Ryan Preece joins Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford as a reserve driver for 2022

For the 2022 NASCAR season, Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has hired Ryan Preece as its reserve driver.

The 31-year-old driver from Berlin, Connecticut, will do simulator work while competing in races from NASCAR’s top three touring series — Cup, Xfinity, and Camping World Trucks. In each season, Preece will be a Ford Performance driver, and he will be the default driver if any of SHR’s full-time drivers are unable to race due to COVID-19 or any other unforeseen reason.

“Ryan is a versatile wheelman with a racer’s mentality who fits extremely well within our culture at Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Greg Zipadelli, vice president of competition, SHR. “Between the amount of testing and development work we’re doing with the Next Gen car this year, his added insights and time in the simulator will make us better by allowing us to learn faster.

“Plus, we’re still dealing with COVID. As much as we all want it to be over, it’s not. We needed a more robust plan in the event COVID sidelines one of our drivers. We have that now with Ryan.”

Preece will compete in a total of 12 races, including two Cup races, three Xfinity races, and seven Truck races. SHR and its technical alliance partners will work with him on his Cup and Xfinity Series events. David Gilliland Racing will be his first stop in the Truck Series.

“This is a unique setup, but I feel like it provides me with the best opportunity to win races and contribute to a championship-caliber team while expanding my racing experience,” said Preece, who spent the last three seasons (2019-2021) competing full-time in Cup. “I’m a racer, and Stewart-Haas Racing is a team built by racers. They measure success by wins. Whether I’m in the simulator, in one of their cars, or in a Ford Mustang or Ford F-150 for another team, I’m here to help SHR and Ford win.”

Preece will compete in two Cup Series races, the first on May 1 at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway and the second on May 29 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. April 2 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, May 28 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and June 25 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway will be his three Xfinity Series events. March 4 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, March 19 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, May 6 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, May 20 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, June 24 at Nashville, July 23 at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, and September 9 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City are his seven Truck Series races.

Last year, Preece competed in two Truck Series races, winning his first on June 18 in Nashville. He has won two Xfinity Series races, one in July 2017 at Iowa Speedway in Newton and the other in April 2018 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

Preece is best recognized for his accomplishments on NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour. He won the series championship in 2013 and has 25 victories, including three last year at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, and Richmond Motor Speedway.

The uniforms of NASCAR racing drivers are currently available at the following websites for a reasonable price: