Fresh
off of two straight wins to close out the 2014
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, 2013 NWMT
champion Ryan Preece is the latest name to be added
to the 12th Annual John Blewett III North-South
Shootout entry list.
Preece, of Berlin, Connecticut, will go for a second
North-South Shootout victory at North Carolina's
Caraway Speedway on November 1 behind the wheel of
the No. 6 TS Haulers machine owned by Ed Partridge.
Preece will drive the No. 6 car full-time on the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2015, but first he
will be aiming for a second North-South Shootout
victory.
"I'm excited," said Preece. "It's a head start on
what's going to be going on in 2015 with the No. 6
team. It's going to be a new chapter with them and
there would be no better way to kick things off than
with a North-South Shootout win."
In his eighth attempt at winning the John Blewett
III North-South Shootout, Preece took home the
checkered flag during the 2012 running of the race
while driving the No. 7NY owned by Kevin "Bono"
Manion. While Preece did not attend the 2013 event,
he is excited to get back to Caraway on the weekend
of November 1 and hopes to pick up right where he
left off.
"I've learned a lot since then," Preece said. "I
always learn and I'm always learning new things. As
long as I've been racing a Modified, I may almost be
24, but I'm always figuring something out. In this
race, a lot of it is about saving tires and I feel
like I enter this race with a better understanding
of how to do that. I definitely think we have a good
chance at bringing the hardware back home with us."
If he is going to make his way to victory lane in
the North-South Shootout, Preece knows that he'll
have to beat five-time and defending race winner
Matt Hirschman. Hirschman has been a force to be
reckoned with in open Modified shows during recent
years, but Preece believes he has what it takes to
overtake Hirschman and claim his second career
North-South Shootout win.
"Racing with guys like Matt Hirschman in open shows,
where Matt has been so dominant for so many years,
is certainly a challenge for any driver," said
Preece. "I think I'm ready to race on his level and
race and try to beat him. We're going to see if we
can do that in a couple weeks."
When Preece straps into the Ed Partridge-owned No. 6
TS Haulers Modified at the North-South Shootout, it
will be his first time behind the wheel of the car.
Preece recently announced that he would be leaving
the No. 16 Flamingo Motorsports team and joining the
TS Haulers team full-time for the 2015 season.
Preece won his final two starts in the Flamingo No.
16 at Connecticut's Stafford Motor Speedway and
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
"It's going to be a deal where I'm going to race
more," Preece told Speed51.com of his new
opportunity with the TS Haulers team. "I'm going to
be able to compete in more open races like the
North-South Shootout. It's something I've always
wanted to do. I feel like this is an opportunity do
that. It's going to be fun."
The 12th Annual North-South Shootout event will
feature the Modifieds as well as the PASS South
Super Late Models, Southeast Limited Late Model
Series, USAC Midgets, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks and
Legends Cars. Shootout weekend kicks off on
Thursday, October 30 with practice for all divisions
at Caraway Speedway. Racing action gets underway on
Friday, October 31 with qualifying and several
feature events. The John Blewett III North-South
Shootout feature will take center stage on Saturday,
November 1 along with PASS and more.
Caraway Speedway is located in Sophia, North
Carolina near Asheboro and just minutes from
Interstates 85 and 74.
For tickets and more on the 12th Annual North-South
Shootout, visit
www.carawayspeedway.com or call
336-629-5803. |