0
0
By KEVIN RICE
Photos Jimmy Hayden/Myracenews
Martinsville, VA- After a season focused on the NASCAR Cup Series, Ryan Preece will make his return to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour tonight for the “Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200” (8 p.m. FloRacing). This will be the first start of the season, one day after the Berlin, CT., natives 33rd birthday, as the tour concludes their 18 race schedule here at the Martinsville Speedway.
“That was a choice I made,” Preece said when asked why he hasn’t raced a Modified this season. “I made that choice because the amount of effort that I want to put into my racing whenever I race a Modified versus the amount of effort that I want to put into my Cup car, something was going to sacrifice.
“Overall, that could have been less performance on either one. That is why. This was on a Thursday. It wasn’t in the way of anything. I could get people to pit the car and come and help. That is the biggest thing.
“People have been asking. My wife said why aren’t you doing it. My dad being on board. It was really just everybody wanting to race and it ended up working out.”
Preece has 25 career NWMT wins and a 2013 Championship to show for his past efforts in Modifieds. He expects nothing less than success when he straps in tonight for the first time this season.
“Win,” he simply stated when asked what his expectation is. “I don’t show up to not win. I don’t put in the hours, late nights or anything like that to show up and finish tenth. I’ve put all new pads, rotors on and spent the extra time to make sure the car is where it needs to be.”
In recent years Preece has been fast on the track, but struggled with pit stop mishaps, or stops that were not as good as the seasoned full-time Modified teams he is competing against. This time around he believes that his pit stop(s) will be a success.
“I am lucky that I was able to assemble an SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing) pit crew,” he said. “I had them practice on this car because it’s totally different. That is one thing when I was racing Modifieds before is that a lot of my friends are people that have been with me for a long time. Sometimes we struggled on pit road. I put 110 percent into this effort for today.”
Preece’s last win came across the state of Virginia, at Richmond Raceway in September of 2021. He believes that everything is in place to make a return to victory lane on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour tonight.
To do so, he will have to contend with the likes of Matt Hirschman, Justin Bonsignore, Ryan Newman and many more drivers capable of winning in this 36-car field tonight. Points leader Ron Silk is expected to be a bit more conservative, as he works to lock up the season championship. Eric Goodale has no points to worry about, and as a past winner he could be a factor as well.
