(Photo by Loud Pedal Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – MANSFIELD, Ohio (May 1, 2018) – Bounce back was the theme of last weekend for Kevin Swindell and Spencer Bayston, who tackled the $100,000-to-win Sprint Car World Championship at Mansfield Motor Speedway.
“Going off where we were Thursday (during practice) and the qualifying lap on Friday I thought we were one of the best ones there,” Swindell said. “That led to a lot of frustration for the heat race deal.”
The Swindell Speed Lab backed team qualified fourth quickest out of more than 70 drivers to open the event on Friday. Unfortunately, an early crash in a heat race resulted in a DNF for Bayston. He charged from sixth to second place in a B Main to earn a transfer into the A Main. Bayston capped the night by rallying from 20th to 10th place in the main event.
“We managed to get through the B Main after starting toward the back,” Swindell said. “We had some stuff that was still screwed up that we didn’t catch because they were moving the show along. We ended up having the stud that was in the arm peel itself out of the nut so it let the left rear shock fall off more or less, which happened about Lap 2 or Lap 3 of the A Main. He was in hang-on mode.”
After surviving the opening round the team worked throughout the night to repair the race car.
“We were there until about 4 in the morning,” Swindell said. “It bent the left front tube back. We had to eyeball it straight. We got it back to reasonable I guess, but everything wasn’t optimal. Then we had to change motors on Saturday afternoon after finding an issue so we didn’t have our primary one in.”
Bayston made the most of the situation as he won a heat race to lock into the 50-lap main event, which he started on the inside of the seventh row.
“We went into the feature without any knowledge of what we did on Friday with full fuel,” Swindell said. “We tried to do our best to set up for 50 laps. At some point along the way, probably just after the halfway break, something hit the Jacob’s Ladder mount and knocked the top straps out of the ladder. At that point we lost all the right rear stick we had.”
Despite the obstacles, Bayston maneuvered to a seventh-place result.
“That was a testament to our team,” he said. “That was one of many things that happened. We kept chugging along. Kevin gave me a good enough car that if that hadn’t happened who knows what would have happened. It wasn’t the best outcome, but for how we ran after everything that happened I feel really good about it.”
Bayston is slated to make his debut at both Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., on Friday and at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, on Saturday with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions.
QUICK RESULTS –
April 27 – Mansfield Motor Speedway in Mansfield, Ohio – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: DNF (4); B Main: 2 (6); Feature: 10 (20).
April 28 – Mansfield Motor Speedway in Mansfield, Ohio – Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 7 (13).
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 3 top 10s, 4 top 15s, 4 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and Saturday at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.KevinSwindellRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevinSwindell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevinSwindellRacing
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Rossie Feed & Grain
“Jon Black and his team at Rossie Feed & Grain have been a part of our Chili Bowl car for several years and midway through last year they started helping with the sprint car stuff,” Swindell said. “We’re very grateful for their support and friendship.”
Swindell would also like to thank Mike Curb and Curb Records, John Christner Trucking, DKW Transport, Tim Walker Real Estate, TWRentToOwn.com, Premier Truck Group, High Performance Lubricants, MPI Steering Wheels, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Racing Optics, Arai Helmets, Maxim Chassis, DMI, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sweet Manufacturing, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Kenny’s Components and Swindell Speed Lab 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 01, 2018
- Article Date: 5/1/2018 by Inside Line Promotions