Ryan Preece Looking for Another Strong Finish in Shark Cycle 80 at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — When the Valenti Modified Racing Series made their first visit of the 2013 season to Stafford back in June, Ryan Preece had one of the cars to beat. Preece won his heat race and after starting fifth, he moved to the lead on lap-11 and he led the race for the next 11 laps before a spark plug issue dropped him off the pace and out of the race. Preece is coming back with the same #31 sponsored by Falmouth Ready Mix and he is excited about his chances at adding another Stafford victory to his resume this season.
“I’m pretty excited since we were pretty good last time at Stafford,” said Preece. “The track changes a little bit and we’ll adjust for that but the CD car has been really stout this year and Mike Paquette is on top of his game. He’s going to do his best, I’m going to do my best, and we’ll see how we can do this Friday with the MRS car and try to continue winning races with the SK car.”
One area that Preece will have to improve on is his luck with finishing the race. In only 2 starts with the #31 Al and Cathy Moniz owned team this year, Preece has had a fast enough car to win but mechanical issues have plagued them to DNF’s in both races this season. In addition to leading laps at Stafford earlier this season, Preece and the #31 team went to Thompson last week and had moved into the top-5 after starting 10th before mechanical gremlins again sidelined Preece early.
“If we can make the whole 80 laps I would say we’re definitely going to have a good solid top-5 car,” said Preece. “It stinks we haven’t been able to go a full race yet because of things out of our control but we’re definitely looking forward to it. Those freak things tend to happen to me but I’ve had so much good luck I have to have some bad luck too and you take it for what it is. You keep moving forward, you don’t look backwards, and you keep trying to win races and keep having solid finishes. Not running the MRS all that much, we haven’t had that much time to work with this car and find the sweet spot but Thompson gave us a little indication of what we need to do as far as pre-race adjustments. I’m looking forward to this Friday. I want to win races and run solid, but at the same time it’s a learning experience with this car.”
Preece’s lack of experience with the MRS has him looking at how he can still get the car to the front of the pack while at the same time conserving the tires to have something left for the end of the race.
“The car was good last time out at Stafford,” said Preece. “It was early in the race and a lot of people were holding back and I was holding back. Being that my girlfriend Heather works with horses, I kind of look at it like a horse race. You have cars that take off early and fade a little, cars that make a sprint in the middle of the race and it’s hit or miss, and you have the late race chargers. I’m kind of messing with different types of strategies as far as what I can do to keep tires on the car while keeping track position. It’s not only having a good car, you have to have a good strategy. I’m new to the whole tire deal and it’s a learning experience but I’m looking forward to the race.”
Tickets for the August 30th Shark Cycle 80 are available and on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $27.50 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating will be priced at $30.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.
For more information on the Shark Cycle 80, or to order tickets, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR