(Press Release from JD Motorsports)
Ryan Preece
Ryan Preece jumped to 17th in the Xfinity Series driver standings with a solid 21st-place run in Saturday’s Axalta 200 race at Phoenix International Raceway.
Preece drove the JD Motorsports with Gary Keller No. 01 Chevrolet to a ninth-place spot in the first qualifying round Saturday. He started the race 24th.
“We had a very good car and got in some strong laps,” Preece said. “I knew it was going to be a good day when the car did so well in qualifying. This is something we can build on.”
Preece ran as high as 20th and stayed in the middle of the pack all afternoon.
Sprint Cup driver Kyle Busch won the race, leading 175 of the 200 laps. Daniel Suarez kept the point lead.
The series moves on to Fontana, Calif. for a March 19 race at Auto Club Speedway.
Preece and team are starting to find some speed,and is it just me or is he making Chastain a better racer also?
This series is in some serious trouble. The racing has been unwatchable so far. The disparity of haves and have nots is worst than ever and if Kyle Busch is in the field he wins. Still trying to figure why Johnny Davis runs 3 bad cars instead of 1 good one.
Because Johnny gets payed by 3 teams instead of 1 team ,he runs a business,and that’s what this is big business,if you think Ryan is there because Johnny likes him, I have a bridge for sale you might like
I agree with Franky, the series is unwatchable. The trucks provide a far better show. Preece will run about 20th every week. He has nothing for the good teams but a little more than the really bad teams. He is however, keeping the wheels on it as they say. Maybe a good team will come calling down the road. Ryan just needs to keep turning laps on all these tracks he has never seen before.
Where was all that speed when Preece went down a lap on lap 35? And that was with a restart on lap 5 or 6. Field Filler.
I’m not sure what point Chris is trying to make . You have to look at it in perspective. no one expects a Rookie, who is running on a lot of these tracks for the first time in equipment that is not in the same league as what the bigger teams have, to work miracles. There’s also nothing wrong with being a field filler, racing needs them. All those bigger teams know what kind of equipment people like Ryan are in. So when they see flashes of brilliance like running well in the first round of qualifying they take notice.
Don’t make the mistake of speaking the truth on this site. Lot of sensitive people here. Seems someone spoke of these same issues when this was announced and was battered about being negative. For the record, great question Chris D. Every time he sat in a mod he made headlines. His name is non existent in this series. Getting lapped every 25-30 laps on a 1.5 mile track or winning mod races???……hhhmmmmm.
Chrid D., the increased speed won’t help much with the Gibbs cars blowing everyone away. The JR Motorsports and sometimes the Childress team are the only ones that can even come close to keeping up with them. Even, the Penkse and Roush cars are having a tough time staying on the lead lap this year. The races resemble a sportscar series that have multiple classes of cars on the track at the same time. During the 80’s and early 90’s I enjoyed the Busch Series more than Cup. Now the Xfinity races are brutal to sit through.
LOTS OF HATERS ON HERE……THE KID HAS WORKED HIS ASS OFF AND GOTTEN HIMSELF A RIDE IN THE XFINITY SERIES. DO YOUR RESEARCH THERE ARE PLENTY OF GUYS THAT STARTED OUT AS “FIELD FILLERS” AND MADE A NAME FOR THEMSELVES. WE HAVE HAD PLENTY OF GUYS FROM AROUND HERE GET A SNIFF IN THE BIG LEAGUES AND NOT BE ABLE TO CATCH ON WITH A TEAM…..(DILLON MOLTZ, TED CHRISTOPHER…..ETC) I AM NOT A PREECE FAN BUT JESUS CAN PEOPLE JUST BE PROUD OF HIM AND BE HAPPY HE IS MAKING A NAME FOR THIS LITTLE CORNER OF RACING WE LOVE.
Hopefully this isn’t the case ,but in a lot of previous case’s your there till the money runs out and then the next kid with some talent and more importantly money behind him gets a ride,sad but these owners are running a business and need to make a profit
Stop yelling at me!
As long as he isn’t wrecking, he’s getting looked at and someone with top shelf cars will pick him up. He’s doing the best that can be done with what he’s got.
Still no answer on why they run 3 non sponsored cars instead of one good one. For the 3 cars in purse money they made 35,000 maybe. Just asking not hating. Go preece lightning.
dareal, how can you be so sure someone with top shelf cars will pick him up? Is he the ONLY driver hoping to land a top shelf ride, or are there dozens of others with similar credentials? Like everyone else on the bandwagon around here, you make it sound like a done deal. Do you have inside information that hasn’t gone public yet? Preece Nation wants to know. At least elect tells it like it is. Also, did anyone else notice the lack of sponsors on Preece’s car at Phoenix? The hood had nothing on it…it was very shiny though.
Chris that’s a good point. And probably why Preece has taken the opportunity to run the Xfinity series full time. By running the series he’s getting his name out there and showing what he’s capable of in that type of car, which is important. There are a lot of guys out there that have a lot of talent, but they don’t always get noticed. Its all about being in the right place at the right time. I believe his chances at getting hooked up with a team that has competitive equipment, or landing bigger sponsors, are better if he is in a place where he is seen. For the record I’m not necessarily a Preece bandwagon fan, but I am a fan of seeing local stock car drivers get a chance to run the upper series. I think that’s what Nascar needs. So I am rooting for Preece to succeed!
I AM NOT A MEMBER OF “PREECE NATION” BUT I WAS JUST WONDERING CHRIS D……FOR ALL THE HATING YOU ARE DOING. WHAT CAR DO YOU DRIVE? WHAT TEAM DO YOU WORK ON? OH THAT’S RIGHT NONE. YOU SOUND BITTER LIKE PREECE ALWAYS KICKED THE ASS OF SOMEONE YOU KNOW IN A MODIFIED OR SOMETHING. DON’T WORRY ONE DAY SOMEONE YOU ROOT FOR WILL GET A BREAK I PROMISE.
WONDERING, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO WILL HAVE YOUR HEART BROKEN, NOT ME. HATE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, JUST STATING THE OBVIOUS. JUST LIKE THE TIME RYAN HAD TO GIVE THE CHECKERED FLAG BACK TO THE OFFICIALS IN VICTORY LANE AT STAFFORD LAST YEAR AFTER HE WAS DQ’D FOR DUMPING PENNINK ON THE LAST LAP. WE WERE ALL HEARTBROKEN AFTER THAT ONE. MAYBE GIBBS AND ROUSCH SHOULD WATCH THE TAPE OF THAT ONE ON YOU TUBE.
And for those of you who don’t believe that that actually happened, the date was 7/24/15, the SK feature.
@Chris – And Ryan is the ONLY one to EVER do something like that, right? OMG – Stop the presses !!!!
Dude, get off it. We know you can’t stand him – we get it. Stop making yourself look like your IQ is in the negative numbers, already.