RYAN PREECE
St. Louis Advance
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing
Event Overview
● Event: Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter (Round 15 of 36)
● Time / Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 5
● Location: Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois (near St. Louis)
● Layout: 1.25-mile oval
● Laps / Miles: 240 laps/300 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 45 laps / Stage 2: 95 laps / Final Stage: 100 laps
● TV / Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● This weekend marks the second NASCAR Cup Series race at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis. Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter marks Ryan Preece’s first career start at the 1.25-mile, egg-shaped oval.
● Last weekend, as part of #NASCARSalutes and the annual 600 Miles of Remembrance initiative during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, the team honored Sergeant Bradley J. Harper of the United States Marine Corps Reserve on the windshield of the red, white, and blue No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). Practice and qualifying were canceled due to weather and the lineup was set per the NASCAR rule book putting Preece 22nd on the starting grid. Mother Nature didn’t let up on Sunday and the race was postponed until Monday. Preece finished 27th in Stage 1 and the team went to work making adjustments to help with rear grip. Preece rallied for an 18th-place finish in Stage 2, then dropped a pair of positions and finished 20th in Stage 3. In the final stage, Preece continued to fight despite multiple, untimely cautions and ended took the checkered flag in 13th place.
● Through the first third of the Cup Series season, Preece has shown improvement and consistency at a variety of racetracks, bringing a heightened sense of motivation and anticipation for the No. 41 team. He had a career weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April, earning his first Cup Series pole and leading a career-high 135 laps. Since then, although the results haven’t shown it, Preece has started coming into his own.
● In 14 points-paying events so far this season, Preece has four top-15 finishes, two of them coming in the last two points-paying races at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and Charlotte.
● Preece heads to Gateway International Raceway 28th in the driver standings with 225 points.
● Preece kicked off the 2023 season with a strong showing in the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, leading a race-high 43 laps but ultimately finishing seventh after a fuel pump issue. He has a best points-paying finish of 12th this season, which came at Phoenix Raceway in March.
● Back again in 2023 on the No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang is HaasTooling.com. HaasTooling.com is the cutting tool division of Haas Automation led by SHR co-owner Gene Haas. HaasTooling.com was launched as a way for 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. HaasTooling.com products became available nationally in July 2020. 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.
● RaceChoice.com, a proud partner of Preece, has launched a special racing experience giveaway for fans. The winner will receive airfare and a two-night stay during Coke Zero 400 weekend at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. RaceChoice.com will also give the winners two pit passes for the race, set for Saturday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. ET, preceded by a meet-and-greet with Preece, driver of the No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang. Visit https://racechoice.com/2023-daytona-giveaway/ for more information.
Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
You finally got the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in on Monday afternoon, and you were able to salvage a 13th-place finish. Do you feel that gives the team some momentum heading to St. Louis?
“Yeah, I think it definitely does. Any time we’re getting finishes in the top-15 after having a handful of finishes outside of the top-20, I think it boosts the morale on the team. We know what finishes we’re capable of and I think everything is slowly coming together. As far as the 600, man, what a night that was. The weather was wild all weekend, so I’m glad we got it in. Our team battled all night long. Some of those cautions just did not work in our favor at all, but I knew we had a good car. We just needed track position and clean air and I knew we could be up front. We made some really strong adjustments throughout the entire race and my crew was on it every time I came to pit road. I believe we had a top-10 car. But after a day like that, I’ll take 13th and our team will use that momentum to try and gain some more spots this weekend in St. Louis.”
You’ve never raced at Gateway. What are your thoughts on the track, and how are you preparing?
“I think Gateway is kind of its own beast, but I do think there are some similarities to other flat ovals that we visit. You know, New Hampshire and Phoenix are two that come to mind. Obviously, New Hampshire is home, so I’ve got a lot of experience there, and Phoenix is where I got my best finish of the season so far, so hopefully that translates to this weekend, too. Both ends of the track are so different at Gateway, but I’ve been taking notes and talking to Chad (Johnston, crew chief) and my teammates about it. We’ll be good to go, and hopefully we’ll unload fast and qualify up front so we can start the race up there and stay there. That’s our goal.”
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Team Roster
Primary Team Members
Driver: Ryan Preece
Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut
Crew Chief: Chad Johnston
Hometown: Cayuga, Indiana
Car Chief: Tony Cardamone
Hometown: Bristol, Virginia
Engineer: Lee Deese
Hometown: Rockingham, North Carolina
Engineer: Scott Bingham
Hometown: Lawrenceville, Georgia
Spotter: Andy Houston
Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina
Over-The-Wall Members
Front Tire Changer: Devin Lester
Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia
Rear Tire Changer: Kevin Teaf
Hometown: Tallahassee, Florida
Tire Carrier: Chad Emmons
Hometown: Tyler, Texas
Jack Man: Kapil Fletcher
Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Fuel Man: Dwayne Moore
Hometown: Griffin, Georgia
Road Crew Members
Mechanic: Joe Zanolini
Hometown: Sybertsville, Pennsylvania
Underneath & Interior Mechanic: Clint Leatherwood
Hometown: Rockmart, Georgia
Shock Specialist: Aaron Kuehn
Hometown: Kensington, Connecticut
Tire Specialist: Matt Ridgway
Hometown: Carrollton, Georgia
Engine Tuner: Jimmy Fife
Hometown: Orange County, California
Transporter Co-Driver: David Rodrigues
Hometown: Santa Clarita, California
Transporter Co-Driver: Charlie Schleyer
Hometown: Youngsville, Pennsylvania
