(Photo by Will Crews)
Inside Line Promotions – MESQUITE, Texas (March 22, 2016) – Travis Rilat set himself up for another victory last Saturday at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side at the end of the night during the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour event at the half-mile oval where Rilat hasn’t won since 2012.
“Sometimes Lady Luck is on your side and sometimes she’s not,” he said. “Luck is when preparation and opportunity meet. We got lucky early in the night. We were running second and Joe Wood Jr. blew a motor in our heat race. In our qualifier we were running second and Dustin Gates clipped an infield tire. I’d say we were pretty lucky, but also fast. We consistently had the fastest lap times in the heats and qualifiers.”
Rilat capitalized on the early luck and speed to win both his heat race and qualifier after starting on the outside of the second row in each race. That earned him the most overall points and the pole position for the main event.
“With that luck we were able to get the pole,” he said. “With a little bad luck we broke a valve spring somewhere between the last couple laps of that qualifier and pushing off for the A Main. To top it off we had a power steering hose rupture a lap and a half in. We were destined to not finish.”
Rilat dropped to third on the opening lap and he maintained that position for the opening few laps before he elected to pull off the track early because of the mechanical problems. He was credited with a 23rd-place result.
“On the start it wouldn’t take off,” he said. “It stumbled. I knew I lost a cylinder essentially so the plan was to pull off early anyway. Then I made a lap and the power steering went. It wasn’t meant to be.”
Rilat will return to ASCS National Tour competition this Friday at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, Texas, and Saturday at Bronco Raceway Park in Cleveland, Texas.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 19 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas – Heat race: 1 (4); Qualifier: 1 (4); Feature: 23 (1).
SEASON STATS –
6 races, 1 win, 2 top fives, 4 top 10s, 4 top 15s, 5 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, Texas, and Saturday at Bronco Raceway Park in Cleveland, Texas, with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.TravisRilat.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TravisRilat29
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Shark Racing Engines
Located in Sedro-Woolley, Wash., Shark Racing Engines has been building high-performance racing engines for more than two decades. For more information, visit http://www.SharkRacingEngines.com.
“It’s kind of funny how I met (Shark owner) Marc Huson when I went up there to Washington for an ASCS National Tour race,” Rilat said. “I was wandering around talking on my cell phone and saw a sprint car next door. I walked over, looked around and introduced myself.
“He’s been a great friend. He was instrumental with a support group for me and my family when I was in the hospital up there. He and his wife helped us out in a hard time. As far as his engine skills go, he’s one of the best in the country. There’s only a handful of great engine builders across the country and I consider him one of the best.”
Rilat would also like to thank Shop The BOSS, MDS Boring & Drilling, Worfe Chevrolet, Weld Wheels, KSE Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Hoosier Racing Tires, HRP Wings, Goodrich, Penske Racing Shocks and All Star Auto Reconditioning.
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 Mar 22, 2016
- Article Date: 3/22/2016 by Inside Line Promotions