Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – STAFFORD, CT – During the 2021 season at Lebanon Valley Speedway, Connecticut’s Ryan Charland had a breakthrough year as an open wheel racer.
He very nearly captured two victories on the High Banks, finishing second on two occasions while collecting three additional top 5’s and ten more top 10’s.
That type of consistency would make anyone crave more. It would make any driver desire that elusive checkered flag even more so and to compete at a track’s highest level.
At the Valley, that’s would be the DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds, so over the winter, that’s what he and his team planned for.
However, even with doing this, it wouldn’t be Charland’s first taste of the 467CI power under his right foot.
“When I first got my ride with good friends Chic and Gail Chandler back in 2010, we started with the Big Blocks at Fonda,” Charland said. “That’s what the Chandler’s had.”
Things were going okay for a while, until problems set in.
“As things progressed, and a few seasons went by, we popped the motor,” he said. “That’s when we tossed the team’s Small Block engine in the car to wrap up the season.”
Then, there was a turning point for Charland, his family and the team.
“By that time, Chic and Gail were looking to move on to new adventures,” he said. “We decided to purchase the car and made the switch to Lebanon Valley Speedway as our Saturday night home.”
That’s what he and his father did and 2021 was a monster year for them. It was so good that the track recognized their achievements and awarded Ryan with the Outstanding Performance award for the division.
That just fueled the team’s desire ever more. They want to be in the “big show.”
“We’ve run a few seasons with the Small Blocks and had a lot of fun,” he said. “However, in the back of our minds, both my father and I always wanted to be back in the “main event.” Even though the 358-Modifieds is a super competitive class, after the solid season we had last year, we decided, ‘Let’s do it!”
Enter, the 2022 racing season. This past off-season, things started to come into focus. A second car was purchased as well as a primary Big Block engine. Excitement was at an all-time high for the team.
Unfortunately, things got off to a rocky start on opening night last Saturday.
“I cooked a piston in the Big Block engine,” he said. “Now it’s out of the car and heading to the engine shop (Bob Bruneau Engine Research in Bristol, CT) for a rebuild.”
The only problem is, at the current time, part supply is very scarce.
“I’m waiting on parts to show up so we can put my back-up in the car for next weekend (hopefully, May 7th),” he said. “That means I’ll have the Small Block car at the track this week to shake down and get some points for the Big Blocks.”
How long will it be before a Big Block motor will be back in Ryan’s car?
“The primary engine is hurt,” he said. “When we found out we damaged it, we had Bob put a push on the spare so we can hopefully have it for next week.”
Even with the team’s Big Block aspirations, they will be plenty of busy this year at the Valley of Speed.
“We are still planning to run a full season with the Small Block Modified as well,” he said. “We just want to keep on track and hopefully get to victory lane.”
Ryan Charland has progressed to be one of the top 358-Modified drivers at Lebanon Valley Speedway. He’s as smooth as they come and his equipment is extremely competitive.
Now for 2022, he has eyes on the headline division at the High Banks, to once again be back in the big show. There’s no doubt that he and his team will soon be contenders there too.
Let’s get ready to Ruuuuuuuumble!