Ryan Preece Ready to Chase SK Modified® Track Championship in 2015 With Strong Team and New Car Number

By admin November 6, 2014 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, Stafford

Stafford Springs, CT — Over the past 2 seasons of SK Modified® racing at Stafford Motor Speedway, Ryan Preece has had a dominant car and been the driver to beat.  Preece has racked up a total of 14 feature victories, which equates to a winning percentage of 40% or one victory every 2.5 starts in 2013 and 2014.  As the off-season begins and anticipation for the 2015 season begins to build, Preece is excited about his plans for the 2015 season.

Preece will team with Jean-Guy and Brigitte Poulin along with Mike Pauqette and his family to form PPP Racing as he chases after his second career SK Modified® championship.  Preece’s car number will change from 2 to 6 to mimic his new ride with Eddie Partridge on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour but the car will be the same car that Preece has piloted to his 14 wins over the past 2 seasons.

“We’re going to change the car number to 6, but it will be the same car I’ve ran for the past couple of years,” said Preece.  “We’re going to run the car out of my house in Berlin and it’s going to be Mike Paquette, the Poulins with the engines, Sullivan and Sons, the Barnes’ from NAPA Canton, and we’re going to go after that title in 2015.  The crew will be same as it was this year minus Steve Greer’s Gunsmoke Stables guys.”

As dominant as Preece has been in Stafford’s SK Modified® ranks, he hasn’t yet been able to add a second track championship to his title that he won in 2011.  Preece has been agonizingly close to winning the SK Modified® crown in 2013 and 2014, but both years he came up short of winning the championship by the smallest of margins, 2 points or one position on the track.  Preece lost out to Woody Pitkat in 2013 and then Ted Christopher this past season.  Despite his missing out on winning a second SK Modified® championship, Preece is excited and confident heading into the 2015 season.

“Things are going to be the same as they have been but it’s exciting because everyone is looking forward to going back to the track and getting the year started,” said Preece.  “We’ve had strong runs in the past and we’re looking forward to having more strong runs in the future.  I was disappointed knowing how bad the Poulin’s wanted to win the championship, how bad everyone on the team wanted to win it, and obviously I wanted it bad.  Sometimes things aren’t meant to work out the way you want them to but we’re not quitters.  We’re just going to keep on going forward and trying to win the championship and continue the success we’ve had winning races.  We’ve won almost 50% of the races the last 2 seasons, so I think that’s a pretty big accomplishment.  We race to win and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”

As good as things were on track during the past 2 years, Preece says that things could be even better for the #6 team once the green flag falls on the 2015 season.

“We hit on some things at the end of the year and made the car better and better so I would expect to be even better next season,” said Preece.  “I have all the faith in the world in Mike Paquette and CD Chassis and Pettit Racing Engines, so I’m really looking forward to it.  It seemed like we were ahead of the game at the beginning of the year and we kind of lost it a little in the middle.  We came on strong at the end and that’s what we’re going to try to carry over to start off the 2015 season.  We’re going to work harder in the off-season to see if we can get a little more grip in the car and be even better.  We’ll look at our notebook from years past and see what we have to do.”

Starting strong out of the gate has been a trademark of Preece.  In 2013, Preece won the first two SK Modified® features and 4 of the first 8 and he followed that up by winning the first three races of the 2014 season and 4 of first 6.  If Preece can repeat that strong start and avoid coming back to the pack during the middle of the season, he may prove to be hard to beat in the quest for the 2015 SK Modified® championship at Stafford Motor Speedway.

To register your number for the 2015 season or for more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.

Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR