LEBANON, Tenn.: Ryan Preece finally found a glimmer of hope in an otherwise gloomy season on Sunday.
The journeyman racer had to work overtime to achieve his first top-five result of 2024.
But the effort rewarded him with a fourth-place result in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
“We took tires there and all those guys decided to stay out,” Preece said of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team’s strategy after Lap 300. “You don’t think you’re going to have four or five cautions on a green-white-checker.”
“It was just right place, right time. Everything was meant to be. We just could never get track position. It was so tough to pass. Ultimately, everything worked out for us. We were able to capitalize and have a good day.”
Preece qualified 22nd and dropped to 25th when the first stage ended on Lap 90. He had worked his way up to 21st when NASCAR halted the action for thunderstorms 46 laps later. Following an 80-minute delay, the race returned to green on Lap 140 and Preece restarted 19th.
When the sixth caution occurred on Lap 203 after Corey LaJoie took out Riley Herbst, Preece was running 21st. Crew chief Chad Johnston elected to bring Preece to the pits for service. Preece dropped to 26th in the field. A rash of cautions slowed the driver’s progress, starting with the restart after Erik Jones hit the wall and the yellow flag flew again on Lap 210.
Three A-list drivers lost control of their cars over a 24-lap period. Chase Elliott went for a spin on the front stretch on lap 219. Christopher Bell, who won the first two stages, was the next to veer off course—and into the wall off of Turn 2 on Lap 229. Bell’s wreck was terminal after his suspension was destroyed. Brad Keselowski spun to ignite the 10th caution on Lap 244.
The race continued on Lap 249 and Ross Chastain grabbed the lead from Ryan Blaney. With 50 laps remaining to decide the contest, Preece was mired in traffic outside of the top 20.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Preece said. “Track position was a tough thing and we seemed to always be on the other side of it.”
A variety of strategies would alter the field over the closing laps. Blaney was one of the first drivers forced to pit for fuel on Lap 268. He fell from second to 33rd. That opened the door for Denny Hamlin to move to second and hunt down Chastain.
Hamlin passed the No. 1 Trackhouse Chevrolet with six laps remaining in the contest. Although the No. 11 Toyota had enough fuel to finish the race plus one green-white-checkered, five additional cautions added 31 laps to the advertised distance.
Johnston’s decision to take tires for Preece combined with the attrition from drivers wrecking and/or running out of fuel, opened the door for the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing’s team’s best run of the season.
“Just really happy with how these guys kept fighting all day,” Preece said. “Didn’t look like it was going to be very pretty, but another chaotic 10 or 15 laps there at the end and we salvaged a good day. Thanks to Stewart-Haas, Ford Performance and all my supporters—Morton Buildings, HaasTooling.com, United Rentals, RaceChoice.com, Mohawk Northeast—it helps a lot on a day like today.”
The former modified driver knows it’s not where you start but where you finish. And for the first time since Martinsville in April, Preece led the charge for the SHR stable.
“A year from now, when you’re prepping to come to Nashville, you’re just going to look at the results,” Preece said. “When you take a deeper dive, you’ll understand.
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
