● Ryan Preece and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse are ready for a highly anticipated return to the iconic 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the first time since 2020, when now-retired Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick scored his second of back-to-back dominating Brickyard 400 victories. Preece and his teammates would like nothing better than to keep the company’s Brickyard 400 win streak alive this weekend. The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the historic, rectangular oval after competing instead on the speedway’s 2.439-mile, 14-turn grand prix road circuit from 2021 through 2023.
● Preece has a pair of Brickyard 400s under his belt, driving for JTG Daugherty Racing in the 2018 and 2019 editions of the racing tradition that began in 1994. Preece finished 16th in the 2018 event before seeing his bid the following year ended by an accident just 14 laps into the race. The 33-year-old Berlin, Connecticut, native competed in two of the four races held on the Indy grand prix circuit, recording a 35th-place result for JTG Daugherty Racing after an accident 18 laps from the finish ended his day in 2021, and a 31st-place result last year in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Ford.
● The No. 41 Ford for Stewart-Haas had back-to-back-to-back solid finishes in the last three Brickyard 400s from 2018 to 2020. Kurt Busch drove it to a sixth-place finish in 2018, Daniel Suarez drove it to an 11th-place finish in 2019, and Cole Custer drove it to a fifth-place finish in 2020. Before Harvick’s consecutive victories in 2019 and 2020 in the No. 4 Ford, Ryan Newman scored the company’s first Brickyard 400 win from the pole in 2013, driving the No. 39 Stewart-Haas entry.
● In addition to his Cup Series outings, Preece has a pair of NASCAR Xfinity Series starts on the Indianapolis oval. He made his series debut at the track for owner Johnny Davis in 2016, when he started 27th and finished 25th. Preece returned for the 2018 Xfinity Series race in a Joe Gibbs Racing entry, which he qualified third before an accident cut his race short 22 laps shy of the finish.
● Preece arrives at Indianapolis after a 30th-place result last Sunday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. An accident ended his day on the 2.5-mile triangle 121 laps into the 160-lap race. He sits 27th in the Cup Series driver standings after best finishes this season of fourth at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway on June 30, and ninth at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on April 7.
● Joining Preece and the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Indianapolis is HaasTooling.com, the cutting tool division of Haas Automation. HaasTooling.com allows 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. 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.
Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
The NASCAR Cup Series raced on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course at Indianapolis since from 2021 through 2023, but this weekend the series makes a highly anticipated return to its 2.5-mile oval. What are your thoughts heading into the weekend?
“I think racing there on the oval is what every racecar driver dreams of doing at some point in their career. It deserves a spot on our schedule. I enjoy road courses, and I think those racetracks suit my style of racing, but the oval, at Indianapolis, is just a special place. I’m excited for the opportunity to race there again, and hopefully we can grab a solid finish in our No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse.”
Sunday’s Brickyard 400 will mark the first time the NextGen car has raced on the oval at Indianapolis. What do you anticipate needing from your racecar to be quick this weekend?
“We’re still working really hard to roll off the truck better, and I feel like we did that last weekend. I think we can look at Pocono, take a lot of what was found there, and apply it at the Brickyard this weekend. Pocono and Indianapolis are as similar as two tracks could possibly be on our schedule. Indy is certainly a lot smoother than Pocono, but as far as the setup, there won’t be a lot of variation between the two racetracks. The racing product should be similar.”
Talk about your first race weekend at Indianapolis.
“It was certainly special. I ran my first race there in 2016, when I drove for JD Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. I remember riding into the speedway for the first time, knowing the history of the Brickyard and the legendary drivers that have raced there, it was a little intimidating. The racetrack has an aura about it, and I’m just thankful for the opportunities that have given me a shot to race at Indy.”
● Event: Brickyard 400 (Round 22 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 21
● Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
● Layout: 2.5-mile rectangular oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps/400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 50 laps / Stage 2: 50 laps / Final Stage: 60 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / IMS / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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