Ryan Jeffrey Preece is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Preece previously competed in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East and West. He is also a veteran of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and won the series championship in 2013 after being the runner-up in 2009 and 2012.
On September 28, 2018, Preece was announced as the new full-time driver of the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for JTG Daugherty Racing in 2019, replacing A. J. Allmendinger and competing for 2019 Rookie of the Year honours.
Preece made his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2021, driving the No. 17 for David Gilliland Racing in the races at Nashville Superspeedway and Pocono Raceway.
On January 6, 2022, Stewart-Haas Racing hired Preece as a reserve driver, as the backup driver for all related teams and simulator driver for SHR. Preece will also race two Cup races for Rick Ware Racing at Dover and Charlotte, three Xfinity races for B. J. McLeod Motorsports at Richmond, Charlotte, and Nashville, and seven Truck races for David Gilliland Racing.
What is Ryan Preece doing now?
Stewart-Haas Racing announced Wednesday that it has promoted Ryan Preece to the full-time driver of the No. 41 Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series beginning in 2023.
The 32-year-old driver and NASCAR Modified standout from Berlin, Connecticut, spent the 2022 season as Stewart-Haas Racing’s reserve driver while also running a partial schedule across NASCAR’s top three series.
Preece returns to the Cup Series after running three full seasons from 2019 to 2021 for JTG Daugherty Racing.
Preece was runner-up for Rookie of the Year honours in 2019, and he had two top fives and nine top 10s with a best finish of third at Talladega in his rookie season. Preece made two Cup starts in 2022, both of which came with Rick Ware Racing.
Preece replaces Cole Custer, who has been moved to the Xfinity Series where he will drive a second Stewart-Haas Racing car alongside teammate Riley Herbst.
According to Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press, team co-owner Tony Stewart had pushed for Preece to take over the No. 41 despite co-owner Gene Haas’ desire to keep Custer in Cup.
Does Ryan Preece have a charter?
N, Preece does not have a charter. Ryan Preece has repeatedly said he wasn’t worried about qualifying for the Daytona 500 despite not having a charter this season.
Ryan Preece has raced full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2019 for JTG Daugherty Racing, scoring five top-ten finishes.
However, his plans of doing it for the third year have hit a snag. Speaking to Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass, team co-owner Brad Daugherty revealed Preece’s #37 car only has enough funding to run twenty-four of the thirty-six races, and the lack of a charter means Preece is not guaranteed a spot in every event.