Month: November 2022

Perseverance Pays Off for Preece

Ryan Preece Parlays Reserve Driver Role Into NASCAR Cup Series Drive; New Englander Will Pilot No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2023

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (Nov. 16, 2022) – Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has promoted Ryan Preece from his reserve driver role with the organization to the NASCAR Cup Series where the 32-year-old racer from Berlin, Connecticut, will drive the team’s No. 41 Ford Mustang beginning in 2023.

Preece has spent 2022 performing simulator work that has benefitted the entire team and its Cup Series driver lineup of Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe and Cole Custer. In addition to his simulator work at the Ford Performance Center, Preece has run a mix of races across each of NASCAR’s top-three national touring series – Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck – a schedule punctuated by a Truck Series win from the pole June 24 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, his second straight at the 1.333-mile oval near Music City.

“Ryan Preece has been a real asset to our race team this year as we’ve developed the NextGen car. The time and effort he’s put into our program, combined with his real-world racing experience, earned him this opportunity,” said Tony Stewart, co-owner of SHR with Haas Automation founder Gene Haas.

Custer, who has driven the No. 41 Ford Mustang since his rookie year in 2020 when he delivered a victory at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta in just his 20th career Cup Series start, will remain with SHR. Custer will head back to the Xfinity Series, where he is a 10-time race winner, and be a teammate to Riley Herbst, who returns to SHR for a third straight season and his fourth fulltime year in the Xfinity Series.

“Cole Custer has been a part of SHR since 2017 and we’re glad to have him stay with us,” Stewart said. “Cole’s experience will be invaluable to Riley Herbst as he continues his development in the Xfinity Series.”

With wins in the Truck Series and the Xfinity Series, Preece aims to complete the trifecta in 2023 with a Cup Series win behind the wheel of the No. 41 Ford Mustang.

“This is the opportunity I’ve been working for,” Preece said. “Nothing was guaranteed at the start of this year, but I felt like if I put in the time, whether it was in a racecar or in a simulator, that SHR was the place for me. It’s a company built by racers, for racers, and it’s exactly where I want to be.

“I know this season just finished and most people are looking to take a break, but I can’t wait to get going.”

Preece made a name for himself on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour – NASCAR’s oldest division and the only open-wheel series sanctioned by NASCAR. Preece won the Tour championship in 2013 and worked hard to leverage that title into additional opportunities in the Xfinity Series – NASCAR’s stepping-stone division to the elite Cup Series. After spending all of 2016 in a scrappy effort with an underfunded team that delivered a best finish of 10th, Preece mortgaged his house to secure two races with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in 2017. In equipment finally befitting his talent, Preece finished second in his JGR debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and then won in his very next start at Iowa Speedway in Newton. In his next five Xfinity Series starts, Preece never finished outside of the top-10, a run capped with a second victory in April 2018 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

“Ryan has bet on himself a couple of times in his career and it’s always paid off. Now we’re betting on him,” Stewart said.

“I’ve run some Modified Tour races and it’s a tough series with a lot of talent. Ryan’s Mod Tour championship speaks to his talent, and I think he proved that when he pushed all his chips into the middle of the table and bet on himself by getting those Xfinity Series races with Gibbs. When he finally got the right opportunity, he delivered in a big way.

“Now, Ryan’s got the right opportunity in Cup. We’re proud to have him and look forward to seeing what he can do in our racecars.”

Preece will make his debut in the No. 41 Ford Mustang during the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before kicking off his 36-race slate of points-paying events with the 65th Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Both events will be broadcast live on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

About Stewart-Haas Racing:
Stewart-Haas Racing is the title-winning NASCAR team co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America. The Kannapolis, North Carolina-based organization has won two NASCAR Cup Series titles, one NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and more than 90 NASCAR races, including such crown-jewel events as the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500. For more information, please visit us online at StewartHaasRacing.com and on social at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn.

