After a long wait this NASCAR driver gets his first chance to race the Slinger Nationals: Ryan Preece QA

His short track background is in open-wheel modifieds and for the better part of a decade, Ryan Preece has made his living in NASCAR .

Still, racing the Slinger Nationals has been a target of his for years.

Preece will finally get his chance Tuesday in the 45 ^th edition of one of the country’s premier short track special events, driving an Apex Motorsports car in conjunction with Kevin Harvick Inc. He’ll see Slinger Speedway in person for the first time for practice Monday.

More: 45th Slinger Nationals: Schedule, tickets, streaming, preview, history and drivers to watch

Although the 33-year-old from Berlin, Connecticut, has limited experience in the type of cars raced in the Nationals, he fully intends and expects to contend for the $20,000 winner’s share of the purse.

Preece shared his thoughts on the experience in a phone interview this week.

Q: Three Snowball Derbies and a little experience in the World Series of Asphalt; is that about it for you in a super late model?

A: Coming from Connecticut and the Northeast, open-wheel modifieds are pretty much the big division up there, so as far as what part of the country I’m from and what division was kind of that path that you take, super late models weren’t really it.

As I’ve moved into North Carolina and being down there, you hear all the hype with super late models and the Snowball Derby (at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida). I’ve always gone to New Smyrna SpeedWeeks and really loved seeing the supers race around there.

So obviously I’ve gone to the Derby a few times now (with a top finish of fourth in 2021) and New Smyrna (Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Florida). When Kevin and I were talking about some of these races, I really just wanted to do some of the bigger ones.

When I owned my own car a few years ago, the Slinger Nationals was pretty much on that list but it didn’t really pan out. This was a great opportunity to go and do that.

Q: What’s the experience been like? Obviously you must have enjoyed it.

A: Yeah. ... I’m a short-track racer, man. Slinger, seeing about it, hearing about it, it’s a quarter-mile. It is the fastest quarter-mile in Wisconsin, right? I seem to do pretty well on quarter-miles. That’s pretty much my background, and when you hear about this race it’s a lot of prestige and it’s one that I would say out of the past five, 10 years it’s really grown so much and made a lot of noise even over in the Northeast. So it’s a place I wanted to come to, and this was a great opportunity to do that.

More: Key Wisconsin auto racing events for the 2024 season

Q: Super lates are more nimble than NASCAR Cup cars, but how do they drive compared to the mods?

A: The modifieds and super late models are very similar. I would say the biggest difference is the tire width, right? (Modified tires are about 50% wider.) But they’re a lot of fun to drive. They’ve got a lot of horsepower and you’re up on the wheel, elbows up the entire time.

So I can’t really speak yet to how Slinger races because I haven’t been there, but I’m really looking forward to having this opportunity to work with Travis Dassow and Morton Buildings behind the entire thing. I’d really love to race with some of those guys and have a great day.

Q: It seems there’s a push in NASCAR toward late model stocks given CARS Tour ownership (including Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. ) Was there pressure to go that direction if you’re going to dabble?

A: No, no.

Years ago – and I’ve always raced three to four times a week, coming from where I’m from – I had always been that driver when I wasn’t racing in the Cup Series for Xfinity, I would be racing whether it was Stafford up in the Northeast or Thompson or Riverhead or New Hampshire or upstate New York or wherever it was.

Primarily there’s a bigger push now than ever to go back and race at your regional series, whether that’s a super late model, the CARS Tour late model, a pro late model, a modified, a midget, a sprint car. … From what I’ve seen, there was almost a disconnect from the national level to the short-track level … (and we’re trying) to rekindle that connection from your national driver to your short track racers.

That’s just because we were short-track guys at one point, and I know I’m proud of all my accomplishments and what I’ve done up in the Northeast and on the East Coast, and I want to go around the country and race against some of the best.

Q: Do you have other races like this on your radar?

A: You know, if it was up to me, I’d own a super late model, I’d own a USAC sprint car, I’d be building race cars all the time and racing across the country. But I would say right now the Slinger Nationals, this one, and then the Snowball Derby is the next one. I have so much focus on the Cup Series. That’s my job, right? That’s what allows me to do all these things.

Q: You mentioned working with Travis (Dassow of Apex Motorsports) and also mentioned Kevin. What’s the breakdown?

A: Kevin’s building a super late model team within North Carolina, but it was a lot to try to put together to come up here to Slinger and do all that. Travis really did us a huge favor because earlier last year we were putting together a list of events, this was the one I wanted to do and without Kevin and Morton Buildings, this wouldn’t be possible.

It’s people like Morton and Pristine Auction that allow people like myself to come up here and race badass races like Slinger Nationals.

Q: There’s lots of practice, so do you do anything before getting here to prepare?

A: This is going to be different for me from what it’s been in the past. Usually whenever it’s my modified stuff, I’m pretty hands-on with it. This is going to be one where you open up the helmet bag, you grab the steering wheel and you go fast.

I’m eager and excited to get on Slinger and just try to make sure we have really good speed. We’ll (see about) that on Monday.

Q: Are you a “watch video” guy? An iRacing guy?

A: I was watching some YouTube stuff, and I would jump on iRacing but I haven’t been on iRacing in a bit. I’ve just usually been pretty quick at adapting to racetracks like that and getting up to speed really quickly. I feel pretty prepared on that.

Q: With so many unknowns can you really have expectations?

A: I know these guys have a lot of laps and they race there weekly … and they have a pretty solid setup.

Myself as a racer, I have the same goals that I set out for the Derby three years ago and after not running a super late model for 10, 12 years, it’s to try and win that race.

I set my expectations really high and throughout that race will kind of manage them, but certainly I feel like I’m trying to go and win that race. … It’s not to run fifth or 10 ^th or second or just be there. I race to try and win and bring home a trophy.

Q: So you’ll rely on Travis a bit and then at least at the start try to make more friends than enemies?

A: Yep. Pretty much.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: After a long wait this NASCAR driver gets his first chance to race the Slinger Nationals: Ryan Preece Q&A