What’s Happening?

Since Stewart-Haas Racing announced its shutdown, three SHR drivers know where they are going or are favorites to land somewhere in the 2025 Silly Season, except for Ryan Preece. He has been notably absent from any Silly Season conversation, leading us to wonder if time has run out for Preece in the Cup Series.

• Ryan Preece is in his second season with Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He previously spent three full-time seasons with JTG-Daugherty Racing, but that did not work out either. Across both stints, Preece did not impress much.
• However, Preece’s career is far from over. He has had some success in the lower series, and that could be a great place for him to go. What is available for him?
• Many fans believe Ryan Preece’s future is in doubt. His lack of performance and the SHR shutdown have made the future very blurry, and few see a path forward in the Cup Series.

An Honest Look at Preece’s Performance

Preece has been in the Cup Series for five seasons now. He’s never finished better than 23rd in points, and he has been the lowest driver on his team in the points standings every year he has been in Cup. Sure, he was never in top equipment, but he has been consistently outperformed by his teammates. Below are Preece’s average stats from his four full-time seasons compared to how he is performing 19 races into 2024.

Years	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Laps Led	Avg. Finish	Points Position
2019-2023	0.0	0.6	2.75	43.5	22.8	26.3
2024	0	1	2	0	20.1	25th

Not only has Preece not performed very well, but he doesn’t bring much funding with him either. Thus far in 2024, HaasTooling.com, a company owned by team owner Gene Haas, has sponsored Preece for 10 out of 19 races. He does have United Rentals alongside him, but they’ve only sponsored him in three races this season.

If a driver struggles performance-wise and does not have much sponsorship behind them, they’re not staying for very long. Even drivers who perform well without sponsorship money struggle to find a full-time ride; Ryan Truex and A.J. Allmendinger are good examples of this. That being said, Preece still has options for the future.

Where Can Preece Look to Now?

While Preece’s Cup Series efforts have left much to be desired, he has two wins apiece in the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series. The best place to look is open Xfinity or Truck Series seats for 2024. It’s hard to tell every available seat, but Preece should have plenty of options.

Maybe Haas will bring him back to race for the Haas Factory Team in the lower series. RSS Racing and AM Racing are also Ford Xfinity Series Preece could reach out to. He has competed for several teams in the past, including JD Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and JR Motorsports.

In the Truck Series, maybe ThorSport could sign him, although it’s unclear if the current crop of drivers will change much in 2025. He could also consider teams like McAnally-Hilgemann Racing or TRICON Garage, which both run “All-Star Trucks.”

Preece has plenty of places he could go. However, it may be a while before we know where.

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