(Photo by Z&H Photos)
Inside Line Promotions – BAYTOWN, Texas (June 23, 2014) – Ray Allen Kulhanek is back on track after a slow start to his season.
Kulhanek registered a pair of solid results during the ASCS Gulf South Region doubleheader last weekend.
“I’m excited to be running good again and being more consistent than we were at the beginning of the year,” he said. “I feel like we’ve got plenty of wins left to come this year.”
Kulhanek rebounded after getting behind the eight ball early last Friday at Golden Triangle Raceway Park in Beaumont, Texas, where he finished seventh in his heat race.
“We drew bad in the heat, which is normally not that big of a deal,” he said. “I had a car get crossed up in front of me. I had to get on the binders to not knock the front end out of the car. I lost a lot of ground. That set us pretty deep in the main.”
Kulhanek started the main event on the outside of the ninth row.
“We moved up through the field, but once we got to the top five track position would have meant a lot on whether we had a top three or possibly a win,” he said. “I just raced where they weren’t. Wherever they were I went the opposite. Our car was decent to where we could maneuver where we wanted.”
Kulhanek earned the Hard Charger Award for piloting his sprint car from 18th to sixth.
“It was a nice rebound, but I wasn’t satisfied with it,” he said. “I know we could have done better.”
The weekend concluded on Saturday at Royal Purple Raceway, where Kulhanek advanced from fourth to second place on the opening lap of his heat race.
“We fought Terry Gray for the win pretty much the whole race,” he said. “Every lap I got beside him in turns three and four and just never quite could get enough to go down and clear him. I probably could have tried to slide him in turns one and two, but I knew going from fourth to second would get us in the redraw.”
It did just that and Kulhanek pulled the No. 5 in the random draw, which started him on the inside of the third row for the feature.
“We got a pretty decent start,” he said. “I jumped up to third by the time we came out of turn two (on the opening lap). Within another half a lap to lap I was up to second.”
Kulhanek then waged an epic battle with polesitter Channin Tankersley for the top spot.
“The only place Tankersley was better was when we took off on the restarts he could get a pretty good jump on me,” he said. “We got beside him once and a caution came out. It seemed like every time I got my opportunity to set him up to pass him a caution would fly. It was a fun race.”
Kulhanek ended with the runner-up finish, which was his fourth top five of the season.
He is slated to take this weekend off before returning to action July 3 at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, Texas; July 4 at Shady Oaks Speedway in Goliad, Texas; and July 5 at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas, with the ASCS Gulf South Region.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 20 – Golden Triangle Raceway Park in Beaumont, Texas – Heat race: 7 (8); Feature: 6 (18).
June 21 – Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas – Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 2 (5).
SEASON STATS –
16 races, 1 win, 4 top fives, 11 top 10s, 13 top 15s, 16 top 20s
UP NEXT –
July 3 at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, Texas; July 4 at Shady Oaks Speedway in Goliad, Texas; and July 5 at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas, with the ASCS Gulf South Region
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.RayAllenKulhanek.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dork.racing.9?fref=ts
APPAREL –
Kulhanek will have apparel available for sale at his race trailer throughout the season. For a list of his scheduled events, visit http://www.RayAllenKulhanek.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Texas Rotating Equipment
Based in Dayton, Texas, Texas Rotating Equipment is an industrial turbine services and repairs company for oil companies.
“Texas Rotating Equipment has partnered with us the past couple of years and it has really helped our team out,” Kulhanek said. “We appreciate their support and hope to represent them in Victory Lane a lot this season.”
Kulhanek would also like to thank Miller’s RV Park, Oilfield Equipment & Manufacturing, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, J&J Auto Racing, Smiley’s Racing Products, Engler Machine & Tool, Outlaw Wings, Hoosier Racing Tire Southwest, Penske Shocks, Don Ott Racing Engines, Snap Graphics, Frazier and Son Laser Cutting and Simpson Race Products for their support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jun 23, 2014
- Article Date: 6/23/2014 by Inside Line Promotions