It was simply final August at Daytona Worldwide Speedway when Preece, who drives the No. 41 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing, obtained turned exiting Flip 2 on lap 156 of the scheduled 160-lap race.
Preece’s automobile darted throughout the observe and picked up his SHR teammate Chase Briscoe. His automobile slid on the grass island and asphalt close to the doorway of the chicane used on the street course, then onto the bigger grass space on the backstretch, the place the automobile went airborne.
The automobile flipped almost a dozen instances earlier than coming to a violent cease on its wheels. Preece was held in a neighborhood hospital in a single day for statement however launched the following day and raced the next weekend.
Ryan Preece, Stewart-Haas Racing, RaceChoice.com Ford Mustang wrecks
Photograph by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Pictures
With Cup season set to start with the annual Daytona 500, Preece stated has no second ideas about returning to the observe of his harrowing accident.
“As a race automobile driver, I believe all of us perceive the dangers that we take,” he stated. “I selected this occupation for a motive, so if I’m afraid to drive a race automobile and get the max potential I can, then I ought to in all probability retire and simply stop.”
Eradicating grass
There are adjustments to the two.5-mile superspeedway since final summer season’s race at Daytona.
By early December, the observe had paved a part of the grass space the place Preece’s wreck occurred – starting within the space to drivers’ left the place the grass started coming into the chicane to the exit of the chicane.
The “island” and grass on the chicane at present stay however extra of that might be repaved following the Feb. 18 Daytona 500.
Preece stated returning to Daytona does add a component to the race except for merely attempting to win.
“Going again now’s going to be one thing the place I get to drive by that tunnel and the objective afterward is clearly to attempt to win that race and put ourselves in one of the best place doable,” he stated.
“On the identical time, I need to have the ability to drive out of that tunnel alone on the finish of the day.”
Preece, 33, enters his second full-time season with SHR. He joined the group in 2022 as a reserve driver, doing simulator work whereas additionally operating a blended schedule throughout NASCAR’s three nationwide collection – Cup, Xfinity and Vehicles.
He gained his first Cup Sequence pole final April at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and had a season’s greatest end of fifth at Richmond, Va., in July.
Whereas he ended the yr twenty third within the Cup standings, Preece did win an ARCA West race at Sonoma, Calif., and picked up his twenty sixth profession NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory final October at Martinsville.
Ryan Preece, Stewart Haas Racing, United Leases Ford Mustang
Photograph by: Gavin Baker / NKP / Motorsport Pictures
Preece stated he’s hoping for a greater begin to the season this yr – he completed higher than twenty third simply as soon as within the first six races in 2023.
“It’s essential to begin your season not in a gap. We have been fairly good, we had some strong runs going at first of the season, however sadly, we both didn’t capitalize on them, or we didn’t get the factors that we would have liked to,” he stated.
“That put us in a gap, and for the remainder of the season, we ended up having to climb ourselves out. Going into this season, it’d be good to be on the opposite aspect of issues and be aggressive and be capable to put some good factors up.”
