Ryan Preece is working on Sunday’s behind the wheel of his Stewart-Haas Racing NASCAR Cup Series ride, but the Berlin native and former Whelen Modified Tour champion is also on the job hunt.
Stewart-Haas Racing announced in late May that the team would be closing its doors at the end of this season. Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway Preece helped that job hunting effort.
Preece finished fourth in the Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway Sunday.
It was the first Cup Series top-five of the season for Preece. His best finish before Sunday was a ninth place at Martinsville Speedway on April 7.
The fourth place finish followed up an 11th place run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in last Sunday’s USA Today 301.
When asked about his efforts in finding a ride for next season Preece said: “It puts food on my table for my wife and my kid. This helps a lot with that. I came down here, I did everything I did in 2017 and moving on obviously to JTG Daugherty [Racing]. I was a short track racer trying to make a living at a national level. I’m not done doing that.”
Preece restarted in fourth on the fifth attempt at a green-white-checkered finish at Nashville. Joey Logano won the event.
When asked what he could have done differently on the final restart Preece said: “Probably be on the bottom. My car taking off on a restart was a lot better in the bottom lane, but I didn’t want to put myself a row back. At the end of the day I’ll take that result from what it potentially was going to be.
“Thanks to the 41 team, Stewart-Haas [Racing], Ford Performance, Haas Tooling, Mohawk Northeast, United Rentals – big supporter of mine – RaceChoice.com and Morton Buildings. Without the support of them I’d be sitting … racing a Modified at a short track. Definitely appreciate it. Hopefully this can hope build some moral.”
Before the event Preece’s crew chief Chad Johnston told broadcasters the team was trying to the setup used by Preece’s teammate Josh Berry.
“We’ve been trending in that direction and it’s definitely a lot better,” Preece said. “There’s just little things that we’re working toward, trying to get it so I like it a little bit more. I think between New Hampshire last week, this week, we’re trending in a good direction and that’s positive when you’re coming into the summer months.”
Surely just luck today
Good to see Ryan get a top 5. I only caught the race from the second overtime, so I don’t know how well he ran all day, but 4th with a chance to win is good. Everyone was driving like animals during those overtime restarts.
He’s Had His Share Of Bad Luck Also!!! He Deserves A Break Too Every Now And Then.
i watched a good portion of the cup race. He was running between 20 and 27 most of the race. He definitely benefitted from the rash of yellows and empty gas tanks at the end of the race. He has had his share of bad luck, a few lucky breaks are due to come his way. 4th place is a great finish for that team. Not exactly sure why, but since the announcement they have looked better. Maybe everyone is trying harder to find a new job.
Glad to see he has some decent finishes of late, but his team has been no help this season. Roof flap issues pushes him into the 30’s in points, climbs back to 21st in points and then fire with the door foam? In good equipment he will do well and has proven in Trucks and Xfinity he can do well.