From Peterson Media
Coming into the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, CA off of a second place run at the Las Vegas Dirt Track, Ryan Bernal was impressive on Saturday night after enduring a Friday night he would like to forger ever happened.
“We went from a low on Friday to a high on Saturday, and I really just tried to put a bad night behind me,” Bernal said.
Saturday night, Bernal was strong aboard his Mike Phulps Motorsports No. 56 machine as he finished third in his heat race, which ultimately put him in the second row for the 30-lap feature event on an extremely slick Thunderbowl Raceway.
Getting off to a slow start, Bernal soon came into his own, as he clawed his way to the front of the field, as he began to chase down Richard Vander Weerd who had a sizeable lead on the field.
Making up a ton of ground by diamonding off of turn four, Bernal was soon all over Vander Weerd. The 14th lap saw Bernal make a picture-perfect move exiting turn four to get under Vander Weerd, and take command of the race. Out in front, Bernal quickly began checking out, as he worked the cushion to near perfection aboard his Keizer Wheels/Tri-L Mandaring Ranch/A.R.T. No. 56 machine.
“It is great to get a win at Tulare in front of a lot of friends,” Bernal said. “I have to thank my guys for their hard work all weekend long.”
Friday night Bernal was in action aboard the MPM No. 56 winged 410ci sprint car as well as the MPM USAC West Coast 360. In what was his first start against the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, Bernal was involved in a vicous flip early in the night that would end his weekend on the winged side of things.
In USAC action, Bernal kicked the night off by timing in with the fastest lap during time trials, before picking up a heat race win.
Lining up sixth in the feature event, Bernal found himself battling hard with Jace Vander Weerd until he got loose and the duo tangled. Later on in the race, Bernal would have a fuel issue and retire from the feature event.
“Just great to end a rough weekend with a win,” he added. “It is going to be a fun year, and hopefully I can get this winged stuff figured out.”
Bernal and the Mike Phulps Motorsports team would like to thank Keizer Wheels, DMI, S&S Automotive, King Racing Products, Metal Works, Hoosier Racing Tires, Core Power, ART Chassis, Tri-L Mandarin Ranch, Tel-Tac, Willwood, Joe Hunt Magnetos, Permatex, Alan Kaiser Construction, Outlaw Graphics, BR Motorsports, FK Rod Ends, STIDA, Rockwell Security, Butlerbuilt, GoScope, 4 Alarm Promotions, and Dean Dealy Motorsports for their support during the 2014 season.
2015 BY THE NUMBERS: Races-7, Wins-3, Top 5’s-4, Top 10’s-4.
ON TAP: Bernal and the MPM team return to action on April 4th at the Placerville Speedway in Placerville, CA with the King of the West Series.
STAY CONNECTED: For more information on the event be sure to follow Ryan Bernal on Twitter @Bernal_Ryan.