RYAN PREECE
Phoenix Season Finale Advance
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Event Overview
● Event: NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale (Round 36 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, Nov. 10
● Location: Phoenix Raceway
● Layout: 1-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 312 laps/312 miles (502 kilometers)
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 125 laps / Final Stage: 127 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● It’ll be the end of an era for Ryan Preece and Stewart-Haas Racing when the Berlin, Connecticut, native makes his 72nd and final NASCAR Cup Series start for the organization during Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Stewart-Haas announced on May 28 it would cease operations at the end of the season. Preece, the recently turned 34-year-old veteran of 186 Cup Series races began his run with Stewart-Haas at the outset of the 2023 season. In his 71 races as the driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Preece has logged a pair of top-five finishes, seven top-10s and a pole position, with 151 laps led.
● Sunday’s 312-lap race around the 1-mile, desert oval will be Preece’s 11th NASCAR Cup Series start at Phoenix. Best of his previous 10 starts was his 12th-place finish in his first Phoenix start with Stewart-Haas in March 2023. He returned last November to post a 14th-place finish. Preece endured an eventful race in his most recent Phoenix outing this past March. After narrowly avoiding a accident on just the seventh lap of the race he made a relentless ascent, climbing from his 27th-place starting spot to as high as second during the final stage. But a 92-lap, green-flag run to close out the race thwarted the No. 41 team’s fuel strategy and necessitated a late-race pit stop, which left Preece and the team with an unsatisfying 23rd-place result.
● Outside of the NASCAR Cup Series, Preece has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Phoenix with a best result of fifth in November 2018.
● Joining Preece and the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Phoenix 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
It was a little more than five months ago, May 28 to be exact, when Stewart-Haas Racing announced it would cease operations at the end of the season. That moment is nearly upon us with Phoenix serving as the season finale. What’s your takeaway from your time at Stewart-Haas, which began three years ago when you served as a reserve driver before being promoted to the No. 41 team in 2023?
“For me, the May, June, July months were tough, really tough, I think tough for everybody, tough for our team, but what I appreciate the most is my group of team members and that the guys haven’t quit. They haven’t quit and I think it’s shown. It’s almost built this thick skin layer on us because, when you look at late August, September, October, we’ve been strong. Have we been winning like we want to be? No. I don’t think our company is there. But I also think that we’ve persevered in times when everybody’s just like, ‘Well, **** it, we’re moving on to our next deal.’ Everybody here said, ‘We’ve got 10 more, we’ve got eight more, we’ve got six more, we’ve got four more.’ And not to just be done, but to try and finish on a note that we’re proud of. I think that’s the thing that I take away most from being at this organization, the group of people that we’ve been surrounded by, and the perseverance that each and every one of them has. You know, wherever they end up going, whatever team, they’re going to be lucky to have them because they’ve taken a tough time and made the most of it. And, as far as the team goes, I think those are the people that you want around you when you go to war. You don’t want somebody that’s going to run and hide. You want somebody who’s going to fight.”
What approach are you and the team taking this weekend at Phoenix?
“I feel like our strength as a company the last couple of years has been at the short tracks, and Phoenix falls under that category to us. In the last race at Phoenix, I had a car that I could drive to the front, but we just got on the wrong end of the fuel mileage game with the long, green-flag run at the end. The race before that, we had a top-15 car. Our approach is that, with the improvements that have been made, we can continue to take steps forward and consistently be where we want to be on performance, with us running up front. We’re always excited for the short tracks and want to run a clean race with a car that is able to do everything right, and end this thing on the highest note possible.”
Historically, Stewart-Haas has been particularly strong at Phoenix. How much more confidence does that give you and the No. 41 team this weekend?
“Obviously, it can only help everyone’s confidence and makes everyone more motivated to keep that going. We’ve constantly made gains with the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, and we’ve had a great history at Phoenix. We had some good moments in the spring race, so we expect to be even better this weekend with the progress we’ve been making with our cars.”
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
