It was a long, cold, and snowy winter for residents of Southwestern Ontario, including Ryan Litt and the #07 Sprint Car team. Those dark and frigid days are almost a distant memory now, and they’ll be completely forgotten once the London, Ontario-based team makes its debut for the 2009 racing season at Indiana’s famous Salem Speedway this Saturday.
“Opening up the year at Salem is going to be pretty crazy,” says Ryan. “I'll be going from racing simulations on the computer to 160mph buckled down tight in the sprint car. I'm sure it will take a few laps to get the rust off.”
There might be a little bit more “rust” than usual for the 22 year old to shake off, because of the venue. Due to weather and scheduling issues, Ryan hasn’t raced around the extreme highbanks of Salem Speedway since his 2nd full season of sprint car racing back in 2006. His only visit to the ultra high-speed track with a wing over his head was a good one however, as Litt led the first 9 laps of the feature that night and came home with a 2nd place finish behind Kevin Feeney.
“I like the schedule this year - we get to run a lot of the fast tracks, and I think myself and the car work better the faster we go,” says Ryan. “Salem and Winchester are two of my favourite tracks, along with Toledo. Just getting to run them this year is a real thrill. Last year we didn't get to run any of the 3 (due to rainouts and scheduling).”
The Salem event, billed as the “biggest night of winged sprint car racing ever at Salem Speedway”, is a co-sanctioned race between the Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints (AVSS) and Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series (HOSS), and both groups have ratcheted up the excitement by awarding double the points towards each series championship for this event.
The race will also be being taped by the MustSeeRacing.com crew for later broadcast on Comcast Cable throughout Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. As if all that is not enough to get fans and drivers excited, Salem-based Stewart Automotive and Transmission is also offering up a $1,000 “bounty” for any driver who can establish a new 1-lap time trial record on Saturday night. The current mark is 14.377 seconds (138.972 MPH) around the .555 mile oval, which was set by Kevin Feeney on the same night Ryan last competed there.
“I think having these races on TV will showcase some of the speed and great side-by-side racing that a lot of people don't get to see,” says Ryan. “It also raises the stakes a bit for the drivers, knowing that there will be more people watching.”
With 3 feature wins and 7 “top 5’s” in 11 feature races last year, 2008 was Ryan’s most successful season to date in a sprint car. Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Ryan and the team are excited about the possibilities.
“The most exciting thing for me is the week in May that sees us have 3 races in one week - that is going to be just incredible,” exclaims Ryan. “There are so many fans down there for the Indy 500, which just adds to the already exciting week. You can see everything in that one week - Winged Sprint Cars, Non-Winged Sprint Cars, Midgets, Silver Crown, Indy Cars, and both dirt and pavement tracks.”
A successful 2008 season means a lot of things are staying the same with the team for 2009, but there have been a couple of improvements already:
“We’ve got some new stuff going on this year, including a revamped website, “says Ryan. “Ty at Linton Media did a really good job on it, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. I just pass him the information and he comes up with the wicked designs. We have worked together for 5 or 6 years now, and he has some of the best looking websites out there. We also got a new hauler this season, which will pull the trailer much better then the pickup truck we had been pulling it with in the past. This new truck is a full size Freightliner with living quarters in the back. It's really big and really red so you won't miss it going down the highway!"
"All the sponsors – OTC Tools, BS&B Radiator, Xtreme Metal Worx, Linde Gases, Leaf Racewear, Huron Produce, and Linton Media - are returning, which is great," says Ryan. We’re also keeping the same paint scheme that we have had for a while now. It never gets old, and it's something bright and different which I like.”
Although Ryan finished 2nd in the AVSS points championship last season, he and the team are still not sure if they will follow the AVSS tour full-time in 2009.
“I still feel as if we have a good shot in USAC (without the wing),” says Ryan. “We just need more time with the car and the tracks to get faster. So we are going to run some USAC races, and most likely some ISMA Supermodified races, if Davey (Lair) gets his new car ready. I would like to run the big ISMA races at Delaware this year so we'll see what happens.”
Ryan and the team would like to thank all their sponsors for their support during Ryan's 2009 season, including OTC Tools, BS&B Radiator, Linton Media, Linde Gases, Leaf Racewear, Xtreme Metal Worx, and Huron Produce Ltd.
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From Tommy Goudge, PR Manager
