By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
A favorite throughout the short track ranks, 27-year-old Ryan Preece will make the big step to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2019, joining JTG Daugherty Racing. It will be the rookie season for the Connecticut native, who made five prior Cup starts in 2015.
“I’m very excited for this opportunity,” Preece said Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “There’s never an ‘I can’t.’ It’s always ‘Make it happen.’ I feel I am very prepared. There are going to be some things I will be learning, I’ll be leaning on other guys to make that learning curve as short as possible.”
Preece has jumped to relevancy since 2017, joining Joe Gibbs Racing on a part-time basis in the XFINITY Series. Here, he’s won twice and has been a regular near the front. Following a struggle with funding throughout his NASCAR career, Preece is thankful to have a full-time Cup season in his hands.
“If you’re going to fall down that hole of ‘Money, money, money’, you’ll never make it,” he said. “There were a lot of nights I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t know what my future was going to be but I was going to try like hell. Luckily, I have Tad and Jodi [Geschickter, team owners] in my corner.”
Announced by team co-owner Tad Geschickter, JTG will switch to Hendrick engine in 2019, leaving their relationship with current supplier ECR. Additionally, Preece will partner with Chris Buescher, who will return to the team for his third year.