The 2022 NASCAR season begins in just one month, but there are still drivers hoping to get a ride.
When JTG Daugherty reduced their team to just one car for the 2022 season, Ryan Preece lost his ride. But he has found another…at least part time…
Stewart-Haas Racing has signed Preece as a reserve driver which means while he will get a few races during the season across the three NASCAR Series – Camping World Truck, Xfinity, and Cup – he will also be on standby in case injury or illness prohibits one of the current full time Stewart-Haas drivers from running.
SHR vice president of competition Greg Zipadelli spoke on the signing of Preece saying, “Ryan is a versatile wheelman with a racer’s mentality who fits extremely well within our culture at Stewart-Haas Racing. Between the amount of testing and development work we’re doing with the NextGen car this year, his added insights and time in the simulator will make us better by allowing us to learn faster.” Zipadelli also noted, “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 is scheduled to run two Cup races, three Xfinity races, and seven Truck races in the ’22 season. Preece spoke on his new opportunity saying, “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. 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.”
His first race will of the 2022 racing season will be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 4 in the Truck Series.
Matt DiBenedetto learned early in the 2021 NASCAR season that he would be out of his ride driving the number 21 car for the Wood Brothers come the end of the season.
With just a month before the start of the new season, Matty Di has found a ride…in the Camping World Turck Series.
DiBenedetto has spent 12 years in NASCAR driving in the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series; this will mark the first time that he will drive in the Truck Series.
He will be drving the number 25 Rackley W.A.R. truck.
Matty Di spoke on his new ride saying, “I can honestly say that, at this time in my career, I am truly excited. I feel like I’m going back to my roots in a lot of ways. I love the feeling you immediately get when you talk to Curtis, Willie, Chad; all the guys around this organization. They are all hard-core racers and everyone is extremely dedicated.”
He continued, “this opportunity is a blessing to me and I’m really excited to do my part in taking this team to the next level.”
Rackely W.A.R.’s Curtis Sutton spoke on the signing of DiBenedetto saying, “we are honored to have Matt DiBenedetto join Rackley W.A.R. full-time for the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.” He added, “we feel that by teaming Matt up with experienced crew chief Chad Kendrick, we will be competing for multiple wins and be competitive at all race tracks. I truly believe that the NASCAR Truck Series is the most exciting, and I am looking forward to getting the season started.”
Fellow owner Willie Allen added, “we have a lot of great folks around this race shop and in a lot of other places. This will be our second year having an alliance with GMS Racing and we’re really appreciative of all they do for us. We will continue our manufacturer alliance with GM and Chevrolet, and we’re super-thankful for the resources they make available to us. This series is for sure the most competitive out there right now, and we are really fortunate to have excellent partners. We anticipate a big year as we look forward to our first win.”