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Future Star: High-schooler Preece Busy Learning Ropes On Modified Tour

By Raygan Swan, NASCAR.com
July 16, 2008 - 12:18pm

Ryan Preece doesn't have millions in sponsorship dollars, nor is he signed to any one of NASCAR's mega-teams as a development driver. And his family hasn't moved him to North Carolina to be close to the sport's hub.

The 17-year-old high-school senior-to-be doesn't have any of the keys to the Nationwide or Sprint Cup series' that has put other young drivers like himself on the fast track; he just has wit and a strong work ethic.

Preece, who began racing Midgets as a 5-year-old, is competing in NASCAR's Whelen Modified Tour and has three top-10 finishes this season that has him sitting 10th in the point standings.

It's a stark contrast from his rookie season in 2007 when the Connecticut native failed to qualify for the first two races of the season. In April, at the same race he failed to make last season, Preece became the youngest driver in Tour history to earn the pole at Stafford Motor Speedway.

"I've really matured as a driver to know when to take that extra lap to make a pass and sit and chill and think about what I have to do to finish the race. I'm not making all the same mistakes as a rookie that I made last season," said Preece, whose first outing in the Tour was with his family owned team Preece Racing.

"Our first season was not the season I wanted it to be ... it was our own team and with the money we had, it was hard to finish where I should've been finishing," Preece said. "So basically, it was a learning year."

But his performance, along with a win in an open Modified race in New Smyrna, Fla., during Speedweeks, was enough to catch the attention of BRE Racing, the famed Boehler family Modified team which has fielded champions such as Bugs Stevens, Wayne Anderson and Tony Hirschman.

Driving the No. 3 "Ole Blue," Preece is making the most of his opportunity and while balancing a high-school schedule, he operates his own Web site and does his own marketing.

In February, Preece learned to design Web sites and launched www.ryanpreece.com. It's there that he posts all of his race reports, schedules and most recently a fan of the month feature. The site is linked to his MySpace page where he and other young racers network within the sport.

Preece also designed his own T-shirts for sale on the site, which he autographs and mails to fans for a fee.

"It's easier if I can do it myself, I can be more hands-on so I learned how to balance everything; I do homework, work on my family car and then work on my Web site," Preece said.

The driver knows exposure can be just as important as performance when trying to catch the attention of a team owner to further his career path to NASCAR's big leagues.

With a family deeply rooted in racing -- his grandfather is a Modified team owner and his father a former pro-stock racer -- Preece is confident his hard work will pay off soon enough.

"I'll be racing for the rest of my life," he said. "One of my friends gave me a good quote the other day: 'I'll never stop racing until I die and I don't plan on dying anytime soon.' That's how bad I got it."