(Photo by Brandon Young Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – MESQUITE, Texas (April 27, 2015) – Ray Allen Kulhanek accomplished a dream last Saturday at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, where he qualified for his first career World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series main event.
The Texas Outlaws Nationals marked only the fourth career World of Outlaws race for Kulhanek, who leased an engine from Jason Johnson Racing thanks to the help of Texas Rotating Equipment. Kulhanek’s previous World of Outlaws races in 2010, 2007 and 2004 ended prior to making the feature.
“I want to thank Jason and his team for the help with the motor and Texas Rotating Equipment for helping offset the cost,” he said. “It was a pretty neat deal for myself, my team and my sponsors. The biggest goal I was shooting for was to make the race and then hopefully have a decent run.”
Kulhanek opened the event, which was originally a doubleheader before Friday was cancelled because of rain, by qualifying 22nd quickest.
“I’ve probably time trialed only a handful of times,” he said. “I was a little bit nervous on how I would adapt on the horsepower difference and speed difference (between a 410ci engine with the World of Outlaws versus his regular 360ci). It really didn’t bother me at all. I was actually a lot more comfortable in the car than I thought I would be. I just made a mistake in the seat of the car. It was inexperience on my part. I cost myself three or four tenths by letting my car drift coming out of turn two.”
That lined Kulhanek up on the outside of the fourth row for a heat race.
“We got pretty fortunate that I timed the start right,” he said. “I got around Tony Bruce Jr. right off the bat so I jumped straight down to the bottom of the straightaway. That left Jamie Veal and David Gravel in front of me. I was hoping they’d race each other hard into turn one and leave the bottom open and that’s exactly what happened. It worked out in my favor to jump up to fifth. I tried to stay smooth the rest of that race and not make any mistakes.”
Kulhanek’s fifth-place finish locked him into the main event, which he started 22nd. Unfortunately, the main event was short-lived as Kulhanek exited the track after a few laps because of an ill-handling car.
“There’s no real great way to escape if everyone starts beating and banging at Devil’s Bowl,” he said. “I was noticing wings shifting back and forth in front of us on the start. I was backing out of the gas early to avoid that and in the process of trying to avoid being involved in the crash and I ended up bumping the wall. It snapped the heim on the Jacobs Ladder. It wasn’t worth taking a chance on tearing up my race car.”
Despite a sour finish, Kulhanek remains on Cloud 9 following his achievement as he enters this weekend’s ASCS Gulf South Region doubleheader on Friday at Golden Triangle Raceway Park in Beaumont, Texas, and Saturday at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas.
“It was a big boost of confidence to let me know that I can be competitive anywhere at any time to race with any group in the sprint car world,” he said. “It makes me feel like we have an outstanding shot of going out and winning a race this week.”
QUICK RESULTS –
April 25 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas – Qualifying: 22; Heat race: 5 (8); Feature: 21 (22).
SEASON STATS –
3 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 1 top 10, 1 top 15, 2 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Golden Triangle Raceway Park in Beaumont, Texas, and Saturday 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 – Frazier and Son
Located in Conroe, Texas, Frazier and Son is a fourth-generation business with an emphasis on providing quality bucket elevators and conveyers. For more information, visit http://www.FrazierAndSon.com.
“Frazier and Son is a company that I work for that came on board last season,” Kulhanek said. “I’m appreciative of Mark Frazier and the whole company for supporting our race team and I hope for many more years of success.”
Kulhanek would also like to thank Oilfield Equipment & Manufacturing, Miller’s RV Park, Texas Rotating Equipment, J&J Auto Racing, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Smiley’s Racing Products, 41 Shocks, Engler Machine & Tool, Outlaw Wings, Hoosier Racing Tire Southwest, Penske Shocks, Don Ott Racing Engines, Snap Graphics, 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 by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Apr 27, 2015
- Article Date: 4/27/2015 by Inside Line Promotions