Notes of Interest
● Ryan Preece heads back to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway for Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VisitPA.com. The 2.5-mile oval, known as “The Tricky Triangle,” sits some 185 miles west of Preece’s hometown of Berlin, Connecticut, about a three-hour drive. It’s the second-closest racetrack on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule to Preece’s hometown by just a scant 5 miles, as New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon sits about 180 miles to the east and north of Berlin.
● Across the 11 NASCAR national series races at Pocono during which he was running at the finish, Preece has completed all but three laps. He has seven starts in the Cup Series at Pocono with just one DNF and a best finish of eighth for JTG Daugherty Racing in June 2021. He has two Pocono starts apiece in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Best of his Xfinity Series finishes was fourth in June 2019 for JR Motorsports. Both of his Truck Series starts resulted in top-10 finishes for David Gilliland Racing, best of which was his runner-up finish to Chandler Smith in the July 2022 race after leading six laps. He was ninth in the June 2021 Truck Series race.
● Preece scored his best finish of the year with his fourth-place run at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway two weekends ago. He has two top-10s and six top-15s this season. Preece has also finished better than he’s qualified in 16 of the 20 points-paying events this year.
● Joining Preece and the No. 41 Ford Mustang at Pocono is HaasTooling.com, the cutting tool division of Haas Automation. HaasTooling.com allows CNC machinists to purchase high-quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas cutting tools are sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end users. Haas Automation, founded in 1983, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers, rotaries and indexers, and automation solutions.
Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Pocono is known as the “Tricky Triangle.” Is it really that tricky? What’s it like racing there?
“It’s a lot of fun. I think Pocono is right up my alley when it comes to driving style, and it’s a racetrack where I enjoy racing. You can really carry a lot of speed on the straights before getting hard onto the brakes in the turns. The Tunnel Turn is different, because it’s really all about entry and exit, and carrying speed through there without using a lot of braking. You have to be quick through that part of the racetrack to have a fast lap and gain spots.”
Pocono is the second-closest racetrack on the Cup Series schedule to your hometown of Berlin, Connecticut. Does this race sort of feel like another home event for you?
“It does. I grew up going to races at Pocono, so it’s one of my favorite racetracks on the schedule. It’s a special place for me, and I’ve had success there. We’re putting a lot of emphasis on Pocono because it’s a place where we feel like we can have a good run. I’m looking forward to being back in the Northeast, and I’m excited to be back at Pocono in our No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse.”
You’ve had success at Pocono in each of NASCAR’s top-tier series. What will it take to have speed there in the No. 41 car?
“We’ve been working really hard to be a step further from where we’ve been on speed rolling off the truck. Rolling into the weekend with speed is more important than it’s ever been with limited practice. We want to show that we’re here to contend this weekend and every weekend. We need to find a good starting spot for Pocono, and hopefully we will end up with another top-15 or top-10 at the end of the race on Sunday.”
You’ve mentioned that you want to race in more events, in addition to your current schedule in the Cup Series. Why?
“I want to race more, and do what I used to do, and race all the time, because it puts you in the mindset of all or nothing. I’m not saying that I’m not in that mindset, but when you race all the time, you never leave or mentally step away. It’s different. I want to win. Winning builds confidence.”
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 Raceway for Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VisitPA.com. The 2.5-mile oval, known as “The Tricky Triangle,” sits some 185 miles west of Preece’s hometown of Berlin, Connecticut, about a three-hour drive. It’s the second-closest racetrack on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule - Speedway Digest Staff - July 9, 2024){kind=link}