News Director 
Column By: JUSTIN SNYDER / RPW – MECHANICSBURG, PA – Effective immediately, Jeff Rohrbaugh has resigned from his driving duties of the Ryan Slothower owned #14 410 winged sprint car.
It was announced in February that Rohrbaugh, a veteran of the 410 and 358 sprint car divisions, would drive the car in 2017. It marked a new venture for Slothower Motorsports, as the team decided to move up from the 358 ranks to the 410 ranks with Rohrbaugh as the driver focusing mainly on Lincoln Speedway.
The team debuted at the end of May with a 22nd place finish and most recently finished 19th after a fuel cell leak ruined a promising night that saw the team charge from 20th to 8th position during the National Fallen Firefighters Night on June 10.
With change however, there comes an opportunity for a young up and coming driver to gain experience behind the wheel of the S&W Petroleum Services, Mach-1 Chassis, 410 powered sprinter.
16-year old Kyle Craker, who pilots a #14 winged sprint car for Slothower in the 305 PASS division weekly, will begin testing the 410 at Susquehanna Speedway during their Wednesday night test and tune sessions.
If all goes well and the young upstart driver adapts well, the intentions are for Craker to wheel the car during the 2018 season with the potential of a few races in 2017.
“We’ll finish out the year in the 305 with Kyle and if all goes well, he’ll run the 410 next year,” said Slothower. “We may run a few 410 shows yet this year, but we’ll just see how things go and go from there.”
Craker, who is amidst his first season running for Slothower, has been gaining rapidly in experience over the season and picked up his first career podium with a 3rd place finish June 18 at Susquehanna.
Prior to this season, his only experience driving race cars consisted of quarter midgets, pavement midgets in North Carolina, followed by Outlaw Karts at Millbridge Speedway in N.C. and also dirt midgets at various events.
It was after a test session behind the wheel of a friend’s 305 that Slothower began hearing rumblings of a promising young talent. He decided to reach out and give Craker a chance to learn.
“Without knowing me or ever seeing me drive previously, he gave me an opportunity,” said Craker. “I am very happy and fortunate to be a part of his team and it means a lot that he even took a chance on me.”
For the Harrisburg native, it’s an opportunity that he’s not taking for granted and that he hopes to capitalize on going forward.
“I can’t wait and I am super excited about how the 305 deal has been going, “said Craker. “I’m with a good team, with great sponsors, and I would love to turn that success to the 410 side of things.”
