(Photo by Lisa Dynes Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (July 27, 2015) – Travis Rilat scored a preliminary victory and a podium finish last weekend during the 26th annual Bob’s Burgers & Brew Summer Nationals at Skagit Speedway.
“I would have rather won the finale, but we’ll take a win any time,” he said. “We had a great car all weekend.”
Rilat, who was driving for Richard Saumure, kicked off the event on Friday by qualifying seventh quickest. He then finished where he started – third – during a heat race to lock the team into the main event, which was inverted. Since Rilat ranked fourth in points out of the 15 drivers locked in he started the main event on the outside of the sixth row.
“We passed a bunch of cars and I think I was running fourth with about 10 laps to go and they had a red for two cars in front of us, which moved us up two spots,” he said. “Everything went our way.”
Rilat, who had cracked the top five on Lap 7 before advancing to fourth several laps later, capitalized on a restart with only a few laps remaining to take over the top spot on Lap 28.
“I was able to drive around the leader in turns one and two,” he said. “The top was the fastest way around and I dove to the bottom to show him the bottom a few times. He took the bait on the restart.”
Rilat held on during a green-white-checkered finish to secure his third triumph of the season, including his first in the United States. Rilat has also won in Australia and Canada this year.
That made Rilat the high-points driver from preliminary action and locked him into the pole position for Saturday’s A Scramble, which lined up the first three rows of the 40-lap, $10,000-to-win feature.
“(Seth) Bergman had a better car,” he said. “He started front row outside and I think the outside was the preferred starting line. He won the scramble.”
Rilat started the main event on the outside of the front row.
“In the feature the first 25 or 30 laps it was looking pretty good,” he said. “He wasn’t getting away from us. We were maintaining our own within a few car lengths. Toward the end of the race I burned my tires up and we weren’t able to keep up. Then on one of the restarts (Trey) Starks was able to get around me so we ended third.”
The third-place result was Rilat’s ninth podium finish of the season.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 24 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 7; Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 1 (12).
July 25 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – A Scramble: 2 (1); Feature: 3 (2).
SEASON STATS –
21 races, 3 wins, 13 top fives, 14 top 10s, 14 top 15s, 17 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.TravisRilat.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TravisRilat29
VIDEO –
Here is a link to watch highlights of Rilat’s victory at the Tyson Perez Memorial in Australia on Feb. 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPYKg2nfSNw
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Carlan Services
Established in 1997, Carlan Services operates an environmental cleanup business that transports contaminated and other materials as well as a variety of other services. For more information, visit http://www.Carlan.com.
“They do so much stuff I can’t even keep up,” Rilat said. “They are one of the major sponsors and we’re grateful for all of the help they provide.”
Rilat would also like to thank Xtreme Oilfield Technology, Shark Racing Engines, Northern Provincial Pipelines, Matt’s Oilfield Services, TriJet Manufacturing Services, Northern Lights Welding, Camex VP, Rob Wright Building Supplies, Scott Safety, Max Fuel, Jaron Water Hauling, Maxim, Factory Kahne, HRP, Ti22, Weld Wheels, Ben Cook Racing and Smiley’s Racing Products among others for their continued support on Richard Saumure’s No. 39c Maxim.
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.
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- Shawn Miller on Jul 27, 2015
- Article Date: 7/27/2015 by Inside Line Promotions