How NASCAR's Ryan Preece won his way into SHR contract, Cup Series ride

Ryan Preece has never lost hope that a great Cup Series ride would come. On Monday night, his cell phone began ringing with the right calls from the right people with the words he had longed to hear.

The native of Berlin, Connecticut, has kept busy in 2022 performing simulator work and shared that information with Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe and Cole Custer. In addition to his simulator work at the Ford Performance Center, Preece has run a mix of races across each of NASCAR’s top-three national touring series — Cup, Xfinity and Truck — a schedule punctuated by a Truck Series win from the pole June 24 at Nashville Superspeedway, his second straight at the 1.333-mile oval.

Now, he will trade his seat behind the computer for a seat in the No. 41 SHR Ford in 2023. He will replace Custer in the car for the full 2023 Cup Series season. Custer will drop back to the Xfinity Series where he is a 10-time race winner, and be a teammate to Riley Herbst, who returns to SHR for a third straight season and his fourth full-time year in the Xfinity Series.

“Ryan Preece has been a real asset to our race team this year as we’ve developed the NextGen car," Tony Stewart said in a release Tuesday. “The time and effort he’s put into our program, combined with his real-world racing experience, earned him this opportunity.

“Cole Custer has been a part of SHR since 2017 and we’re glad to have him stay with us. Cole’s experience will be invaluable to Riley Herbst as he continues his development in the Xfinity Series.”

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Preece isn’t a stranger to NASCAR’s victory lane, as he made a name for himself on the Whelen Modified Tour — NASCAR’s oldest division and the only open-wheel series sanctioned by NASCAR. Preece won the Tour Championship in 2013 and worked his way into the Xfinity Series, also in 2013, and into NASCAR’s elite Cup Series in 2015 to 2019 where he has 115 starts with JTG Daugherty Racing with team owners Tad and Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty.

Preece is yet to win his first Cup Series race. His best finish was third at Talladega Superspeedway in 2019.

“Tad and Jodi Geschickter were great to me but it just didn’t work out with us,” Preece said. “… This is that next opportunity and something that, like I said, I’ve won so many races at different tracks and championships that this is what I’ve been trying to do all my life at NASCAR’s highest level.”

Preece feels he is ready to take this challenge, and he’s ready to win in the Cup Series with one of the best teams on the circuit.

“I’ve bet on myself a lot throughout my career, and KHI (Kevin Harvick Inc.) has bet on me as well when they helped me do those two truck races a year ago and we were able to go out and win Nashville, so it’s a great opportunity for me to do it with Ford Performance and Stewart-Haas Racing. I’m ready.”

Preece knew something great would come with SHR and chose to stick with his plan. Others asked for his services but he decided his best opportunity stood with Stewart and fellow owner Gene Haas and their Kannapolis, North Carolina-based team. Patience and time were the toughest part of the equation.

“I did turn down truck opportunities, Xfinity (Series) opportunities,” Preece said. “There were quite a few different teams that came to me, whether they were full-time or part-time, and I thought about if there was the smallest bit of opportunity for me to end up at Stewart-Haas, I wasn’t gonna walk away. I was willing to sit there until there was absolutely no hope and possibly be jobless, possibly not have a ride, but I was willing to take that risk. Ultimately, it worked out and this opportunity has come.”

Preece feels certain he will win with Stewart’s guidance, a three-time Cup Series champion, twice with team owner Joe Gibbs and once with SHR.

“It’s just within the team’s building there’s a lot of pieces to the puzzle and that’s something that I feel is extremely important,” Preece said. “This year when I was doing the sim work and just being around the teams, it’s kind of seeing a first-hand look at how Kevin (Harvick) and (crew chief) Rodney (Childers) work their relationship or even Chase (Briscoe) with theirs (with crew chief Johnny Klausmeier). It’s kind of an eye-opening experience, but I’ve learned what I need as a race car driver in order to communicate and get the most out of the people that are working with me, what I can do better, so it’s a second chance. At the same time, there’s a lot to be said for having OEM support and having Ford Performance in your corner and everything that they bring to our table creates a great opportunity for myself.”

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: How NASCAR's Ryan Preece won his way into a Cup Series ride