Ryan Preece is widely known in the northeast modified racing scene along with the national level as he raced in the NASCAR Cup Series. Coming into the Cup Series back in 2014 driving for Premium Motorsports, Preece would have an average finish of 37th in a total of five races. Preece would then go to drive for JTG Daugherty Racing, a midpack racing team that he would call home for three total seasons. An average finish of 27th place would mark Preece’s time with the team in a total of 108 races.
Overall a very solid driver that was able to put up consistent results for the team saw a downfall in 2021 when there was a lack of sponsorship for his No.37 car. Due to the lack of funding it was announced that Preece may miss the last 10-races of the 2021 season, despite him being in the midst of a career-best season. Preece would end up competing in all 36-races with JTG and ended up staying on track for that career season despite all the negative news around him.
A career-best average finish of 22nd, 4 top10s and tying a career best of finishing inside the top five once along with 15-lead-lap-finishes, proved that Preece has the talent to compete at the highest level of stock car racing. Even with multiple career highs JTG Daugherty Racing still dropped Preece at the end of the 2021 season, favoring veteran Ricky Stenhouse Jr., to be their sole driver. This came down to mainly one key factor: funding for the car. JTG was a two-car racing team with Preece and Stenhouse, but would have trouble getting logos on that Preece Lightning No.37 on a consistent basis. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., is a multiple-time race winner in the Cup Series and had sponsorship backing, with that said the team went with the stable money source. In no way whatsoever did that mean that Preece was not worthy of a Cup ride, and Tony Stewart saw that and made Preece the reserve driver for Stewart-Haas racing.
Tony Stewart, who is a former driver and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, brought Preece on to be a reserve driver for the team while also running on a part-time schedule for affiliate teams. Ryan Preece would compete in a total of 14-races between all three of the top series over the course of the 2022 racing season. The former Whelen Modified Tour Champion impressed heavily as he put up 1 win, 7 top5s and 10 top10s. With the results produced by Preece it was predicted that he would be back in the NASCAR Cup Series full-time in 2023 to replace Aric Almirola or Kevin Harvick, who were projected to retire after 2022. After Almirola pulled a Tom Brady and brought back his retirement announcement, signing a multi-year contract with the team along with Kevin Harvick remaining fairly quiet, it is not possible that Preece will be in the No. 10 and unlikely that he will pilot the No.4 in 2023.
It has now come up to the headlines that Tony Stewart aims to place Ryan Preece in the No.41 car for 2023, replacing Cole Custer. Custer, who is currently in his fourth year in the Cup Series has a lone win that came in 2020, besides that he has put up very quiet stats despite being part of a top team. Currently outside the top 20 in points and only having a total of three top 10-finishes this season, Custer has severely underperformed.
Stewart wants to place Preece in Custer’s seat, but there is one person stopping him: co-owner Gene Haas. The founder of the team wants Cole Custer to run in 2023, keeping Preece on the part-time basis while staying as the reserve driver.
Ryan Preece has shown up and performed on an above average basis while not fully knowing (in 2019) if he will race a week later and also (in 2022) that his time was limited in the driver’s seat with all eyes on him. Preece would be a perfect fit in the No.41 seat and with Custer on a continuous path of subpar finishes, it only makes the driver switch even more reasonable.
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