RYAN PREECE
Atlanta Advance
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Event Overview
● Event: Atlanta 400 (Round 27 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 8
● Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia
● Layout: 1.54-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 260 laps/400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 100 laps / Final Stage: 100 laps
● TV/Radio: USA / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● Sunday’s Atlanta 400 will mark Ryan Preece’s eighth NASCAR Cup Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The best of his previous outings on the 1.54-mile oval was the most recent, a 16th-place result from the 20th starting position in March that also was best that day of the four Stewart-Haas Racing entries. Preece’s first four Atlanta starts came prior to the track’s old configuration, on which his best finish was 25th, earned twice – March 2021 and July 2021. Preece logged finishes of 28th and 24th in the March and July 2023 races, respectively, his first two outings on Atlanta’s current configuration.
● Outside of the NASCAR Cup Series, Preece has three other Atlanta starts. He ran two NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the track, each on the old layout, with his best result being seventh in February 2019. In March 2023, Preece competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta, where he also finished seventh.
● Atlanta Motor Speedway has been in existence since 1960, but the Atlanta track Preece and his NASCAR Cup Series brethren will compete on this Sunday is less than years old. The 1.54-mile oval was reconfigured after the final race of the 2021 season. The banking was increased from 24 degrees to 28 degrees and the track was narrowed from 55 feet wide to 40 feet wide, and it was all covered in fresh asphalt. The goal of the reconstruction was to recreate the kind of pack-style racing seen at the behemoth, 2.5-mile Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and the even bigger 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Drivers competed on the new layout for the first time in March 2022 and the Atlanta 400 will be the sixth Cup Series race on the revamped track.
● Joining Preece and the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Atlanta is HaasTooling.com, the cutting tool division of Haas Automation. HaasTooling.com allows 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. 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.
Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Your first race at Atlanta was back in February. So, seven months have passed and the weather is now a lot hotter and a lot more humid. How much does Atlanta change from late February to early September?
“With it being in the South and as hot as it is this time of year, I think it’s going to change a lot. It would help if it was a night race, which would make things a lot cooler and would give us a little more grip. But it is what it is, and it’s the same for everybody. We’ve been racing in these conditions pretty much every week since the beginning of summer, so it’s just another week of keeping focused and mindful of our hydration all week and through the race weekend.”
When you get to Atlanta, it’s just 10 more races until the season is over. What do you want to accomplish in these last 10 races at Stewart-Haas?
“Being competitive and staying competitive is the main thing. We want to run top-15, top-10, top-five, maybe even sneak in a win before all is said and done. But bottom line, no matter how it happens, it would be great to send it out on a good note.”
Now that you’ve run three Cup Series race on the current track configuration at Atlanta, how much does the racing at Atlanta emulate the racing you experience at Daytona and Talladega?
“I would say Atlanta versus Daytona and Talladega, they’re the same but they’re different. They’re different because Atlanta is still a mile-and-a-half, so we’re restricted on horsepower, we’re wide open like a superspeedway, but the runs happen twice as fast. Handling is, by far, way more important than it would be at Daytona and Talladega. Not only that, it’s a lot tighter of a corner at Atlanta, so when you’re going into turn three and you’re three-wide and four-wide, it gets tight really quick.”
Once again, single-car qualifying is all the track time you’ll have at Atlanta prior to Sunday’s race. How do you prepare for the race when you know so little about how your car will perform?
“You go into it completely blind. There’s nothing like showing up at a racetrack and going green and not really having an understanding of where you’re going to be. I guess that really just emphasizes how close the tools you’re using are as far as making sure your car drives well. But, yeah, we’re going to be completely blind.”
Is competing at Atlanta mentally taxing?
“Well, it’s different than it used to be, for sure. It’s not like the old Atlanta where you had balance shifts and you were trying to take care of your tires. Now, it’s about positioning yourself in the right lane, and potentially you can see handling becoming an issue and people trying to hang onto the draft. It’s going to be very mentally taxing, so hopefully our cars are really fast. That fixes everything.”
What do you need in your racecar to be fast at Atlanta?
“You need downforce, you need horsepower, really you need everything. Ultimately, if someone asks me that question, I’d say you need the total package. If you don’t have a lot of horsepower, or a really good-handling racecar because it has plenty of horsepower but a lot of drag, you could potentially struggle.”
Daytona and Talladega races are known to be a crapshoot, where there are so many things out of your control. Is that also the case at Atlanta, or are you still able to make a little bit of your own luck at Atlanta?
“I feel like at Atlanta you can control your destiny a little more. Yeah, you’re going to have to have track position, but if you have a really good-handling racecar at Atlanta, you’re going to have a good day. At Daytona and Talladega, sometimes it’s just luck of the draw.”
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Team Roster
Primary Team Members
Driver: Ryan Preece
Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut
Crew Chief: Chad Johnston
Hometown: Cayuga, Indiana
Car Chief: Jeremy West
Hometown: Gardena, California
Engineer: Marc Hendricksen
Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey
Spotter: Tony Raines
Hometown: LaPorte, Indiana
Over-The-Wall Members
Front Tire Changer: Devin Lester
Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia
Rear Tire Changer: Austin Chrismon
Hometown: China Grove, North Carolina
Tire Carrier: Chad Emmons
Hometown: Tyler, Texas
Jack Man: Sherman Timbs
Hometown: Indianola, Mississippi
Fuel Man: Dwayne Moore
Hometown: Griffin, Georgia
Road Crew Members
Front End Mechanic: Joe Zanolini
Hometown: Sybertsville, Pennsylvania
Interior Mechanic: Robert Dalby
Hometown: Anaheim, California
Tire Specialist: Matt Ridgeway
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
