to do our best to accomplish those things this weekend because this is a good shot for us to have a really strong result.”
Talladega is a special racetrack in the history of NASCAR. What’s the significance of racing at such a historic venue?
“It certainly means a lot to roll into Talladega knowing that I have an opportunity to race at a track like that. When you think about NASCAR and its history, Talladega is immediately a track that comes to mind. I don’t want to say it’s a blast from the past type of feeling, but it’s very similar to the feeling you get when you roll into places like Daytona and Darlington that have such a storied history in this sport.”
Describe what it’s like to race at Talladega.
“It’s definitely a challenge. There’s certainly a lot going on when you’re behind the wheel at that track. You’re going around there at 190 mph, not lifting, pushing each other, cutting drivers off, and trying to do all these different things that most people think are crazy. It’s not easy, and sometimes we make it look easy, but there’s a lot going on in each 50-second lap time that you turn around the track.”
The unpredictability of Talladega is well known. How do you and the team approach a race with so many variables?
“We all know there’s going to be a big wreck. It’s something that’s pretty much certain to happen at superspeedways. Specifically, we look at this race with a goal of maximizing points. You can do your best to control the race, but points are really the only guaranteed takeaway from this track. Scoring stage points will be really important for us. You never know how Talladega will truly play out. You can watch previous races, but every race at Talladega has different tendencies. Every reaction a driver has due to the situation he’s in is going to be different. You ultimately try to see how the laps are going to play out in the moment, and if we’re in a position to capitalize, we’ll certainly give our best effort to do that.”
You and the No. 41 team have raised $119,000 for United Rentals’ Turn for Troops program. What does it mean for you and the team to lead the charge on this campaign to raise funds for military veterans and families?
“The spotlight needs to be on United Rentals for creating the opportunity for us to be able to do something like this. Knowing that every lap we complete is more money for our troops and their families is obviously a lot of weight on our shoulders. This weekend, the goal is to complete every single lap at Talladega so those families can receive every dollar possible.”
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