WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Saturday’s Zippo 200 wasn’t originally on Ryan Preece’s limited NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule this year – but when Craftsman agreed to sponsor his No. 18 Toyota Camry, the Berlin, Conn. native certainly made the most opportunity.
Known more for his skills on a short track – rather than a speedway or a road course, Preece used superior equipment to qualify eighth Saturday morning ahead of his second Xfinity Series start at The Glen.
Throughout Stage 1, Preece maintained his presence inside the top-10 and had climbed to fifth by the end of the 20-lap sprint. A short time later, a summer shower rolled in and drenched the 2.45-mile course forcing teams to switch from slicks to wet tires.
Knowing it was a short stint in the wet, Preece kept his No. 18 Craftsman Toyota Camry out of trouble and pitted less than 15 laps later for the switch back to slick tires.
Utilizing the final laps of the stage to his advantage, Preece worked his way back to 10th and elected to stay out for the start of Stage 3. Quickly, Preece shot by Brad Keselowski for the lead – but relinquished back to the Cup invader a few laps later.
Preece made his final pit stop at Lap 56 pitting for fuel only – sending him outside the top-10. By Lap 62, the two-time Xfinity Series winner was back to fourth and found himself another opportunity to win when the caution waved on Lap 66.
Over the final laps of the race, Preece worked his way to second before a restart with eight laps to go – saw the on-track aggression peg with drivers making moves. Logano passed Preece on the restart – before losing two more spots to Justin Allgaier and AJ Allmendinger to take the checkered flag fourth – for his fourth top-five in six races this season.
“I am pretty happy,” said Preece. “Pretty happy we got a top-five today. Wish that caution didn’t come out when I was behind Brad (Keselowski). I know Joey (Logano) was coming but it takes experience and laps here to really get better. I am not a road racer by trade by any means. To come out with a top-five is really good. It’s a good start with Craftsman being on our car. It’s a good showing and hopefully, we can build some momentum for my next race.”
Preece led eight laps on Saturday for his third race led overall in 2018 spiking his total number to 53 laps at the front of the field.
“I like restarts,” he added. “I think that’s something I am trying to prove to people, was restarts is a big part of the sport. I wanted to be one of the better ones at it. I made sure everyone on the outside, even me, the first time around Brad. Brad’s really good at it.
“I didn’t want to finish outside the top-three. My worst fear was getting beat on that restart and getting shuffled into traffic. I did whatever I had to do to make sure I wasn’t the guy getting shuffled back. A great day for Craftsman, Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing.”
Overall, Preece has posted five top-10 finishes this season. After starting on the pole at Daytona last month, Preece suffered an engine failure leaving him with his only finish outside the top-10 this season and of the 10 races, he’s ran for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Preece will return to the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry for his second start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sat., Sept. 8.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
