From Bowman Gray Stadium to New Smyrna Speedway, Ryan Preece isn’t slowing down after his Cook Out Clash win

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Preece lives the life of a short-track racer. He loves going to the race track. He loves working on his race cars. He loves figuring out ways to find speed. So after the 35-year-old won Wednesday's Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, one of the first things he thought about was how quick he could get on the road to Florida's New Smyrna Speedway to compete in the 60th edition of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. “I do this, and I love it,” said Preece, the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion and the driver of the No. 60 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. “I like trying to figure out how to make my car faster. I like working on them and seeing all the people you’re racing with. I’ve had the same group of guys helping me for the past 18 years. “This is a big week for us. We like to come down to Speedweeks and we like to race and have a good time.” RELATED: Watch the World Series of Asphalt live on FloRacing [caption id="attachment_499236" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Ryan Preece prepares to practice in his Super Late Model at Florida's New Smyrna Speedway on Friday. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)[/caption] It’s been a whirlwind few days for Preece, a native of Berlin, Connecticut who spent years grinding at grassroots race tracks up and down the East Coast before he reached NASCAR Cup Series. Those years racing Modifieds against the likes of Mike Stefanik, Reggie Ruggiero, Ted Christopher, Matt Hirschman, Bobby Santos III, Donny Lia, Doug Coby, Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore helped him become the racer he is today. A win in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, a track known for Modified racing, was something Preece hoped would happen, but even he admits that hoping for it and doing it were two totally different things. And yet, somehow, he did it. “I felt like there were so many things stacked against us going into that race; if we could have had a good day, that was all I was thinking about,” Preece said. “I don’t want to say we didn’t have the opportunity to win; I just know everything it takes when you go to a quarter mile. “If we made the race it was going to be a win. Then we did and then everything went extremely well and we won. Then the next thought was, 'Are we done with media?' And then we were. Then it was, 'How quick can I get home?' Because we’ve got to finish loading a few things and get my dog in because we’ve got to go to New Smyrna.” Preece had been planning to race at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing for months, so when the Cook Out Clash was rescheduled for Wednesday evening due to the severe winter storms that slammed the Southeast over the weekend, Preece never changed his plans. There was never an ounce of hesitation or a second thought. He was going to New Smyrna, even if it meant he didn’t sleep. “I was awake from 3 a.m. Wednesday morning until (Thursday) at 9:45 p.m.,” Preece said. “It was pretty much almost a couple days. “It’s always worth it when you’re coming to the race track. That makes it OK.” [caption id="attachment_499237" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Ryan Preece in action at Florida's New Smyrna Speedway on Friday (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)[/caption] After completing his media obligations at Bowman Gray, Preece scrambled home to finish packing. He was home by 11:45 p.m. Wednesday night and on the road for Florida by 12:15 a.m. Thursday. He pulled into New Smyrna Speedway at about 9:30 a.m., fewer than 12 hours after winning the Cook Out Clash. He was on track for practice in his Super Late Model a few hours later. “It was a long trip,” Preece said. Preece is pulling double duty at New Smyrna this week, kicking off the World Series of Asphalt by competing in Friday’s 60-lap Super Late Model event. After that, he’ll shift gears to his Modifed when he joins a stacked field for Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour opener. He’ll also race his Modified during Monday and Tuesday’s weekly programs at New Smyrna before packing up Wednesday and heading to nearby Daytona International Speedway to begin his pursuit of a Daytona 500 victory. “If we can come out with a top five (in the Super Late Model) or be in contention, I’d be pretty happy because, I’m trying to find what the car needs and what’ll make it better,” Preece said. “Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, my expectations are to win. I feel like we can do that. I don’t come out here to ride around, that’s for sure.” Between the Cook Out Clash, racing at New Smyrna then competing at Daytona, Preece was and is in for long days and busy nights. But he loves this stuff, and there is nothing he’d rather be doing on a given February evening.