By T.J. Buffenbarger
CRYSTAL, Mi. (Mary 6, 2017) – Jordan Ryan made a last-minute decision to compete with the Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP Saturday at Crystal Motor Speedway pay off by winning the season opening feature event for the 2017 season. Ryan started on the front row and led all 25-laps in route to his victory.
When rain washed out all the sprint car racing in Ohio for the weekend Ryan and the McClure Motorsports team eventually decided to head north to Crystal.
“We were debating on coming even until early this morning,” said Ryan in victory lane. “We hurried up and got here, got some tires, mounted them up, and see what we could do and we got the win. So, it was a good night.”
Even though Ryan led wire to wire it was not without challenges from fellow Buckeye driver Matt Foos and former SOD champion Dain Naida.
“I didn’t know they were there mid-way through the race, but at the end there I could hear they were really close,” said Ryan. “I knew I had to stay on my marks and hit them each corner. As long as I did that and didn’t spin the tires I knew I’d be alright.”
For Foos being back in a car for the first time in a year and ending up with a second-place finish with a car powered 305 cubic inch engine was a better result than he expected.
“There was a shot I was going to take coming out of turn two getting the car up in the middle, but I knew if I did that I would have to beat him into turn three, and three was pretty sketchy. So we just played it safe and brought it home safe, I am happy.”
For Naida starting his campaign chasing the 2017 Sprints on Dirt title a third-place finish was a great way to start the season, but felt he had the speed to contend for the win.
“The car was pretty fast. I got under Jared Horstman early, and kind of got chopped going into turn three. So, I decided to back off a bit and not wreck things the first night out,” said Naida. “It just took a little longer to get by (Horstman) than I needed to, but I got up to Max and got Max there at the end and felt like we had something for the top two, but just ran out of time.”