By Whitney Thomas
INDIANAPOLIS (Mar. 13, 2017) – USAC West Coast 360’s rolled into The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway over the weekend to play the supporting roll to the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Cars. Ryan Bernal would capture not one, but two victories at Las Vegas in the No.56 machine.
Thursday night, Bernal had no problem transferring through his heat race and directly into the feature event. He would line up from the 5th starting position and take the lead from Joe Stornetta Jr. with approximately five laps remaining. Bernal would take the checkered and head to victory lane for the first time in 2017 aboard the Mike Phulps’ No.56 Metal Works, Keizer Wheels, ART machine.
“The track was really technical Thursday night,” said Bernal. “I had fun working my way up to the front. I caught a break with a caution for the leader and took full advantage. It feels good to get my guys a win right out of the gate.”
Night number two at Las Vegas would not start out as smooth. Bernal timed in at the 4th position for qualifying. Leading the heat race, his engine would expire but he would still cross the line to win. Faced with changing the engine and keeping their starting position or moving to a back-up car and starting at the tail of the field, the team chose to use the spare car.
Bernal would now start from the 22nd position at the tail of the field. This didn’t stop him from charging his way to the front and snagging another victory for Mike Phulps Motorsports.
“Mike, John, and Kerry gave me a great car,” said Bernal. “Even though we had to start at the tail, it gave me a lot of confidence knowing I had a good car and a lot of speed. Also, coming off a win the night before helped too. It feels awesome to start out the season two-for-two and have good momentum heading in to the next race.”
Bernal will be piloting the Josh Ford Motorsports No.73 entry March 17th and 18th at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California, with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series.
Ryan Bernal would like to thank the following sponsors: 4 Alarm Promotions, Smith Precision, DMI, FK Rod Ends, Wilwood Breaks, STID