NASCAR Cup Series regular Ryan Preece will make his first Whelen Modified Tour start of the season in the Thompson 150 on Sept. 2 at Thompson Speedway.
The midweek show affords Preece, the 2013 Whelen Modified Tour champion, the opportunity to get back to a track where success has been plentiful previously for him in both a Whelen Modified Tour car and an SK Modified.
“The way the schedule has kind of worked out right now it seems like there’s an opportunity to be able to race,” Preece told RaceDayCT. “It’s a good opportunity to be able to keep racing and try to win.”
Preece is in his second season running in the Cup Series fulltime for JTG Daugherty Racing.
Preece was fourth in the Lincoln Tech Open Modified 80 last Friday at Stafford Speedway driving for Ed and Connie Partridge owned TS Haulers Team, which he will represent at Thompson.
The Berlin ran regularly in the SK Modified division at Thompson from 2011 to 2018 for car owners Al and Cathy Moniz. He had 30 wins for the team and won track championships in 2012 and 2014.
“It’s a place where I’ve won a lot at,” Preece said. “It’s like riding a bike. But probably more than anything it’s gotten to a point where everybody has gotten their cars so good that when you’re not doing it every week it definitely makes it difficult to make sure that you’re up to speed with all that and make sure everyone is ready. Last week was a good warmup for getting everybody back in the flow of things and make it a little easier. I feel like we’ll be ready and hopefully we have a really good race car.”
Even if he wins the 400 on Saturday?
Sure JD drivers drive hung over all the time.
JD
Sure, anything is possible, but, thanks for the laugh! No disrespect to Mr Preece, but that made my day!
Seriously, he is in dire straights in the 37. All the silly season talk in cup, and his name only comes up, as a possible open seat.
I see Corey LaJoy, maybe DeBennidetto if it don’t work out in 21. I can’t see Jones, but hey, anything is possible. The only thing I don’t see, however, is Preece in cup next year. If so, bittersweet as it’s good for modified racing if he comes back full time. I really hope I’m wrong, but it don’t look good. Fat lady???
I think allot like you JD. How can Ryan keep running mid 20th, and keep his ride. Then I heard Brad Dougherty on a broadcast saying that they needed to give the drivers better stuff, if they expected them to run better. Gave me some hope, that maybe he’ll get at least 1 more year. Who knows though, that business is very cutthroat.
I heard the same rumor which speculated Corey Lajoi to the 37. I think you are going to have Kyle Larson coming back next year. The prayers of the dirt track racers are answered. He will land a top tier ride probably Stewart Hass. Then its like dominos. the displaced top driver takes a second tier ride, the second tier takes a lower level ride. The only drivers breaking into cup have money behind them or are aligned with top teams which are using lower teams to get their future drivers experience. When all the dominos fall where does that leave Preece next year? Unfortunately for him probably entertaining us in a modified. I hope I am wrong. He is the only reason I tune in to watch Cup races as infrequently as I do. He proved he can be competitive in the top ranks when he ran with Gibbs in Xfinity. If he is left out next year, he should be proud of his accomplishments. Now anything can happen at Daytona. You win and you are in.
I’m serious. Daytona is his best track and everyone has a shot to win. Just have to avoid the “big one”.
If Monadnock gets pushed to Sunday(or next weekend) I will be watching.
The drivers are not the reason the 37 & 47 are lacking performance. The CARS are not that good.
Put Busch, Harvick, Logano, etc. in those cars and they’d still be P20 cars.
Daugherty knows that. He can’t blame the drivers. He has to provide better cars.
Dareal;
Absolutely no disagreement here. However, with a lack of performance, even if an operation sucks, management has to blame someone, and make a change. So, preece was just “ho hum” in the 47 last year. This year, Preece with bueschers old team and with crew chief, who, was marginally better than preece in 47 last year. And, this year, the 37 dips from last years results. Hmmm.
So I don’t disagree Dareal, I just see it as Preece is the fall guy at JTG this year, is all. Hey, JTG is what it appears to be. Middle of the middle tier on their best days imo.
Bothers me is his name never comes up as a “possibility” for any other cup seat. even with the great Xfinity results in JGR equipment. I guess it just don’t matter how good you are$$$$$.
Doug, you are usually a positive Preece fan, and glass half full on this topic, so tell me I’m wrong???
