Two Good: Ryan Preece Finishes Second To Kyle Busch In Xfinity Series Overton’s 200 At NHMS

Ryan Preece on track during Saturday’s Xfinity Series Overton’s 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR)

“How many articles have I read or seen, or short [track drivers] that you’ve heard of who have said ‘Man if I could just have that opportunity,’” Ryan Preece said of drivers talking about getting that one shot at a top level NASCAR series with a powerhouse team.

Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Preece, of Berlin, got to live the dream that so many short track drivers only ever dream. It was the chance to run a NASCAR Xfinity Series event for a powerhouse stock car racing team. And Preece represented short track racers in glorious fashion in his first career start with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Preece finished second to Monster Energy Cup Series star Kyle Busch in the Xfinity Series Overton’s 200 Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The 26-year old Preece is a regular on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour – where he was the 2013 series champion – and a longtime regular in the weekly SK Modified divisions at Stafford Motor Speedway and Thompson Speedway.

“What I really want to say is that this one is for all the short track guys out there that work week in and week in their race shops, getting ready to go on Friday nights and Saturday nights,” Preece said. “That’s what I do on my weekly grind. Monday morning I’m going to go back to work on my Modified to race on Friday. It means a lot to do it on this stage, to prove to people that I feel like I belong to be here. I would only get better with more seat time.”

Preece spent last year running full-time in the Xfinity Series with the underfunded Johnny Davis Motorsports team. He finished 17th in the series standings and stepped away from the ride after the 2016 season with the plan that he was better off chasing part-time opportunities with upper level organizations. He got that chance when Joe Gibbs Racing signed him to a two-race deal for Saturday’s race at NHMS and the July 29 Xfinity Series event at Iowa Speedway.

The second place in the Xfinity series event closed out a stellar weekend for Preece in Loudon. He won Friday’s Whelen Modified Tour All-Star Shootout and was second in the Whelen Modified Tour Eastern Propane & Oil 100 on Saturday prior to the Xfinity Series race.

“I like to win races,” Preece said. “… You really can’t complain if you get two seconds and a win in a weekend.”

Busch is the all-time winningest Xfinity Series driver with 89 victories, and he has won six of the last nine Xfinity Series events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway dating back to 2009.

“To win today was going to take beating Kyle Busch,” Preece said. “I’ve watched him win a lot of races in the Xfinity Series sitting on my couch at home so to be able to finish second to him today was a great accomplishment and something to build on.

“… We got second to Kyle Busch. What else can you do from there? Not quite the win, but it was definitely something.”

Preece started sixth in the Xfinity Series event and spent most of the event running in the top-five. He led two laps of the event.

“He just ran a good smart race,” Busch said. “From what I could see he just ran a smooth race and did a good job and kept his car under him. … He was keeping pace. … I think what was more impressive was him bouncing back and forth between as much as track time as he had with the Modified to deal with and then getting in the Xfinity car back and forth.”

Said Preece: “Iowa is the next task, the next goal. I’ve got to do as much as I can to prepare for there so we can have another solid finish. … To be able to have this opportunity means a lot to me. … A lot of people sacrificed a lot to put me in this car and that means a lot.”