RYAN LITT: STEERING STRUGGLES

by Tommy Goudge (October 5, 2009) – Ryan Litt and the #07 BS&B Radiator/OTC Tools Beast/Claxton Sprint Car team made the trip West to Michigan’s Berlin Raceway to compete in the final Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints event of 2009 last Saturday, September 26.  A good start to the day gave way to frustration as the night wore on, although the London, Ontario-based team did salvage a seventh place feature finish.

Normally a successful venue for Ryan and the team, the fast seven-sixteenths mile fairgrounds oval threw a curveball at the teams last week.  Despite being nearly half a second off his personal best qualifying lap at Berlin, Ryan was still near the top of the speed charts.

“We were fourth quick in the first practice, second quick in the second practice, and 3rd in qualifying (13.328 seconds),” says Ryan. “The track was real loose all day and seemed slow. We had a tough time getting a hold of it.  The heat race is when the problems started...I went into the corner and the steering locked up, so I pulled it off.”

Weather compounded the problem even more, as track and series officials hurried the program along with rain in the area.  Ryan was scheduled to start seventh in the feature.

“We only had twenty minutes before we were up for our feature because the rain was coming,” says Ryan. “The crew changed steering boxes and we barely made it out there...The problem stayed the same.  I centre the tape on the wheel before I go out, and once the race started, the tape had to be at nine o’clock for the car to be going straight and at six o’clock to make it turn.  We started seventh but on the first lap I think five or six guys passed me because I had no idea what the steering was going to do.  I limped home to a seventh place finish with no power steering and an out of alignment steering system. We think it’s either the power steering pump or the wing valve.”

Derek Snyder claimed the win in the thirty lap feature, his first in Sprint Car competition and a milestone Ryan appreciates.

“I'm really happy for Derek and his whole family,” says Ryan. “They have struggled so much with that motor. They’re a really nice family and it's awesome for him to get a big win to end the season in front of his family and friends.”

A pair of crashes took the #07 team out of the running for this year’s AVSS championship, but they know they are capable of contending for the title.  Ryan in fact led the points into June’s event at Toledo, when a serious crash in qualifying set him back.  Officially Ryan finished fourth in the AVSS championship chase for 2009 with one feature win and seven top five finishes in twelve events.  The win was Ryan’s first at Owosso Speedway, the fifth different track where he’s won a Sprint Car feature, and extended his streak of seasons with at least one feature win to four in a row. Other season highlights for Ryan included a second consecutive top five finish in the Little 500, and the promising debut of the new Lair Jet Supermodified at Delaware Speedway.

“After last season, I really thought coming into this year we were going to be the car to beat at every event,” says Ryan. “We started off strong - no wins but we were always one of the fastest cars…The Toledo deal really hurt us and took the wind out of our sail. Not only did we fall from first to ninth in points but we lost our car that we had worked so many hours on getting just right. It was a bad deal and we had to get our other car ready to go which we had never run with a wing on. It worked out OK considering what we were up against but it was nowhere near the year we hoped for.”

While the AVSS schedule is now finished, Ryan’s racing season is probably not over.  Plans are in the works for Ryan to compete in Florida over the winter, and possibly head overseas as well.  Ryan and the team are also looking ahead to 2010 already.

“I’m looking forward to the off season,” says Ryan. “I’m planning on travelling and running some races down south, and setting up things for next season. Our plans for next season are to sell this current car, buy a new 2010 Beast chassis, and do the same deal as this year.  Next year is going to be a big year for pavement sprint car racing…hopefully we can continue to grow and become a bigger group.”

Ryan and the team would like to send well wishes to fellow Canadian sprint car racer Travis Rutz and his family.  Travis suffered severe injuries in a crash at the Terre Haute Action Track last Sunday night and remains in an Indianapolis hospital at the time of this writing.  For updates and information on how you can donate to the Rutz family to help with medical costs, please visit www.TravisRutz.com.

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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For more information on Ryan and the team, including schedules, news releases, photos, videos, merchandise, and contact information, please visit Ryan's official website powered by Linton Media at www.RyanLitt.com.

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Media Contact:
Tommy Goudge
PR Manager
www.RyanLitt.com
Phone: 519 319-0051
e-mail: tommygoudge@hotmail.com

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