JTG Daugherty has had numerous alliances over the years. From procuring technical services and engines from Micheal Waltrip Racing, RCR, and Hendricks. Look, RCR and Hendricks are not the power houses they were.
I don’t think many teams that source their engines, cars and expertise end up as dominant power house teams.
Kyle Larson to RPM, second car teammate to Bubba, in a Toyota. Then the chips will fall.
Bobf, management will be management, they are in the position to blame anybody they so choose.
I’ve read the observations from the top Cup sports geeks on all the driver moves and none give Preece more then a minimal chance to return to the JTG Daugherty Team in 2021. That being the case the only thing it means to me is that I need to really take in and enjoy the rest of his Cup series races. Hoping that the prognostications that are frequently wrong do not come to pass and that we here and the sports geeks missed something.
Make no mistake about it. A return to local modified racing would be nice for us but it’s a return to being an amateur and losing your great paying dream job in the process. If he is to lose the seat I’d hope he could land something anywhere in Cup, Xfinity or anywhere doing anything that allows him to continue to be a paid professional in the sport.
I don’t see anything funny about JD’s prediction. An ultra long shot for sure but not impossible either. It’s what fans do. Hope for the very unlikely against overwhelming odds wearing rose colored glasses.
I thought running this race as the last race before the playoffs would be cool. I’ve since changed my mind. They should go back to Richmond. Jobs, sponsors and careers are on the line. To combine the pressure of winning or getting into playoffs with the increased dangers of a superspeedway is a recipe for disaster. This race could get ugly. I hope and pray for the best on Saturday.
Hard to ever take a step back but maybe he should. He walked away from a crappy Xfinity ride and gambled on himself and got a better ride. Maybe running a full x finity season for a championship and being competitive every week would be more rewarding. Trouble would be finding a team to take on a veteran. Maybe JR or maybe 02 car, the Our car with Suess has been quitly decent maybe looking to make another step. Good modified connections.
Unbiased- Suess walked away from the Our deal last month with some pretty pointed comments.
I believe Ryan will either get a top ride with Tony Steward / Haas Racing in the 14 , or Chip Ganassi Racing
in the 42 if he doesn’t stay with JTG Daugherty. I know that Gibbs was impressed with how Ryan handled
himself in the part time ride , how fast he got up to speed and WON Races right away… With that said He may have options in the Xfinity Series with Gibbs . Also Dale Jr talked highly about Ryan many times so he could have a spot for Ryan to prove Himself in a top notch equipment . We all know if Ryan was in a Gibbs or Penske or any top five team he could Win , No doubt in my mind . The silly season will shake itself out as it always does .. Hopefully Ryan will land somewhere were He can compete with a level playing field and be able to show what we’ve known for quite awhile He has the Talent to Win at the Highest Levels of NASCAR.. See What Happens…
Doug, point taken.
I also asked for glass half full, and surely, its possible. Ryan has shown he can avoid big ones. Also, I realize different driver, crew chief, but Stenhouse has certainly shown that on the plate tracks, jtg is capable of fielding a competitive car. So, i may have been too quick to judge. I’m not quite sure about wanting him to land “anywhere” in cup though, just to stay at that level. I’m not sure how racing with someone like the 7 car, or the Rick Ware cars, could further enhance his career. He walked away from the full time 01 in xfinity due to lackluster resources if memory serves. Haas or ganassi?? Sure! But I’m not sure what it would take on his part to land either one of those. or the 48 for that matter. But one can hope.
Rumor is Hemric will join Petty’s 2nd team now. RPM switching to Toyota too.
Saturday ain’t happening at Monadnock. Moving it to Sunday makes for a really short week with Thompson on Wednesday. Going to be a crazy busy week. Expect an announcement tomorrow morning regarding Monadnock.
Claremont will be fine but features start at 8:30pm?? Mods go out last?? Bring a sleeping bag.
Following what everyone else is talking about, silly season. I would be super surprised if Larson doesn’t end up in a Stewart Haas car at this point as long as nascar reinstates him given what Tony has been saying about him. But I think there could be two open seats at Stewart Haas, everyone is focusing on Bowyer potentially leaving but Almirola is in a contract year and Smithfield who has been a huge backer for him is now under different ownership that might not still be onboard. It’ll probably be Briscoe and Larson filling those seats. That leaves the 98 in xfinity as an open seat if Stewart Haas continues to have an xfinity program and a rumor I heard on a few different podcasts I listen to is that Preece could be going there. Not sure how valid of a rumor that is but I’ve heard it more than once, if true I think that’s a step up for Preece because that’s a winning car and the 37 isn’t.
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🌈JD🌈, you forgot to mention that the sun will come out tomorrow.
Hey JD, Wednesday and Thursday’s forecasts look the same for Thompson as it does for Saturday at Monadnock. So maybe there won’t need to be quite the turnaround it appears right now.
Since I live in Claremont I think I’ll just sleep in my bed tomorrow night. Lol I’ve been every week to Claremont because I want to make sure I support my local track but the 7-7:30 start times seem to work better in June or July than in August so far. They do keep the program moving, most of the time, so it’s not really ending much later than Monadnock usually ends even though they start an hour earlier. They try to target a 10:30 end to the program and it’s rarely later than that, usually earlier. They also decided not to run the sportsman mods to keep the program from being too long.
Larson to Steward Hass is my hope. Tony know a what it’s like to come back from adversity and is open minded . Love to see that kid back in Cup.
One of the few times a rain out may not be so bad.
I don’t know about New Hampshire but we’re burned to a crisp down here in southern New England and could use the rain.
Opening up Saturday to see our man Preece under the lights in prime time with fingers firmly crossed for a good finish.
Sunday will shine. Teams may not like a steady stream of short turn around’s but once is a challenge they may enjoy and Wednesday is still in play with spotty showers at 30%.
Could be 4 great races in 6 days.
That is a glass well over half full.
Full on drought in NH. Need a good soaker.
Bob says Claremont will be over by 10:30. I’m heading up based on that call. It’s 2020, what could go wrong??
Who is going to sponsor Larson in this environment? NOBODY!
I wouldn’t mind Thompson getting pushed to Thursday. Online sales will play a role if weather is iffy on Wednesday.
This Modified race at Claremont tonight for 10k. Is this being run by the old Tri Track team with LI mod maniac and the racin guys? I remember hearing they were planning on running a show or two this summer. The format and amounts seem to be there MO. I wanted to try to support them as they have been great to local racers.
I just read a presser. it is the racin guys event who I believe were part of the old tri track team. Here is a copy and paste of drivers expected for tonight at Claremont.
Maurice Enterprises 100 Entry List (as of August 26, 2020): 06 Les Hinckley; 06 – Sam Rameau; 07 – Patrick Emerling; 1H – Chuck Hossfeld; 1J – Bobby Jones; 3 – Jeff Murray; 3 – Matthew Swanson; 5 – Tommy Barrett; 6 – Woody Pitkat; 7 – Kurt Vigeant; 7 – Jon McKennedy; 12 – Andy Jankowiak; 14 – Scott Wylie; 15 – TJ Bleau; 16 – DJ Shaw; 17 – Danny Knoll Jr; 23 – Mike Douglas Jr.; 25 – Brian Robie; 25 – Calvin Carroll; 26 – Bucky Demers; 27 – Derek Robbie; 44 – Anthony Sesely; 46 – Craig Lutz; 50 – Ron Silk; 50K – Matthew Kimball; 50 – Carl Medeiros Jr.; 55 – Ryan Doucette; 58 – Eric Goodale; 60 – Matt Hirschman; 66 – Austin Kochenash: 71 – Brad Babb; 76 – Kirk Alexander; 78 – Diego Monahan; 82 – Anthony Nocella; 83 – Mike Willis.
Haas will sponsor Larson , not a problem , heard it’s already a done deal
Everyone is kinda putting the wagon before the horse as far as Larson goes. Let’s not forget, he still needs NASCAR to sign off on his return. Given that he just walked away, without completing any of what NASCAR had put forth, it may not be so simple to jump back into a ride. Oh yeah, he also sold his house in NC giving the impression he had no intent to return. Which SHR car would he land in?
Larson to RCR.
They’ll get Liberty University to sponsor.
Robp,
he really did not walk away. He said something that got him booted. I think thats a big difference. I’m just not so sure that anyone can take a chance on him, at this national level, no mater how talented he is. I’m just not so sure Nascar is is willing to do that, even if Haas is willing to self sponsor. Jmo
Very risky to attempt to bring Larson back now. It would be costly to the team owner and sponsors. Larson would have to go through sensitivity training, etc. and be extremely publicly contrite and apologetic. And it would help if Bubba Wallace would speak up about Larson one way or another.