Story By: A2DPR / KYLE REINHARDT RACING – YORK HAVEN, PA – Kyle Reinhardt put together a solid weekend in Ohio by making all three shows, improving each night and culminating with his best finish of the trip on the final night.
It was a positive outcome after a rough start to the weekend.
Reinhardt’s trip to Ohio on Thursday to join the All Star Circuit of Champions for the final three nights of Ohio Sprint Speedweek got off to a bumpy start when the team experienced a flat steer tire on their rig less than ninety minutes from Atomic Speedway.
The team knew that if they could get back on the road in time, prep time at the track would be minimal to none, so they made good use of the unplanned down time by prepping race tires along the roadside for that night’s event. Fortunately, help arrived and got them back on the road in the nick of time.
Reinhardt and team unloaded at Atomic Speedway with literally minutes to prepare for their qualifying session. The tires were ready but final preparations created a fast-paced scene. Considering the laps under the clock set the table for the entire night, the attention to detail at the beginning of the night can often be the most crucial time.
The Neptune City, NJ native managed to log the 4th fastest lap in his group. He went on to a 4th place finish in his heat race to lock himself into the main event. Locking in through the heat race meant the team finally had a chance to slow down and focus on feature preparation.
Reinhardt started 16th in the 30-lap A-main. He never seemed to be free of close competition for any position throughout the race but was able to make forward progress, ultimately finishing 12th.
“I’m happy to come away with a decent night after the day we had. We will catch our breath and move on to Eldora. Hopefully tomorrow will be a less stressful day.“, Reinhardt commented.
Friday afternoon, Reinhardt unloaded the Capitol Renegade, Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers, Coors Banquet Beer, Henry’s Wrecker Service No.91 at Eldora Speedway, only his third career visit to the famed facility.
The field grew from 41 cars the night before to 44 for the $12,000 to win event, which also served as the last chance for teams to get track time prior to the upcoming Eldora Million. Reinhardt timed 4th quick in his group once again, this time just 0.041 seconds out of 3rd, which would have given him a front row starting spot in his heat race.
Reinhardt started 3rd in heat number two and, after a couple attempts to get the race started, bolted into the runner up spot on the opening lap, then held on to finish 2nd.
The 30-lap A-main was another fast-paced affair. Reinhardt flirted with cracking the top ten on several occasions. In the late going, he battled an always tough Lance Dewease and managed to keep him at bay to claim another 12th place finish.
Saturday night’s $22,554 to win Ohio Speedweek finale attracted 46 teams to Portsmouth Raceway Park (PRP) in Southern Ohio along the Ohio River.
Reinhardt has been fast in previous visits to PRP and he showed it again Saturday night by turning a lap of 13.263, fastest in Group D qualifying. He went on to secure a spot in the Dash by finishing 3rd in his heat race and transferring to the A-main.
After starting outside row two, Reinhardt finished 5th in the dash to capture the inside row three starting spot for the main event. He had good speed early and just past the halfway point was running 5th.
Reinhardt lost a couple spots as the race entered the final ten laps, then slipped two more in the midst of some heated battles. He regained his rhythm and battled back to a 7th place finish as the race drew to a close.
“Overall, we had a solid weekend. We had decent speed in time trials and all night really. Just need to get my feature speed more consistent through the race and we will be racing for top fives.“, Reinhardt said.
With less than five career starts at each of the three Ohio tracks and able to make the show every night from a field of over 40 cars, it was definitely a solid weekend for Reinhardt. Now it’s back to Pennsylvania to try to carry that momentum into the annual summer tradition there.
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Reinhardt plans to compete in all Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek events. The ten race series over eleven nights kicks off Friday, June 23rd at Williams Grove Speedway.
6/23 Williams Grove Speedway
6/24 Lincoln Speedway
6/25 BAPS Motor Speedway
6/26 Lincoln Speedway
6/27 Grandview Speedway
6/28 Hagerstown Speedway
6/30 Williams Grove Speedway
7/1 Port Royal Speedway
7/2 Selinsgrove Speedway
7/3 Port Royal Speedway