LONG POND, Pa. – What can Ryan Preece possibly do for an encore?
Two weeks ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Preece finished second to teammate Kyle Busch, the all-time leader in Xfinity wins.
On Saturday at Iowa Speedway, Preece will get his second chance to drive the No. 20 Camry – with little room for improvement.
“It’s great – I get a second shot at this,” Preece said during a question-and-answer session at Iowa Speedway. “So it’s a great opportunity. But what I’m really looking forward to is going over notes with my crew chief, Chris (Gabehart), and the team.”
When teammate Christopher Bell made his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Iowa in June, he won the pole and led 152 laps before falling victim to a late wreck and finishing 16th.
“Christopher Bell had a really good race car here, so just kind of looking at the characteristics he fought from practice… and just looking for forward drive. That’s going to be huge. Just going to be looking for that grip, and hopefully we can back up what we did at Loudon.”
The bad news for Preece this week? He can only gain one position from his finish at New Hampshire. Everything else is downside.
The good news? Kyle Busch is otherwise occupied with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event at Pocono.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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