RYAN PREECE
Michigan Advance
No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing
Event Overview
● Event: FireKeepers Casino 400 (Round 23 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 6
● Location: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn
● Layout: 2-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 200 laps / 400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 45 laps / Stage 2: 75 laps / Final Stage: 80 laps
● TV/Radio: USA / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● Pure Michigan: Ryan Preece and the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) are heading to the 2-mile oval at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at 2:30 EDT. Coverage will be live on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
● By The Numbers: In five NASCAR Cup Series starts at Michigan, Preece has a best finish of seventh that came in the August 2019 event when he piloted the No. 47 for JTG-Daugherty Racing. His most recent start at the track was in 2021, when he started 32nd and finished 21st. He also has one NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the track in 2016 for JD Motorsports. He started 24th and finished 19th.
● Welcome Back, United Rentals: This weekend, United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI), the largest equipment rental company in the world, returns to the No. 41 Ford Mustang serving as the primary sponsor. United Rentals has an integrated network of 1,449 rental locations in North America, 13 in Europe, 27 in Australia and 19 in New Zealand. In North America, the company operates in 49 states and every Canadian province. The company’s approximately 24,700 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and other customers. The company offers approximately 4,700 classes of equipment for rent with a total original cost of $19.3 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the Barron’s 400 Index and the Russell 3000 Index®. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Additional information about United Rentals is available at UnitedRentals.com.
● Turns for Troops: Making every lap a lap of honor. Join United Rentals in supporting military veterans and families. Through the Turns for Troops program, United Rentals will donate $50 for each lap that one of its three sponsored drivers complete at specific races throughout the season. Funds from the Turns for Troops program benefit SoldierStrong or Operation Homefront. Click here to learn more.
● Last Weekend: Last weekend on the .75-mile Richmond (Va.) Raceway oval, Preece and the No. 41 team showed speed during practice and qualifying en route to a fifth-place finish. The finish marked Preece’s first top five of the season, the third of his career, and the team’s first top-10 finish of the season. During Saturday’s qualifying session, Preece earned the 11th-place starting position for Sunday’s race, his best starting position since qualifying on the pole at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April. He was happy with his car from the start of the race and finished sixth in Stage 1 and seventh in Stage 2, gathering crucial stage points. Adjustments by the team throughout the race kept the balance of the car to Preece’s liking and he weathered a late-race restart en route to his fifth-place finish.
● ARCA Menards Series West Win: In June, competitors took on Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway for the season’s second road-course race. Preece kicked off the weekend on the West Coast with a victory in the ARCA Menards Series West race on Friday afternoon. He qualified his No. 9 Bonanza Ford on the pole. From there, he dominated the race by leading 55 of 64 laps and crossed the finish line 9.675 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Sammy Smith.
● Where He Stands: Preece heads to Michigan 25th in the driver standings with 382 points.
● VIP Race Day Experience: RaceChoice.com, a proud partner of Preece, has launched their second special racing experience giveaway for fans this season. Fans can enter today through September 30. The winner will receive airfare and a two-night stay in Phoenix, Arizona for race weekend. RaceChoice.com will also give the winners two pit passes for the race and a meet-and-greet with Preece, driver of the No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang. Click here for more information.
Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing
You were pretty confident heading into last weekend’s race at Richmond and it was one of those races that you had circled on your calendar. What made you feel so confident?
“My confidence came from seeing what Chad (Johnston, crew chief) has given here in years past and we talked a lot about what we were going to need. And I said, ‘Man, if you can get me to roll the center, I’ll deal with loose in,’ so that’s what he gave me and my United Rentals Ford Mustang was pretty stout. I like Richmond and I come from a short-track background, so this track fits my style and we knew what we needed to do. If we run more like this every week, we’re going to have more opportunities to challenge for wins and that’s what we’ve been working toward.”
Your fifth-place finish at Richmond was your best of the season so far. What does that do for you and the team heading into the next few races before the playoffs?
“I’m really proud of our team and how hard we’ve worked to get here. If we consistently bring cars like that and all of us keep ourselves accountable, we’ll continue to be where we want to be. I’m really happy with a fifth-place finish, but I know we can do even better and get those wins. That’s what we’re all here to do – win. We’ve all got the tools and the motivation to do it, and every week we’ve shown how strong we are. We’re going to keep doing that.”
Heading to the 2-mile oval at Michigan this weekend, what are your thoughts about the track?
“I’m looking forward to Michigan. All the cars at SHR have been pretty good at these longer, superspeedway-style racetracks. It’s going to be important to stay out of other people’s messes and just be patient throughout the race. Michigan is such a fast track and every decision you make is crucial. You want to be able to take off on the straightaway and be on the throttle to gain as much speed as possible. We’ll be able to get a gauge on where our car is at during practice and qualifying and then we can come up with a game plan for the race. We want to keep these solid finishes coming and it would be awesome to bring home a win for Ford at Michigan.”
No. 41 United Rentals 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: Marc Hendricksen
Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey
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, California
Transporter Co-Driver: David Rodrigues
Hometown: Santa Clarita, California
Transporter Co-Driver: Charlie Schleyer
Hometown: Youngsville, Pennsylvania
