Preece Changing Tour Rides
2013 Whelen Modified Champ Headed To TS Haulers Racing
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ryan Preece announced today that he is leaving Flamingo Motorsports to join TS Haulers Racing for the 2015 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
The move for Preece ends a three-year stint with the Massachusetts-based Flamingo Motorsports No. 16 team that saw the pairing capture the 2013 Whelen Modified Tour title and finish as the championship runner-up in 2012 and 2014.
“We had a really good run and we hit on a lot of great things with the 16,” Preece said. “We finished second in points twice and we won a championship. I have nothing but great things to say about that team and about how hard everybody worked.”
The move comes fresh off of winning the final two races of 2014, including Sunday at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
“I want to thank Eric Sanderson (car owner) for the opportunity to race the 16,” Preece said. “I was a kid basically without a ride and he called and gave me that opportunity. Eric and Sly Szaban (crew chief) and the entire Flamingo team worked their tails off. We won eight races and a championship together in three years. We did everything together a team could ask for and it’s hard to leave because it was a great bunch to work with.”
The NASCAR Next driver from Berlin, Connecticut, now moves on to the Connecticut-based No. 6 TS Haulers Racing team that recently parted ways with Ron Silk.
Silk and TS Haulers Racing won the Whelen Modified Tour title together in 2011.
“I see the way they operate with Tommy Grasso (crew chief) and owners Ed and Connie Partridge, and they operate really well,” Preece said. “It seems like a team where we can fire off right away, run hard and win races, and run a lot of races.
“The 6 team is a very dedicated bunch and I definitely see us winning races. I’m really looking forward to it. I think it’s a situation where I can pick up right where I left off. Ed is definitely giving me a great opportunity.”
Preece said he’s going to get a head start on the 2015 Whelen Modified Tour season with his new team by racing in some offseason events. The team change will also open up additional opportunities for Preece to compete.
“I’m going to be running the North-South Shootout with them, and I believe the New Smyrna Speedway World Series,” Preece said. “There are other things that we’re going to be doing with the 6.”
In eight seasons on the Whelen Modified Tour, Preece has compiled 11 wins, 12 poles and 64 top 10s in 108 starts. He’s finished in the top two in points in four of his last five full-time campaigns.
Preece will conclude his 2014 NASCAR competition schedule in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with the Ford Ecoboost 300 on Nov. 15 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR PR