Ryan Preece Ready For Austin Beers To Steal His NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Record 

On Thursday Austin Beers goes looking to clinch his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway. 

Beers goes into the final Whelen Modified Tour event of the season holding a 14-point advantage over four-time series champion Justin Bonsignore. 

Beers needs to finish eighth or better at Martinsville to ensure there’s nothing Bonsignore can do to overtake him in the standings. 

Should Beers secure the title he would set a new NASCAR record as the youngest driver ever to win a Whelen Modified Tour title. 

Currently, that distinction is held by NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece.

Preece won his only Whelen Modified Tour title in 2013. 

Preece’s age was 22 years, 11 months and 26 days when he won his title on Oct. 20, 2013 at Thompson Speedway. Beers would be 22 years, 7 months and 0 days old should he score the championship on Thursday at Martinsville. 

“The first thing is that records are meant to be broken,” Preece said Wednesday. “So I would be extremely happy for Austin. … I actually raced against his father, Eric … I’ve known the Beers family forever. I played video games with Austin when he was a little kid, and whenever I was gonna beat him or he was gonna beat me, he would hit the reset button. That was the big joke for the longest time. 

“I’d be extremely happy for Austin because he’s a great race car driver. He’s a great kid. He’s always upbeat and if somebody was gonna beat that record for being the youngest champion, I’d want it to be him. I’m excited for him and tomorrow night, and for him to have that opportunity and hopefully go do it.”

ALSO SEE – Of The Tape: Austin Beers Vs. Justin Bonsignore For The Whelen Modified Tour Title