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01/14/2013 |
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PREECE TO
BEGIN AGGRESSIVE 2013 SCHEDULE IN DAYTONA
Whelen Modified Tour,
All-American Series Driver Has Grand Plans |
 Connecticut’s
Ryan Preece – one of the “race anytime, anywhere”
drivers that permeates NASCAR’s weekly and regional
touring ranks – plans to launch his aggressive 2013
racing schedule with the inaugural UNOH Battle At
The Beach at Daytona International Speedway, Feb.
18-19.
Preece has steadily increased his racing involvement
since bursting on the scene at age 16 in the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour in 2007. Now 21, the Berlin,
Conn., racer is looking at nearly 100 races in total
for the 2013 season, starting with his first trip to
the “World Center of Racing.”
“Drivers at my level, we don’t ever know if we’ll
have the opportunity to race on the big track at
Daytona, so to be able to be there [to race the
short track] is pretty cool,” Preece said.
“I think this Daytona deal with the short track
races – I think it is going to be a lot of fun, not
only for the drivers, but for the fans as well,”
Preece said. “It brings a bit more of the NASCAR
history into Speedweeks. Bringing the Modifieds and
short-track racing to Daytona is going to be a
pretty big deal.”
Preece is locked into the NASCAR Whelen Modified
feature at Daytona by virtue of his race wins during
the 2012 season. Drivers to win touring series races
and championships in 2012 are locked into their
respective features in Daytona. All others must
qualify through heat races.
In addition to a tour-leading six poles, Preece
notched wins at both quarter-mile bullring races on
the schedule: Monadnock Speedway in Winchester,
N.H., and Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway.
While the .4-mile, flat-track layout on the
backstretch at Daytona will be unique, Preece has
quite the fondness for the smaller tracks and very
much anticipates his first laps on the course.
“I love the racing where you’re getting up on the
wheel and sawing at it,” Preece said. “A track like
Stafford or Thompson, a lot of it is getting your
car hooked up and just having it be there. On the
short tracks and flat tracks, a lot of it is being
up on the wheel and just trying to find different
places where there’s grip.
“That’s what I love about short-track racing – you
move around, you aren’t really stuck to that one
spot. That’s what makes it interesting as far as
passing and making a good race.”
The Whelen Modified events will be just one facet of
the inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach. The NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series Late Models will have
qualifying races and a 150-lap feature on Monday,
Feb. 18 while the action on Tuesday, Feb. 19 will
include a similar schedule of qualifying races and
150-lap races for both the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tours and NASCAR K&N Pro Series.
In addition to his exploits with the No. 16 Flamingo
Motorsports Ford team on the Whelen Modified Tour,
Preece is also a regular in Whelen All-American
Series action at a pair of Connecticut tracks. He
won the track title at Stafford Motor Speedway in
2011 out of the SK Modified division and just this
past season he was track champion in Sunoco
Modifieds at Thompson International Speedway.
The top 10 drivers in the final 2012 Whelen
All-American Series national standings also earned
secured starting positions for that series’ Late
Model feature as part of the UNOH Battle At The
Beach. Preece, who raced Modifieds in All-American
Series action and finished fifth nationally, does
not currently have plans to compete in that series’
Late Model event in Daytona, although he’s looking
for opportunities.
Preece is the only driver locked-in to more than one
of the UNOH Battle At The Beach features.
“I would love to race on Monday,” Preece said. “I
wish I could be in it, but I haven’t gotten any
calls. I have a guaranteed spot, so if anybody out
there with good equipment wanted to run the race and
know that they could make the race, they should get
ahold of me.”
Regardless of whether he has the opportunity to pull
double-duty or not, Preece is very much looking
forward to heading to Florida to break up the
offseason and Northeast winter.
“I’m looking forward to it, not only because it is
Daytona, but because it is in February,” Preece
said. “The winter season seems to get long at some
points, so I’m looking forward to getting back to
the track and getting the rhythm of racing again.”
All three UNOH Battle At The Beach features are
non-points events and will be carried live on SPEED
while supplemental event coverage will be provided
at
www.nascarhometracks.com.
For more information, please visit
www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.
Grandstand and garage admission can be secured via
the website or by calling 1-888-PITSHOP. |
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Source: Jason Cunningham / NASCAR
Posted: January
14, 2013 |
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