She sat quietly in the front seat of a U-Haul, tears in her eyes, as they drove away from the life they’d built, family, friends, her teaching job, and the comfort of home. For Heather Preece, wife of Ryan Preece, the move to North Carolina wasn’t just a change of scenery; it was a leap into uncertainty, driven by belief in Ryan’s dream and burdened by financial strain. They didn’t have a guaranteed contract or a safety net. What they had was a shared hope, a packed truck, and the courage to start over. The 34-year-old wasn’t handed a path to NASCAR’s top tier; he carved it out with grit and determination on the short tracks of the Northeast. From Stafford Motor Speedway to Thompson, he built a reputation as a fierce competitor, winning the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship and dominating local circuits. His talent was undeniable, but opportunities were scarce.

In 2017 and 2018, Preece made the most of limited chances in the Xfinity Series, scoring two wins with Joe Gibbs Racing and turning heads with his superspeedway and road course skills. Each race was a high-stakes audition, and he delivered. By the end of 2018, the momentum was building, but the leap to the Cup Series came with no guarantees.

“It’s a risk,” Preece admits as family faced tough move

In the year 2019, Ryan Preece made his leap into NASCAR’s big leagues: the Cup Series. He seized his first full-time cup ride, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet for JTG Daugherty Racing, replacing AJ Allmendinger. At the time, JTG wasn’t a top-tier team, with a limited budget and non-front-running equipment. In other words, there was no better offer in hand, no guaranteed seat or sponsors, so he bet on himself with the opportunity in front of him, even if it wasn’t perfect. This, of course, had major implications for his family.

Speaking to Dale Jr. on DJD, Preece opened up about how the move disrupted his family life, particularly for his wife, Heather. He went on to say, “We didn’t have that deal on the table, you know, at—I mean, maybe if I waited it potentially could have came, but it’s a risk. It’s a risk. I, you know, dad, I had met them. They’re great people. And I said, ‘All right, I’m going to do this.’ And I remember I lived in Connecticut all the way until 2019. We moved down in December of 2018.”

The emotional strain mirrored the professional leap, trading familiarity for chasing a diminutive but meaningful step forward. Ryan Preece met Heather DesRochers in 2009 at Stafford Motor Speedway; he was working on cars, she was the daughter of a racer, and they first crossed paths during local testing sessions. They eventually competed against each other in the 2011 SK Modified Series, where Preece won the championship and Heather was named Rookie of the Year. After six years of dating, they married in 2017, cementing a partnership rooted in racing and mutual respect.

Following their move, Heather left her job as an elementary school teacher and later became a homeschool instructor so Ryan could chase his NASCAR Cup Series dream. With another child on the way currently, Ryan acknowledged the emotional strain, saying, “My wife was crying, you know, we moved down in our U-Haul, bought a house, first house I bought ‘cause we lived in a condo. She was a teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts. This was a big move, man. And this is a lot of risk.”

The current RFK driver added on, “She’s crying ‘cause she’s moving away from family. Yeah. But then she jokes. She said after 4 days and the sun popped out and she walked outside and she didn’t have to put on three coats and shovel snow and all those things, she said, ‘I think I could deal with this.’ So now I think if we ever end up moving back, it’ll be a tough transition. It’s going to be a tough transition.”

Behind the bold move was a burden shared by Ryan’s family, especially his father, Jeff. Preece admitted that jumping to the Cup placed a significant financial strain on his family, with costs mounting from moving states to supporting travel and equipment.

Ryan Preece looks back on rookie mistakes

Preece is much older and wiser now. In 2019, he managed one top five and three top 10 finishes across 36 races, including an eighth-place finish in the Daytona 500 and a signature third-place finish at Talladega in April of that year. He completed the season ranked 26th in the standings with 507 points, an average finish of 23.06, and 6 DNFs throughout the year. Preece’s first year as a NASCAR Cup driver seemed to be nothing short of a crash course in stock car racing.

When asked by Dale Junior what advice he would give his rookie self, Preece was clear and direct. He said, “Communication. And the reason I’ll say this is I feel like there was a massive barrier on what I was trying to communicate on how to make the car better or what I was feeling. I think that was one of the biggest things. And as I’ve gotten older and, you know, I always leaned on (Chris) Gabehart (crew chief) quite a bit because I trusted him. I felt really comfortable around having conversations with him, and he was somebody I would lean on, and so that was always something that I tried to get better at as I figured it out and learned what I needed to do.”

Ryan’s rookie season didn’t deliver standout results, but it provided essential learning opportunities. Understanding the importance of honest feedback, asking the right questions, and building trust with the crew chief and engineers. He recognizes that early struggles often stem from knowing the technical side but lacking the confidence to voice concerns effectively.

Moreover, Preece went on to admit that the struggle wasn’t just about speaking up but was also about knowing when to listen. He said, “ and I think that ultimately I wish I communicated better as a race car driver to whatever it may have been, whether it was the crew chief at the time or whatever. And probably listened a little more. I was very stubborn with some things. You know, I’m not perfect, but coming from the Northeast. I think, you know, dealing with personalities, as you joke about Tommy, one thing that you really need to do down here is be willing to listen.”

Looking back now, Ryan sees his rookie season not just as a learning curve but also as a turning point. The results may not have been stellar on paper, but the experience of better dialogue with his team was valuable. And now, as Ryan is still looking for a win this season to lock a place in the playoffs, he has made it clear that he will adhere to aggressive racing to get what he wants.