Ryan Preece Set To Make NASCAR Debut At New Hampshire Motor Speedway

By Dave Burnham Autosport

Berlin’s Ryan Preece, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points leader, Preece will be pulling duty at Loudon’s New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend as he attempts to make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut. Preece will pilot the No. 8 East West Marine Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) in the CNBC Prime’s “The Profit” 200.

On board the No. 8 Chevy this weekend is East West Marine, a longtime sponsor of Preece. East West Marine is a supplier of marine lumber and timber, vinyl seawall, composite sheet pilings, and many varieties of seawall accessories.

The pairing of Preece with TBR continues the Modified connection from recent seasons with Baldwin, a former Whelen Modified Tour crew chief. Current tour competitor Bobby Santos has also competed in the Nationwide Series for Baldwin, and former Modified standout Steve Park drove for TBR in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at NHMS.

“Heading into my first NASCAR Nationwide Series race, I’m feeling very excited and also confident,” said Preece. “The team’s prepared a great car for me and I really am looking forward to racing in front of my family and friends. A special thanks to all who have made this weekend possible, this is a dream come true!”

Team owner Tommy Baldwin said, “We’re excited to get Ryan behind the wheel of the No. 8 car this weekend, this kid has amazing talent and will go far in our sport. Getting his start with TBR and TeamSLR is a great experience for him and I always like to see racers from the Northeast get chances like this.”

Not only is Preece the Whelen Modified Tour points leader and winner of the last three races heading into New Hampshire, but he’s also on fire in weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action. Preece has won the last two features – and five of eight on the season – at Stafford Motor Speedway in the SK Modified division. He’s also won two of the last four Modified division features at Riverhead (NY) Raceway. Add to that another victory in the Sunoco Modified division at Thompson International Speedway this year and Preece has 11 wins in 26 NASCAR Modified races this year. Since he was named to the NASCAR Next roster on June 7, he’s recorded eight victories.

On Wednesday at Thompson Speedway, Preece had his first experience of driving the No. 8 TBR Camaro he will race on Saturday. “That was my first time [in a Nationwide car],” Preece said. “I feel pretty confident, pretty happy. The car feels balanced. I’m looking forward to it.”

“It’s definitely a race car,” Preece said with a smile. “Things happen at a lot slower pace in a Modified. You can charge the corner, the car stops hard and you pick up the throttle so much sooner. This [Nationwide car], you have to back your entry up, let the car roll, let the car do what it’s supposed to do, and you just drive it off. It’s a learning experience.

“This is awesome. I can’t wait for Loudon.” 

The key for Preece this weekend comes before the race. He has to qualify the car on time to make the race, since the team only has run three races this season with driver Scott Lagasse Jr.

“That’s No. 1,” Baldwin said, “No. 2 is he has to stay out of everybody’s way and shows everybody the respect — he’s racing against a lot of talented race car drivers this weekend, there’s a lot of [Sprint] Cup drivers in this race — and earn respect so he can finish as well as he possibly can.”

By www.dbautosport.wordpress.com