LOUDON, N.H. — Ryan Preece heads home to New England this weekend 50 points behind Shane van Gisbergen for the final spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
The driver of the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford Mustang has plenty of laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which hosts the penultimate race of the regular season on Sunday.
Preece talked about his playoff chances and his busy racing weekend that includes three events during a media teleconference on Wednesday.
“I did feel like going into the short tracks and New Hampshire it kind of gives me a little bit of optimism and I’m certainly excited about coming here to my home track – New England,” Preece said. “Every time I come back home, it feels good. It feels different. I believe we can go here and hopefully qualify well and be a contender. I felt like Richmond was a good example of we had a good car, so we’ll see if we can continue down that path and control the things that we can control and do what we can there.”
Preece says making up 50 points in two races comes down to execution.
“Now for us, going into New Hampshire, I think the goal for me is to execute our day,” Preece said. “We’re gonna need a little bit of luck on our side for him to not have quite the great day, and then that puts us heads-up going into Daytona. With the different superspeedway package, I don’t think any of us know what to expect, so I guess part of me is kind of wishing we didn’t change much because I felt like our superspeedway stuff has been strong. At the end of the day, I guess we’re all on a level playing field when we go into that one.”
Preece said his biggest advantage over van Gisbergen this weekend may be New England.
“We all have tendencies that we’re better at than others, but going into New Hampshire, I feel like being from New England, and I want to say he’s from New Zealand, right?” Preece said. “So going to New England it’s my people, it’s a place that I’ve been racing at since I was 16 years old and I feel like there’s a lot of things in conversations that have been had to help us be better, so that’s all we can do.
“We can control the things we can control and not worry about the things that we can’t and, at the end of the day, I’ve been in plenty of pressure situations my entire career and it doesn’t bother me,” Preece noted. “I’m numb to it, so I’m looking forward to being here in New England doing some racing at Thunder Road tomorrow night for the Governor’s Cup in Vermont as well as racing my modified, so I’m gonna be strapped in a race car for the next four days. It’s a good deal. It’s a good day or a good week to be Ryan Preece.”
Preece will run his family modified in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at NHMS after racing a late model at Vermont’s Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl on Thursday.
“Basically, my father and us. It used to be Preece Racing and now it’s Ryan Preece Motorsports and my father and I, that’s been our passion,” Preece said. “We’ve raced since I was a kid and as I’ve gotten older, just kind of bought more and more equipment. It’s something that I love doing in racing with my father. It’s kind of that bonding thing.”
