Preece reflects on path to Daytona win: 'I've done it my way'
Ryan Preece explains why he considers the Clash his first Cup victory and Daytona his second, then reflects on his path from Northeast Modifieds.
Video Transcript
First of all, congratulations.
It's incredible performance.
I remember asking you, at Daytona five hundred media day after The Clash if you felt like that was your first career win or the first points race gonna be first career win, and you said that The Clash for you was the first career win.
Now that you have it, in either interpretation, do you still feel the same way, or does tonight feel like the first one?
No, The Clash feels like the first one.
And, and, you know, I saw a lot of the things of what people say where it's like, "Well, you haven't won a points paying win," but I know I had to beat all the same guys I had to beat tonight to do that.
So what's it matter?
If anything, The Clash, to be honest with you, when you look at how we had to qualify for that race and face all the adversity that we did that day to even make the show, that's hard.
Like today, we're guaranteed in and, you know, we raced and, and we did everything right.
So it feels really good to win at Daytona, a place that, I, I'm not being dramatic, but three years ago was, was very Could have been life-changing.
And, it's just-- that's the, the risk you take as a race car driver.
So yeah, I'm proud.
I'm proud of the, the journey that I've had because sometimes it's easy for people to forget the risks, the, the path that I've taken and, you know, Kevin Harvick says, or he, he was very adamant on it, "You cannot drive a slow car fast."
And, you know, I'm very, very proud to be driving these RFK Ford Mustangs at Daytona, Super Speedway, short tracks, mile and a half's road courses, and have, you know, the support from Brad Keselowski and everybody at Fenway and Jack Roush and, you know, I'm a racer.
And to be able to, to stand here at Daytona, like I, I, I can't imagine what my phone, if I really look at my messages, what it's gonna say from all the racers that I've raced with up in the northeast.
But one thing's for sure, racing with them last week in the modifieds and I'm proud of the way I've gotten here because I've done it with respect, and I've done it my way.
So is it the typical way of what most people see of doing legend cars and super late models and then ARCA and then, you know, trucks, Xfinity and so on?
No.
It was open wheel modifieds in the northeast 'cause that was where I was born and raised, and that's what I, you know, could race.
So proud of, proud of the path.
