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By Staff Report
NASCAR.com
Photo Michael Jaworecki/Myracenews
Ryan Preece will return to the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, he confirmed on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday.
Preece is in the midst of his first full-time season at SHR, his fourth full-time campaign at the sport’s highest level. Through 30 starts in the No. 41 Ford, Preece notched a season-best finish of fifth in July at Richmond Raceway and is set to return for another year at the four-car outfit.
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“I’m gonna be here with the 41 at SHR next year,” Preece told SXM’s Dave Moody. “I’m definitely looking forward to it, and we’ve made a lot of gains.”
Preece began his Cup career with Phil Parsons Racing’s No. 98 car in 2015 when he made five part-time starts but joined the ranks full-time in 2019 with JTG Daugherty Racing. The Berlin, Connecticut, native competed for three seasons with JTG before the team downsized to one car, leaving Preece without a ride.
Preece, 32, spent the 2022 season working as a simulation and reserve driver for Stewart-Haas Racing, making two starts with Rick Ware Racing in the process. He moved back to the driver’s seat full-time this season, replacing Cole Custer in the No. 41 Ford.
The 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, Preece has just one top-10 finish this season but is confident in the progress Stewart-Haas Racing is making as the 2023 campaign winds to a close.
“I like the direction of the things that we’ve been working on here at SHR,” Preece said. “And it makes me optimistic going into not only Talladega because we have such fast superspeedway cars, but going to Las Vegas – our mile-and-a-half stuff, it’s never been really my strong suit, but some of the things that we’ve worked on, I feel really, really eager and excited to get to Las Vegas. And obviously when we go to Martinsville and Phoenix, those are two of our stronger tracks so we have a good couple races coming up.”
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) for the second race of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs.
