This weekend at Dover Motor Speedway, Ryan Preece will make his first official start (he already drove in The Clash at the L.A. Coliseum) of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.
He’ll be doing so behind the wheel of the Rick Ware Racing No. 15, through RWR’s alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s all part of Preece’s new position as SHR’s reserve driver, a role that will net Preece 12 starts in top-notch Ford equipment across NASCAR’s top three series. In addition to two Cup starts for RWR, Preece is running in three NASCAR Xfinity Series races for BJ McLeod Motorsports and seven Camping World Truck Series races for David Gilliland Racing, a team he won for in his Truck debut last year at Nashville Superspeedway.
Preece took the SHR reserve driver role after losing his ride at JTG Daugherty Racing, where he had raced the past three seasons. SHR teammate Kevin Harvick, whose company KHI Management represents Preece, was a big help in getting the 31-year-old Connecticut native the job.
Frontstretch caught up with Preece ahead of his NXS start at Richmond Raceway in early April to discuss what a reserve driver does, how he felt about taking a step back from full-time Cup racing, his relationship with Harvick and his future goals.
Michael Massie, Frontstretch: I was shocked to not see you out there in the Richmond Modified race [the evening prior]. How come you didn’t come back to defend your trophy?
Ryan Preece: Working on the reprocess of rebuilding. Obviously, my longtime modified owner and friend passed away after we won this race [last fall]. I’m starting to build my own modified and start my own team with my father and kind of, when we want to go race, go have some fun.
Massie: This year you’re back running in Xfinity races for the first time in three years. Obviously, it’s the series that kind of launched your name to the forefront when you bet on yourself and it paid off with a Cup ride. Do you feel like lightning could strike…
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