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PREECE READY
TO WIN NAPA SPRING SIZZLER AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY
FROM THE BACK OF THE PACK |
 Still
in search of his first career NAPA Spring Sizzler®
victory, 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion
Ryan Preece will face an uphill battle in this
year’s edition of “The Greatest Race in the History
of Spring”. Preece has taken over the driving duties
of the #01 Uptick Vineyards Chevrolet for Johnny
Davis Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for
the full 2016 season. Due to those commitments he
will be unable to qualify the #6 T.S. Haulers, Inc.
car for the Sizzler®, meaning he will have to start
the 200-lap race from the rear of the field. But
Preece says he’s not worried about his situation.
“I won’t be at the track on Saturday, but I’ll
definitely be there Sunday,” said Preece. “Right now
Todd Szegedy is scheduled to practice and qualify
the car for me, we just have to make sure he doesn’t
have any other commitments that weekend. As good as
it is to start out front, I like passing cars and
working my way forward. Hopefully we’ll have a car
that is capable of doing that and obviously Eddie
and Connie Partridge give us the equipment that we
need to do that. I’m hoping that by lap 150 we can
be up front and battling for the win.”
While Preece is no stranger to Stafford having raced
SK Modifieds® since the 2010 season, he will be in a
new car for this year’s Sizzler®. Preece will also
have to acclimate himself back to the Whelen
Modified Tour car, which is 2,645 pounds with open
wheels versus the 3,400 pound full fendered Xfinity
Series machine.
“I’ve raced at Stafford quite a bit over the last
couple years so it’s not like I’m going to be
learning a new track,” said Preece. “The only thing
I’m iffy about is we haven’t brought this car to
Stafford yet and it’s not like anything we’ve had
there in the past. I’m confident we have an idea of
what we need to go to the track and be good right
off of the truck and then work on it from there. I
don’t think it’ll be that bad. I tested the car at
Thompson this past weekend and Eddie [Partridge] was
joking with me that driving a stock car is kind of
like driving a Cadillac. There’s a lot of positive
steering and it’s a different feel and Eddie was
telling me that I had better keep on driving hard
once I got back behind the wheel of a modified. It’s
something I’ve been doing since I was 13 so it’s
kind of like riding a bike. I’m not really worried
about the difference between the Xfinity car and the
Whelen Modified Tour car.”
Unlike most races on the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Schedule, the NAPA Spring Sizzler® is 200-laps in
length and with Preece knowing he has to start at
the rear of the field, it opens up a variety of
strategy options that Preece and the T.S. Haulers
team can utilize to get to the front of the pack.
“The cool thing about the Sizzler® is that it’s 200
laps,” said Preece. “I think there’s going to be a
bunch of guys pitting around lap-30 for fuel and I
think the race is going to be interesting with those
guys giving up track position. If we’re in the back
at that point, there’s no point in not coming in
with those guys and filling the car up so we don’t
have to worry about that later in the race. Last
year we tried to pit late but the cautions didn’t
fall the way we needed them to. The cool thing about
the longer races is it opens up some different ideas
for strategy during the race.”
In 8 career NAPA Spring Sizzler® starts, Preece has
posted 4 top-5 finishes with a best finish of second
in 2012. That 2012 race also saw Preece set the
Stafford Motor Speedway track record in qualifying
with a quick lap of 17.924 seconds for an average
speed of 100.424mph. Preece knows it will be a tall
task to come from the back, but he has come from the
back before at Stafford, winning the 2013 TSI
Harley-Davidson 125 after being involved in a lap-1
incident that relegated him to the rear of the field
for the restart.
“To win the race would be a total team effort,” said
Preece. “Between Todd [Szegedy], my father, and the
whole T.S. Haulers team, all I’m going to be doing
is the easy part of showing up and going racing.
It’s all the maintenance and understanding of what
you have to show up to the track with so the car is
good when you unload. Especially in the Whelen
Modified Tour, when you show up to the track, you’d
better be good or you’re going to be in trouble. An
hour of practice will usually give you about 4 runs
on the track and just changing sway bars or springs
9 times out of 10 won’t get you from a 10th place
car up to a winning car. It’s all about having a
good base setup when you first get to the track.”
In addition to the NAPA Spring Sizzler®, Preece says
he has plans to race the NAPA Fall Final 150 in
October as well as a handful of SK Modified® races
during the 2016 season along with his Xfinity Series
commitment.
“We’re planning on coming back for the Fall Final
with the same deal of just race on Sunday and I’m
hoping to make a couple of SK Modified® races during
the season,” said Preece. “We’re trying to figure
out if we want to have my Thompson owners Al & Cathy
Moniz put an engine and transmission in the car that
I’ve always run at Stafford, or if we want to take
their car to Stafford. I was hoping that Stafford
would change the NAPA SK 5k date so I could make
that race as well!”
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. Discount
Tickets will be available at all 57 participating
NAPA Auto Parts stores beginning on Monday April
4th. For a full list of the 57 locations throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode
Island, call the speedway office or visit us on the
web at
www.staffordmotorspeedway.com/participating-napa-auto-parts-stores.
For more information on the 45th 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:
April 1, 2016 |
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