(Photo by Tylan Porath Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – BRANDON, S.D. (June 15, 2021) – Mechanical problems brought an early end to Tony Rustad’s evening of 410ci sprint car competition on Sunday night at Huset’s Speedway.
“After about five or six laps into the heat race I went into turns three and four and there was a big puff of smoke,” he said. “I looked at the oil pressure gauge and I had 30 to 35 pounds of pressure, when normally I have 85 to 90, so that wasn’t good. I shut the engine down right away to hopefully minimize any damage.
“The front of the engine was covered with oil and it didn’t sound good. We checked a number of things – took the oil filter apart, took the valve covers off and pulled the spark plugs – but didn’t see anything unusual. Doug is doing a leak-down test on it now. Hopefully, it’s nothing major. If it is, that will probably end our season with the 410.”
Up until that point the night had gone reasonably well for Rustad.
“We had our fastest qualifying lap of the year – 11.1 seconds,” he said. “In the heat race, I caught a bunch of mud at the beginning. When I pulled my tear-off only the tab came off. I fumbled with getting the rest of it off for a couple of laps and fell about half a lap behind. I eventually just wiped it off with my hand. Then I felt I ran some pretty solid laps until the motor issue.
“I felt more comfortable in the car than before. I can tell improvement each night at the track. We just need to get more laps.”
Rustad’s racing schedule is to be determined until the engine problem is diagnosed.
“I wasn’t planning to race this coming Sunday anyway so that’s not a big deal,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s nothing major and we can be back soon. If not, we’ll get to work on the 360 car and start racing that one.”
QUICK RESULTS –
June 13 – Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. – Qualifying: 17; Heat race: DNF (6); Feature: DNS (21).
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s, 0 top 15s, 1 top 20
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TonyRustad
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2Xtreme-Racing-243238039097395
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Bill Habben Construction
Bill Habben Construction of Luverne, Minn., provides commercial, residential and agricultural construction and repair work. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/Bill-Habben-Construction-LLC-100117191771470/.
“I really appreciate Bill’s support this year, not just as a sponsor but as a fan, too,” Rustad said. “It’s people like Bill who make it possible for us to race a 410 sprint car this year.”
Rustad would also like to thank Olsen Electric, Tim Rustad Construction, Christoffels Hair Restoration, KISD 98.7 FM, Bang Energy Drink and The Barrel House 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 Jun 15, 2021
- Article Date: 6/15/2021 by Inside Line Promotions