Counting The Seconds: Ryan Preece Left Wanting More After Whelen Modified Tour Season Finale

THOMPSON – Two was a number Ryan Preece wasn’t happy thinking about Sunday evening at Thompson International Speedway.

It was a number that represented his finish not only in Sunday’s Whelen Modified Tour season ending World Series of Speedway Racing 150 at Thompson, but also the place he ended up in the final series standings.

For the second time no less.

Doug Coby of Milford clinched his first Whelen Modified Tour championship with a sixth place finish Sunday at Thompson. Preece ended up 11 points behind Coby in the final standings.

The 21-year old Preece, from Berlin, also finished second in the series standings in 2009.

“I don’t think I ever wanted a championship in my life as bad as I wanted it today,” Preece said. “You finish second once before and it’s like ‘Oh cool I finished second.’ You finish second, granted, Doug had a phenomenal year, but I don’t think anybody wanted it any more than I wanted it today.

“It’s just one of those things. I don’t want to never get this opportunity again. I have plenty of years ahead of me. The position I’m in, I’m always going to do whatever I can to make the best of it and not lose.”

After spending much of the 2011 season looking for a full-time ride in the series, Preece landed with Flamingo Motorsports for the final event of the 2011 season, replacing seven-time series champion Mike Stefanik in the Flamingo car.

Preece finished the 2012 season with two victories, eight top-fives and ten top-10’s in 14 starts. Preece led a series high 687 laps this season. Coby led the second most in the series in 2012 with 347.

“We gave it everything we had,” Preece said. “I tried my hardest, I gave it everything, but we came up short. I’m happy for Doug.

“I think I made a statement that if I’m given the opportunity I’ll keep the car in one piece and be there to win races. I think it showed basically every race this year. I led a lot of laps. We didn’t win all the races that we probably could have, but we’re a first year team. [Crew chief Sly Szaban] is learning me, we made a lot of strides this year and we’re definitely working well. I can only imagine that next year is going to go even better.”