LOUDON, NH :: The defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion will be making his second career start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this Saturday when he takes to the track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Tommy Baldwin’s no. 36 Chevy in his first of two NNS starts in 2014. His second start will come in September at Richmond International Raceway.

Ryan Preece, 23, from Berlin Conn. has made one start in the series before and it too came at NHMS. He finished 24th in what some would consider to be an eventful debut. Preece overshot his pit box on one stop and the team also ran him out of fuel later in the race.

But Preece said he still learned a lot in his first attempt in the series.

“They drive like Modifieds,” he said. “Believe it or not, a race car is a race car. But when you have so many people telling you, ‘Oh they’re full-bodied cars, there’s so much roll in them,’ there isn’t. But it’s just learning the different ways of how you’ve got to pass guys with these cars compared to how I’ve been passing in a Modified.”

He also said there’s a few things he plans on doing differently this year compared to last year.

“I definitely don’t plan on making the same mistake with pit stops, and I learned a little bit as far as the pit zones and all that stuff,” said Preece. “I’ve been watching some videos and reading and all that stuff getting ready for it, and I don’t think we’ll run out of gas either.”

The always-confident Preece isn’t just hoping for a good run on Saturday, he’s expecting one.

“Our goal is to possibly get a top 10,” he said. “A lot of people would think that’s a long shot, but I don’t. I know the amount of work that’s gone into this race car. We have the right stuff. We have a new body on the car and ECR power under the hood, and I’m really excited for it.”

The Nationwide Series event isn’t the only race Preece is entered in this weekend, either. It’s actually the fourth race he’ll be running in just two days. Preece has the inaugural Whelen All-Star Shootout for the Modified Tour on Friday, and he’ll also be travelling back down to his home track of Stafford Motor Speedway Friday evening to compete in Whelen All-American Series competition in the SK Modified division. Then it’s back to NHMS Saturday for the Modified Tour Sunoco 100, followed by the NNS race.

With all that racing in just two days some would think that he’d get burnt out, but Preece said he isn’t at all worried about that.

“People probably think racing that much could affect your performance,” said Preece, “but to be honest with you, with racing, the more you race the better you are, and the more you’re ready to go.”