MARTINSVILLE, Va. – As a driver who grew up cutting his teeth on the short tracks of New England, Ryan Preece is understandably optimistic any time he rolls in to compete at a bullring-style facility.
That optimism may be heightened this weekend, however, as Preece and JTG Daugherty Racing invade the Martinsville Speedway paper clip for Sunday’s STP 500.
The .526-mile short track has traditionally been one of the team’s best facilities, and it shows on the stat sheets as well. In 24 Martinsville starts, JTG Daugherty cars have earned six top-10 finishes, the most for the team at any track outside of Daytona Int’l Speedway.
Over the past three years at the Virginia paper clip, the team has seven top-15 runs in 10 starts, including a runner-up effort by former JTG Daugherty driver A.J. Allmendinger in the spring of 2016.
Those kinds of numbers have Preece believing in his team and their chances to contend up front all day on Sunday, as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rookie looks to better his season-best eighth-place finish from the Daytona 500 in February.
“I feel good about our chances, considering JTG at Martinsville … it’s probably one of their best racetracks they go to,” noted Preece on a national teleconference earlier this week. “Short tracks like Martinsville, Bristol and New Hampshire, those are kind of in my wheelhouse. It’s something I’ve been doing for a long time. When it comes to the restarts and all those moments of being aggressive, it’s something that I enjoy doing.
“I think being able to go to a short track, where everything is just tighter than normal, is going to make for great racing and I’m excited to get going this weekend.”
Preece has tasted success at Martinsville in the past, too. His first-career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory was earned at the historic track back in 2008, a month before his 18th birthday.
It was an event he looked back fondly on as he prepared for this weekend’s return to the track.
“Man, at that point I was still trying to get my first Whelen Modified Tour win. It was an overall shock, to be honest with you, to finally get that. It was a great feeling,” recalled Preece. “As far as when I won that race, did I think it would propel me to getting to NASCAR’s top level or anything like that? I don’t really think so. I didn’t think about it that way. I just thought about winning races. If I did those type of things, ultimately I hoped that it would take care of itself.
“As far as what I remember about Martinsville, it’s a lot different with a modified. Just the way the cars work and the way they drive around the whole place, it’s totally different,” Preece continued. “I do love Martinsville because it one of those tracks you have to be able to attack the corners, but you have to be able to turn the center. You need to be able to get in and get to the center as quick as possible to be really good, especially to pass.
“It’s a place that has always suited my style, to be able to get in (and) turn the center as quick as possible.”
Preece comes into the weekend seeking a rebound, after a rough Western Swing that saw him finish 23rd or worse in all three races and crash out at Arizona’s ISM Raceway.
However, the Berlin, Conn., native is confident that better days are coming. After all, he knows that both he and his teammate Chris Buescher have speed; it’s just a matter of turning that pace into results.
“It has just been really up and down right now,” said Preece. “We started off really strong at Daytona, accomplishing our goal of finishing the race. That got us to where we were. Then Atlanta, we were running really well. Just didn’t leave with anything to show for it. Going to Phoenix, Vegas and California, the West Coast swing for our team – the No. 47 – wasn’t really what we wanted, but in our (team) meetings we’ve assessed everything and I feel like we’re on the right track for what I need.
“Obviously the 37 (Buescher) has showed a lot of speed,” he added. “It shows our cars are fast enough to be where we’re running. It’s early. It’s only five races in. The goal is to really just (to) keep up, keep making gains and make sure we don’t fall behind.”