 

SHR Post-Race Recap: Phoenix

Date:  Nov. 6, 2022
Event:  NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale (Round 36 of 36)
Series:  NASCAR Cup Series
Location:  Phoenix Raceway (1-mile oval)
Format:  312 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/125 laps/127 laps)
Champion:  Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

SHR Race Finish:
●  Chase Briscoe (Started 3rd, Finished 4th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
●  Kevin Harvick (Started 7th, Finished 5th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
●  Cole Custer (Started 9th, Finished 16th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
●  Aric Almirola (Started 13th, Finished 20th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)

SHR Points Final:
●  Chase Briscoe (9th with 2,292 points)
●  Kevin Harvick (15th with 2,126 points)
●  Aric Almirola (20th with 760 points)
●  Cole Custer (25th with 589 points)

Briscoe Notes:
●  Briscoe earned his sixth top-five and 10th top-10 of the season, and his second straight top-five in four career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix. Briscoe won in the series’ previous visit to the track in March.
● This was Briscoe’s second straight top-10. He finished ninth last Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
●  Briscoe finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points and fourth in Stage 2 to earn seven additional bonus points.
●  Briscoe led once for 11 laps to increase his laps-led total at Phoenix to 112.

Harvick Notes:
●  In taking the green flag today at Phoenix, Harvick became just the seventh driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to start every race for 20 consecutive seasons, joining Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte.
●  Harvick earned his ninth top-five and 17th top-10 of the season, and his series-leading 19th top-five and 29th top-10 in 40 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.
●  Harvick’s 19 top-fives at Phoenix are the best among all NASCAR Cup Series drivers, past and present. Next best is Denny Hamlin with 16 top-fives, who is tied for second all-time with Jimmie Johnson.
●  Harvick’s 29 top-10s at Phoenix are the best among all NASCAR Cup Series drivers, past and present. Next best is Kyle Busch with 24 top-10s, who is tied for second all-time with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon.
●  This was Harvick’s 19th straight top-10 at Phoenix – a streak that started on Nov. 10, 2013 when Harvick won the fourth of his nine NASCAR Cup Series races at Phoenix.
●  Harvick finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and fifth in Stage 2 to earn six more bonus points.

Custer Notes:
●  Custer earned his 11th top-15 of the season and his third top-15 in six career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.
●  This was Custer’s second straight top-15. He finished 14th last Sunday at Martinsville.
●  Custer led once for three laps – his first laps led at Phoenix.

Almirola Notes:
●  Almirola earned his 22nd top-20 of the season and his 20th top-20 in 24 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.
●  This was Almirola’s second straight top-20. He finished 15th last Sunday at Martinsville.
●  Since joining SHR in 2018, Almirola has finished among the top-20 at Phoenix all but once – 22nd in November 2019.

Sound Bites:

“I just didn’t fire off near as good. I was kind of on top of the racetrack a little bit more than I really had been all day. Truthfully, the 22 (Logano) and the 12 (Blaney) were so good on the short run every time. I just had nothing for them. On the long run, I was typically a little bit better, I just would give up so much on the short run. I just didn’t fire off very good there at the end. I don’t really know why. I don’t know if the track just changed there as the sun was going down. It wasn’t as good. I felt that was the worst run, balance-wise, we had all day. It’s unfortunate that’s when it came, but, overall, it was a good day.

“I definitely feel like we’re a top-five team week in and week out, especially these last 10 weeks. It’s just a matter of putting it all together. This was one of the best races we ran, start to finish, today, but we just came up a little bit short. We still have to get a little bit better, but we definitely got closer to where we need to be.

“Even five years ago, three years ago, or last year, we were lucky to run 20th, and now we’re disappointed with a fourth place. That says a lot about the team and how far we’ve come. You always want a lot more, but, overall, it was a good season. We just have to come back next year and be a little bit better.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang

“On the restarts I kept getting on the chip and getting hung in gear and we would get passed by a couple of cars. I just needed a whole run.”– Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch LightFord Mustang

Next Up:
The 2023 season begins with the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before kicking off its 36-race slate of points-paying events with the 65th Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Both events will be broadcast live on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-SHR-