(Photo by DB3 Imaging)
Inside Line Promotions – PORT ROYAL, Pa. (May 31, 2016) – The car is fast, the driver is confident and the finishes are close. For Ryan Smith, it ALL needs to come together soon and he’s confident it will happen.
“We had a really fast car this past weekend,” he said. “The results don’t show how fast this car is. We are finally qualifying well, but we can’t put the whole night together. I’m confident it will happen soon and then look out.”
The “Kunkletown Kid” and the Warko team started with a third-place finish last Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
“We were fifth quick in qualifying, which put us in a great spot in the heat and we transferred,” he said. “Then it rained and the track was pretty much hammer down. We started outside front row of the feature and on the start the motor stumbled just a little and I fell back to third and that’s about all I could do.”
The plan for the remainder of the weekend was to run the Bob Weikert Memorial three-day event at Port Royal Speedway. The first two nights were completed before rain washed out the final night on Monday. Smith ended up finishing fifth in the weekend point standings to garner bonus money.
The Bob Weikert Memorial began on Saturday with Smith transferring to the feature through his third-place finish in a heat race. He then drove from 12th to an eighth-place finish in the main event.
“The car was faster than the results show,” he said. “I probably had a top-three car. We had a yellow with about five laps to go and the tire sealed over and I dropped back to fifth.”
Smith continued to run strong as he set fast time in qualifying on Sunday. However, he didn’t make the right adjustments to the car for the heat race and was one spot out of earning a lock-in position to the main event.
“We missed the setup completely,” he said. “We didn’t go far enough with the changes. That ruined what should have been a great feature starting position. We won the B Main and started 21st and drove clear up to seventh in the main event. It should have been an epic weekend, but we couldn’t put the whole package together.”
Smith claimed the B Main before his charge to a seventh-place result in the main event.
Smith drew a great number to start the night on Monday, but rain came in the afternoon and the night was cancelled.
“We got three top 10s this weekend, but it should have been at least three top fives,” he said. “We have found speed and that’s very encouraging.”
Smith is excited for the upcoming weekend, which includes battling the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series on Friday at Fremont Speedway in Fremont, Ohio. Smith won a $10,000 event at the track in September 2015.
“I’m very excited to get back to Fremont,” he said. “I love those little bullrings and the tough weekly competitors there. Right now it’s a matter of rounding up enough help to go over to Ohio this weekend.”
Smith is also slated to compete on Saturday at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio, and Sunday at Bedford Speedway in Bedford, Pa., with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions.
QUICK RESULTS –
May 27 – Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa. – Qualifying: 5; Feature: 3 (2).
May 28 – Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa. – Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 8 (12).
May 29 – Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 6 (4); B Main: 1 (1); Feature: 7 (21).
SEASON STATS –
24 races, 0 wins, 4 top fives, 13 top 10s, 19 top 15s, 21 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Fremont Speedway in Fremont, Ohio, with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series; and Saturday at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio, and Sunday at Bedford Speedway in Bedford, Pa., with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.RyanSmithRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanSmithRacing
Twitter Race Updates: https://twitter.com/DeniseS_SS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RyanSmith.TheKunkletownKid
Instagram: https://instagram.com/denises_ss
APPAREL –
Visit http://www.RyanSmithRacing.com to view the latest apparel options, which include t-shirts and hoodies.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – G.L.T. Electrical
G.L.T. Electrical is an electrical contracting business based in the Reading, Pa., area.
“Gerry is a friend of Rob Warko who owns the team,” Smith said. “He’s a local guy who supports this race team so much. We really appreciate everything he does for us.”
Smith would also like to thank Warko Group, CnB Chubby, Fighting Angels Foundation, S&S Speedways, Quality Roofing Supply, East Coast Helicopter Tours, Armbruster Racing Photos, Thunder on the Hill Racing Series, HP Engines, Pancho’s Racing Products, GME Steering and Vahlco Racing Wheels for their continued 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 May 31, 2016
- Article Date: 5/31/2016 by Inside Line Promotions