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03/05/2015 |
PREECE LOOKING
TO CARRY POSITIVE MOMENTUM WITH NEW TEAM INTO STAFFORD FOR
44th ANNUAL NAPA AUTO PARTS SPRING SIZZLER |
Any time there is a new driver/team combination,
questions can arise for a driver as did I switch to
the right team and for owners they can wonder if
they have the right driver in the seat of their car.
For Ryan Preece and the Ed and Connie Partridge
owned T.S. Haulers, Inc. team, they put any doubts
to rest with a dominating performance during
SpeedWeeks at New Smyrna, winning 4 of the 6 Tour
Type Modified feature events, including the
prestigious Richie Evans 100. With SpeedWeeks now in
the rearview mirror, Preece will look to carry the
momentum from his week in Florida over to the start
of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season and the
NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler on April 24-26.
“I think I had high expectations and I’m sure Eddie
did too,” said Preece. “We hoped that we could run
that well but to have a week like we did, you just
don’t get that all the time. Eddie and Connie
[Partridge] give Tommy [Grasso] and I and the entire
T.S. Haulers team everything we need to win races.
Hopefully this is something that we can carry over
to the Tour and run well and win some races this
year. It seems that we’ve done pretty well so far
with the North/South Shootout and Speed Weeks. We’re
heading down to Caraway for the Southern Tour opener
and we’re hoping we can carry that performance over
to the tour this season. Right now we could just
swap some springs and change some weights around and
we’d be ready to go. It seems like the car has a
really good balance and a really good starting
baseline for when we go to Stafford, so I think we
should be pretty good.”
When it comes to racing at Stafford, Preece is
certainly no stranger to NAPA Victory Lane. He has
won 22 SK Modified® feature events since 2010 and on
the Whelen Modified Tour, he has one victory in the
TSI Harley-Davidson 125, one win in the Call Before
You Dig 150, and one win in the NAPA Auto Parts Fall
Final. Out of the four NWMT races that Stafford
hosts, the only race that Preece has yet to win is
the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler. In 7 career
Sizzler starts, Preece has recorded 3 top-5 finishes
and he has led a total of 175 laps with a best
finish of second in 2012. Preece’s grandfather Bob
Judkins nearly won the very first Sizzler in 1972
and he won the 1973 edition of The Greatest Race in
the History of Spring with Ed Flemke, Sr. behind the
wheel and Preece would like to add a Sizzler victory
to his resume.
“I’ve finished second in the Sizzler and I’ve led a
few laps and it’s obviously a race that you want to
win,” said Preece. “My grandfather won the race back
in the day and it would be pretty special for us if
I could win that race. I think for sure we’ll have a
good chance at winning the Sizzler this year.”
Preece just may have an ace up his sleeve when it
comes to this year’s edition of the NAPA Spring
Sizzler. The Tour modifieds ran two extra distance
feature events at New Smyrna, a 76 and 100-lap race.
Preece led for much of the 76-lap John Blewett
Memorial race, but his car began to go away towards
the end of the race and he had to settle for a third
place finish. But two days later, Preece and his T.S.
Haulers crew made the necessary adjustments and he
won the Richie Evans 100. That experience could
prove to be crucial as they prepare for the longest
race of the NWMT season, the 200-lap NAPA Spring
Sizzler.
“I think we’ll be fine for the Sizzler,” said
Preece. “That 76-lap race, between things I could
have done differently and the team could have done
differently, it added up to what it was and the car
went away with 7 laps to go. It didn’t help that I
was driving hard pretty much the whole time, but
that race showed that the car could take a pretty
good beating for 68 laps on the soft tires that we
were running. I think we’ll be ok for the Sizzler
because it’s a change race and you get to change 3
tires. The thing that I really liked about this car
is with the balance that we had at New Smyrna, I
feel like we could pit as late as 30 laps to go, and
even as hard as it is to pass at Stafford, I think
we have a good enough combination where I could
still go forward and make a late race charge. As far
as confidence goes, I have all the confidence in the
world in Tommy and he has confidence in me. Thinking
we’re going to go in and dominate, it’s never like
that because there’s so many good drivers and good
equipment on the Tour. We have everything we need to
go win races and now we just have to go out and do
it.”
Preece begins his quest for his first NAPA Spring
Sizzler victory with practice and Coors Light Pole
Qualifying on Saturday, April 25th as part of the
44th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler. The
200-lap NAPA Spring Sizzler will run on Sunday,
April 26 at approximately 3:15pm following the NAPA
Pit Party from 11am-12noon and the SK Modified® and
Late Model feature events beginning at 1pm. Tickets
for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are
on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are
priced at $38.50 for adult general admission
tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children
ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when
accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating is priced
at $42.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor
Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking
available. All tickets are good for both Saturday
and Sunday admission. All ticket prices include 10%
CT Admission Tax.
For more information on the 44th Annual NAPA Auto
Parts Spring Sizzler, or to order tickets, contact
the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at
860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com.
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Source:
Scott Running /
Stafford Motor Speedway
Posted:
March 5, 2015 |
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