BERLIN, CT/WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A Berlin native son earned a thrilling first victory in the biggest stock car racing circuit in the world Wednesday night.

Berlin-native Ryan Preece slid and sloshed his way to his first NASCAR Cup victory in his career, winning the Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The 200-lap main event was delayed for days, originally slated for Sunday, Feb. 1, but it wasn’t run until Wednesday night, Feb. 4, due to a winter storm that slammed that part of the country.

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While the weather was still awful at the legendary quarter-mile track, called Bowman-Gray Stadium, it was raceable … barely.

Preece, 35, won a race that started in dry conditions, but ended in the wet after a steady, light, cold rain bathed the track inmoisture and turned the racing even more treacherous than normal.

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While NASCAR usually doesn’t race in the rain, it does allow for rain tires on flat tracks that are 1-mile or less.

With no banking and being a quarter-mile long, the Bowman-Gray bandbox made for competitive racing, which Preece used to his advantage on a night of slam-bam driving tactics.

After pushing his way up front, Preece led the final 45 laps on the night, which was broadcast live on Fox. (Though the finish of the race was on Fox Sports 2 after it ran long on Fox, which chose to show “The Masked Singer” instead.)

An emotional Preece reflected on his first career win in NASCAR’s top division, this race being a non-points race and an exhibition that traditionally kicks off the year.

“I don’t even know what to say,” said Preece on NASCAR.com after the race. “To be honest with you, it’s been a [freaking] long road.

“It’s The Clash, but, man, it’s been years and years of grinding. … Two years ago, I didn’t think I was going to have a job. I thought I was going back to Connecticut.”

Preece raced for the former Stewart-Haas race team, but switched over to RFK racing (Roush-Fenway-Keselowski) last year.

Driving the Number 60 Ford through the wet, Prece endured 17 caution flags that resulted in so many extra laps being run (caution laps didn’t count), some ran out of gas.

One of those unfortunate drivers was race favorite, event pole sitter, and defending NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson, who finished 16th.

Coming in second was two-time defending Daytona 500 champion William Byron in the No. 24 Chevrolet.

While Monday’s win was Preece’s first victory against NASCAR Cup opponents, he does have wins in the two companion feeder series to NASCAR Cup.

In 2018, he won two races in the now-NASCAR O’Reilly Series (the second division of racing), and in 2021, he won a NASCAR Truck Series event.

Of course, locally, Preece made a name for himself for years running big-tired, open-wheel modified cars, a staple of northeast racing, winning 28 total modified events.

Specifically, Preece is often seen racing or has raced at Thompson Speedway in Thompson, Conn., and Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford Springs, Conn.

Preece is often remembered for two wild accidents at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Fla., including one in the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 race and then the 2024 Daytona 500.

His car went upside down in both races.

NASCAR success is not rare for Connecticut drivers, and one of Reece’s competitors, Middletown-native Joey Logano, is a three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion (2018, 2022, 2024) and the 2015 Daytona 500 winner.

For the full race recap on NASCAR.com, click on this link.

To see highlights on NASCAR.com of Preece’s win, click on this link.

For the final standings of the Clash, click on this link.

From Aug. 28, 2023: ‘WATCH: NASCAR Driver From Berlin Has Terrifying Accident’

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