(Photo by Vince Vellella Photos)
Inside Line Promotions – MESQUITE, Texas (March 20, 2017) – Ray Allen Kulhanek capped the 44th annual Spring Nationals with a top-10 finish last Saturday at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
“I had a lot of speed all weekend long, which was a good change of pace at Devil’s Bowl,” he said. “It seems like we’re behind the eight ball every time we go there, but last weekend every time we hit the track we were going forward. That’s probably what I was the happiest about.”
The Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour doubleheader began on Friday when Kulhanek, who is teaming up with Marvin and Peggy Pearson this season, maneuvered from fourth to second place in a heat race before advancing from fifth to fourth place in a qualifier. That lined him up on the inside of the sixth row for the main event.
“The bottom was pretty much shot so the top was dominant,” he said. “I got freight trained on the start, but I started to make my way back up. I think we were back to 11th when I started getting some water in my face. I looked at the temperature gauge and it wasn’t hot so I thought it was the guy in front of me. I ran up on him into turn one. I dove to the bottom to see if it was my car and sure enough I was still getting sprayed with water so I pulled off. That was disappointing because I felt like we could have been in the top 10 easily. It turns out the cap on the radiator was gone. In all the years I’ve raced I’ve never had that happen.”
Kulhanek was credited with a 19th-place result.
The event concluded on Saturday when Kulhanek charged from seventh to third place in a heat race and from sixth to fourth place in a qualifier. That lined him up on the inside of the fifth row.
“We were really, really good the whole night,” he said. “I took off decent and started making mistakes and fell back as far as 14th. We had a really long green-flag run and I pulled the wing back and started getting a little faster. We had a caution with five laps to go and that really helped me. We went from 12th to eighth after that. I hit the bottom in turns one and two, ran beside them down the backstretch and slid them in turns three and four. We were definitely coming there at the end of the race.”
Kulhanek rebounded to post an eighth-place finish.
“We completed the goal we really wanted to,” he said. “It was a good start to the season for myself. We’ll play it by ear the rest of the season and hit what races we can. I want to thank Marvin and Peggy Pearson for their support as well as all my sponsors. It felt great to get back in the car again.”
Kulhanek will return to action this Saturday at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas, with the ASCS Gulf South Region.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 17 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas – Heat race: 2 (4); Qualifier: 4 (5); Feature: 19 (11).
March 18 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas – Heat race: 3 (7); Qualifier: 4 (6); Feature: 8 (9).
SEASON STATS –
2 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 1 top 10, 1 top 15, 2 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas, with the ASCS Gulf South Region
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.RayAllenKulhanek.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kulhanek_Ray
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RayAllenKulhanek/?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 – J&J Auto Racing
Located in McKenzie, Tenn., J&J Auto Racing has manufactured sprint car chassis and racing parts for more than 40 years. For more information, visit http://www.JandJAutoRacing.com.
“Everyone at J&J Auto Racing are probably some of the nicest people in racing,” Kulhanek said. “I talk to them quite frequently. They are always quick to answer phone calls and will get stuff shipped out to you the same day. And they are definitely the safest cars on the market.”
Kulhanek would also like to thank Big Bass Tour, Texas Rotating Equipment, Alcon Construction, GoPro, Millers RV Park, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Smiley’s Racing Products, Engler Machine & Tool, Outlaw Wings, Hoosier Racing Tire Southwest, Penske Racing Shocks, C4 Graphics, Simpson Race Products and Marvin and Peggy Pearson 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 Mar 20, 2017
- Article Date: 3/20/2017 by Inside Line Promotions