By Tommy Goudge
(June 3, 2011) London, Ontario – Ryan Litt and the #07 BS&B Radiator Sprint Car team had another learning experience in the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway, and emerged with one of their best runs ever in that prestigious event. This weekend they’ll be back in action at Berlin Raceway.
Activities surrounding the Little 500 actually go on throughout the month of May, but for the racers the Little 500 begins on Wednesday with practice for the wingless Little 500 Sprint Cars, and racing for the winged Sprint Cars with the running of the Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Series 60 lap feature.
Threatening weather on Wednesday forced track officials to rush the Xtreme event along, and they were getting ready to start the feature when a storm rolled through and cancelled the rest of the program. That event is rescheduled for August 20.
Thursday was “Pole Day” at Anderson, and weather again caused issues. Most of the time trial session did get finished though, and Ryan’s 4-lap time of 44.943 seconds ended up slotting him 14th in the starting grid for Saturday night’s big race.
“We should have been better,” said Ryan of his time trial run. “(The) car was really tight and we didn’t want to call off the attempt, because the rain was coming. We’ll be good in the race though.”
More weather problems confronted racers on Saturday; Heavy rain and lightning moved through Anderson at dinnertime, and pushed the scheduled start of the race back to 10pm. Just as drivers were getting ready to strap in again, more rain and lightning moved through the area. The race could’t be pushed back anymore, and instead was moved to Sunday night.
Thankfully, the sky was clear over the speedway on Sunday, and Ryan and the team were indeed good in the race as he promised. Ryan ran in the top 5 for most of the gruelling 500 lap affair, completing a career-high 497 laps when all was said and done, good enough for 5th in the final rundown.
“The car was so loose after the first stop,” said Ryan. “We could have done better. The car was great at the beginning and end. If it wasn’t for a loose car in the middle of the race, we might have had a top 2 (finish).”
This year’s Little 500 was Ryan’s seventh, and he finished in the top 5 for the third time in four years. He has been one of the most consistent drivers in the event since he began running it, and has finished worse than 11th only once. Although it wasn’t a career-best finish in the Little 500, it was arguably one of his best runs there.
“We’re starting to sort the kinks out now,” said Ryan after the race. “We’ll get it soon.”
Ryan and the rest of his Sprint Car competitors don’t have much time to recover from their busy week in the Hoosier state. They’ll have wings back on this Saturday for a Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Car Series race at one of Ryan’s favourite tracks – Berlin Raceway in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Berlin is a place that has been good to Ryan over the years: He’s won there twice, and recorded 2nd and 3rd place finishes at the 7/16 mile oval last season.
Saturday’s event begins a busy month of June for Ryan and the BS&B team. Along with the Berlin show, they’ll also travel to Ohio for the “Fastest Short Track Show in the World” at Toledo Speedway, back to Indiana for the rescheduled “King of Wings” at Winchester Speedway, and back to Michigan for the “Must See Twin 20’s” at Auto City Speedway.
WHAT:
Must See Racing Extreme Sprint Series 2011 Season Round #4
“Fast Car Slash” at Berlin Raceway
www.MustSeeRacing.com
WHERE:
Berlin Raceway
2060 Berlin Fair Drive
Marne, MI 49435
Phone:616-677-5000 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 616-677-5000 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
e-mail: comments@berlinraceway.com
On the Web: www.berlinraceway.com
WHEN:
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Racing begins @ 7:00p.m.
Ryan and the team would like to thank all their sponsors for their support during the 2011 season, including BS&B Radiator, Linton Media, Linde Gases , and Xtreme Metal Worx.
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