Large car collections are commonplace in NASCAR, to the point that several drivers have warehouses full of race cars and street cars alike.
This is not the case for Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Preece, who chooses to limit the number of vehicles in his collection while drastically increasing the horsepower.
The Connecticut native has a few cars, but the two main project vehicles hail from his home state. The first is a 2014 Ford Mustang, which he bought in 2013 after an important milestone in his racing career.
"The story behind it is when I won the championship in 2013 for the regional series that I was racing (NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour)," Preece said. "Well, being 22 years old, I decided I was going to buy a new car.
"And that new car was a Mustang. A lot of that was because I joked around and raced my buddy, and he blew my doors off with one. So there you go."
Photo credit: Ryan Preece
Preece grew up as someone who appreciated tuned import cars, but he hails from a family that has owned a long line of vehicles with the Blue Oval on the grille.
Preece joined his family in this Ford owners club with his Mustang. He just went a step further and heavily customized the muscle car after landing his first Cup Series contract for the 2019 season.
"It wasn't my daily anymore, so I pulled the motor out, basically stripped this entire car down to what was essentially just a shell," Preece said. "Had a motor built out in California, put a twin-turbo kit on it, a standalone aftermarket ECU system -- FuelTech, which a lot of drag racers use.
Photo credit: Ryan Preece
"Took three years to do this, and then finally got it done, brought it to a buddy in Connecticut's dyno, and we made a little over 1,100 horsepower with it. So it was fun.
"Probably could have made more power. Probably could have got a little bit crazier with it, but that was more than enough for what I was doing."
At this point in Preece's life, the Mustang is just for fun. He's not driving it every day -- regardless of season -- as he did while living in Connecticut. The Mustang doesn't even have air conditioning or a stereo.
Its sole purpose is to deliver a lot of horsepower and a lot of fun. This is preferable to maneuvering the muscle car around in the snow, something Preece had to do while living in Connecticut.
This is where Preece's second project vehicle enters the picture -- a 2017 Ford F-150.
This pickup truck, which Preece calls his favorite, was previously used by a landscaper in Connecticut. It had a plow mounted on the front for clearing driveways or parking lots in the winter, but it was in far better shape than expected when he purchased it last December.
Preece expected to see some rust from the salt on the roads or some body imperfections from the plow. This F-150 had neither.
The pickup was in solid condition, which meant that Preece could immediately work on customizing it. Part of his inspiration came from the era of the Ford F-150 SVT Lightning made famous by "The Fast and the Furious."
Photo credit: Ryan Preece
"That's honestly what drove my whole passion for my F-150," Preece said. "I love lowered, single-cab -- I don't want to say short bed -- but like short bed trucks. They look beautiful.
"...I feel like they just look so aggressive right now when you lower them and get rid of that wheel gap. That looks pretty sporty."
The landscaping truck, which Preece lowered after purchasing to get that street truck look, also featured a unique selling point. It already had an aftermarket Coyote motor, which comes standard with well over 400 horsepower. Although the right tuning and parts can drastically increase this number.
And Preece has certainly put in some work on this truck, which he views as a sleeper.
"I love that one. It's fun, and it is fast."
Preece put some WELD wheels on the F-150 to give it the street truck look he desired. He put new cylinder heads on the Coyote motor, stiffer valve springs for increased RPM, an aftermarket fuel pump gear kit, and DeatschWerks fuel injectors.
The list of customizations continued with him replacing the standard interior with two seats and a center console. He also installed a switch that goes between his exhaust options depending on what he needs at the time.
One option runs through the stock exhaust so the truck sounds like it has a tame engine. The other, however, highlights the Hellion Twin Turbo System that Preece installed.
"I haven't put it on a dyno, but we've been tuning it, and I don't know the exact horsepower numbers, but it gets pretty rowdy," Preece said while smiling.
A point of pride for Preece is that he isn't simply sending out the vehicles to shops and having work done. He has done the majority of work himself alongside a friend who was a mechanic by trade.
The only areas where he draws the line are electrical and fabrication. He knows his limitations regarding electrical components, and he knows that other fabricators could better bring his vision to life.
"There's a lot of talented fabricators in North Carolina, so if I'm looking at something to be done with a little bit more detail and to look beautiful, I'll have them do that."
The Mustang and the F-150 have both reached points of conclusion. They have delivered the horsepower Preece sought and the F-150, in particular, became the perfect showcase for his love of street truck culture.
So what is next for the Modified champ-turned-NASCAR driver? He has a couple of "pie in the sky" builds in his mind, but they are far, far down the road at this point in his life.
"I've hit my limit right now," Preece said. "I think I've done what I've wanted to do."