Engine Woes Sideline Ryan Litt

By Tommy Goudge

August 10, 2005 - It was an up and down night for Lyons, Ontario racer Ryan Litt on Friday night at the Dixie Motor Speedway near Birch Run, Michigan. The day began at the shop where the team thrashed to finish getting the car back together after the wreck two weeks ago at Baer Field Speedway. Once at the track for the night’s event, sanctioned by the AVSS, the new set of wings from Velocity Wings worked so well that all the team’s previous setup notes proved to be obsolete. The #07 BRR Media BS&B Radiator Beast/Claxton Sprint Car was not handling very well, which resulted in a time trial lap of only 22nd fastest.

The car was somewhat improved in the heat race, but midway through the race, some of the supports on the big top wing came loose, causing it to flip upwards and ruin the handling of the car. After rectifying that situation, it was on to the B Main in which Ryan continued to fight the ill-handling car and missed transferring to the A Main by one position.

At this point it appeared the team’s luck had changed for the better as Mike Astrauskas scratched from the feature event, meaning Ryan could tag on to the back of the field as the first alternate. The team quickly made changes to the car’s suspension and chassis setup and sent the #07 back out onto the high banked 4/10’s mile oval. Starting in the 21st and dead last position on the grid, the car responded well to the changes and Ryan quickly made his way up to the 13th position by the seventh lap and looked to be turning his night around. Unfortunately it was not to be as the 18 year old noticed oil coming from the engine compartment and quickly pulled off the track before further damage was done, and was credited with a 20th place finish.

Ryan and the team pulled the engine out after the race and have sent it away to be freshened in the hopes of being ready in time for the 46th annual Joe James/Pat O’Connor Classic USAC National Sprint Car event at the Salem Speedway in southern Indiana this Saturday night. The high banked 0.555 mile oval has played host to some of the biggest names in all of auto racing over the years, and Ryan and the team are very excited about competing at the legendary speedway. Joining the sprint cars on the card will be the USAC National Midgets. Warm-ups will begin at 4:30 on Saturday night, August 13. Following that event will most likely be a weekend off before heading to the Kawartha Speedway near Peterborough, Ontario on August 26 for a home race of sorts. For more information, schedules, news and photos, please visit www.RyanLitt.com.