By Tommy Goudge
It was an eventful week for Ryan Litt and the BS&B Radiator/OTC Tools crew at Anderson Speedway, but in the end it was a rewarding one as well, as the team came home with their best finish ever in the prestigious Little 500. The Lyons, Ontario resident and his #07 Claxton Chevy powered Beast were very fast in practice, and in fact achieved the 2nd fastest time in Thursday's "Pole Day" qualifying session. The time was disallowed, however, after Ryan failed to go immediately to the tech inspection line after his qualifying laps, meaning he would have to qualify again during Friday's "Bump Day" session. Litt then safely qualified into the 33-car field on Friday in rather wet conditions, but the mistake on Thursday resulted in the #07 lining up in the middle of row 6 instead of the middle of row 1.
The start of the Little 500 - with 33 sprint cars lined up in 11 rows of 3 on a high banked 1/4 mile oval track - is a unique spectacle, unlike anything else in racing except for the Indianapolis 500, which it is modeled after. Starting right in the middle of the pack, Ryan was able to methodically pick his way through traffic and was fortunate to avoid damage in some crashes which eliminated quite a few front-runners from contention in the opening stages of the race. By lap 145 Ryan found himself in the lead of the race for the first time in his 4 years of Little 500 competition, but had made a pit stop shortly thereafter. The team was using a gravity-fed fuel filler for the first time and it was not getting the tank completely full, forcing the team to make unscheduled green flag pit stops with no time for tire changes.
Ryan drove the #07 back into the lead on lap 219 and this time held it until lap 335 when he had to pit for fuel, and then took it back when the other leaders made pit stops on lap 361. For awhile it looked like the race would come down to a duel between Litt and eventual race winner Shane Cottle as the two swapped the lead back and forth quite a few times just before the race reached lap 400. Cottle proved too strong for Ryan and the other competitors though, and pulled away for the win while Ryan had to settle for 4th after another pit stop for fuel with less than 10 laps to go. Ryan and the team can be proud of their first top 5 finish in the Little 500, leading 135 of the 500 laps, and also running the fastest lap of the race with a time of 11.507.
Ryan commented on his 2008 Little 500 experience after arriving home:
Fuel Issues: "Yeah, I was upset after the race. This was our first time using the gravity-fed fuelling system and we weren't getting a full tank of fuel on pit stops. I'm not sure whether the bladder wasn't coming open right or if it had air in it, but either way running out of fuel and making green flag stops hurt us. I think if we made 2 normal stops under caution and took some tires we would have been battling with Shane for the win. Between the green flag stops and running on old tires, we were lucky to come away with a top 5."
On the Racing Action: "It was a pretty wild race - the lappers this year seemed really slow and always in the way. Every time you just got setup for a pass (for position) you would have to slide up to get around a lapper. Everyone was going real strong at the beginning, which made it difficult to come from 17th. I just tried to pick cars off one at a time without taking too much of a risk doing it, and of course tried to stay out of the wrecks. I was right in the middle of two big wrecks out there - Wilson's, and Heveron's - and I just narrowly missed both of them."
Summary of the Week: "All in all after such an up and down week, with the whole qualifying deal, and running in the rain (to qualify on bump day), I'm pretty proud of leading a bunch of laps and coming home with a top 5. All of my crew guys worked so hard throughout the week, and after goofing up missing the scales (on pole day), I owed them one. I look forward to next year, and I'm learning more every year - how to pace myself, when to pit, tire management…all that stuff that you don't normally do in a sprint car race that you have to learn for the 500. Now we're going to stick the wings back on and focus on winning some AVSS races, and being a consistent top 5 finisher."
Ryan and the team would like to extend their condolences to the family and friends of Anderson Speedway track worker Roy Hiatt, who passed away after being hit by a race car while cleaning up oil during a yellow flag period in Saturday night's race. Track workers like Roy make it possible for Ryan and his fellow drivers to race safely and put on a show for fans, and are rarely recognized for their efforts. Our thoughts are with Roy's family and friends during this difficult time.
Ryan and the crew now have a weekend off before their quest for the 2008 Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints championship resumes at their home track - Delaware Speedway - on Friday, June 6. After taking his first career sprint car feature win at Delaware in 2006, Ryan finished 6th at the half mile track located just West of London, Ontario last season - something he and the BS&B Radiators/OTC Tools team would like to improve upon this season. All fans - especially those in Ontario - are encouraged to come out and support the only Canadian stop on the AVSS tour this season.
WHAT: Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints (AVSS) race # 2. // www.SuperSprints.com
WHERE: Delaware Speedway // www.DelawareSpeedway.com
WHEN: Friday, June 6, 2008 // Gates open @ 6:00p.m., first race @ 8:00p.m.
Ryan and the team would like to thank all their sponsors for their continued support during Ryan and the #07 Beast/Claxton Sprinter's 2008 season, including OTC Tools, BS&B Radiator, Linton Media, Linde Gases, Leaf Racewear, Xtreme Metal Worx, and Huron Produce Ltd.
For more information on Ryan, the car, and the team, including schedules, news releases, photos, NEW merchandise, and contact information, please visit Ryan's official website at http://www.ryanlitt.com/
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