ACE SPEEDWAY UNKIND TO HEAVNER IN USAR 250
Written By: DLP Marketing Inc.
ALTAMAHAW (April 1st, 2011) The USAR Pro Cup Series made their first visit back to Ace Speedway in several years on Friday night, April 1st, for the White’s International Trucks 250 presented by Dave’s Discount Furniture. The second race on the USAR 2011 schedule was also the first ever visit to the .4-mile track for 15-year old Ryan Heavner.
Ace Speedway has the reputation of being a very tight, fast, and competitive short track. However, Ryan Heavner and the Bob Schacht-led Matt Lofton Motorsports Team worked very hard during the two practice sessions to learn the track and make their #77 Chevrolet better each time on the track.
Heavner was the second car to make his qualifying run, and recorded a fast lap of 16.268 seconds. His time would earn him the ninth starting position for the 250-lap feature.
The pre race plan was to drive a competitive, yet conservative race, and save your brakes for the final stages of the event. And, in the early laps, Heavner moved up from his ninth starting position to sixth by lap fifty. When caution waved on lap 69 for a multi-car accident, many of the leaders came to pit road for tires and fuel. Crew Chief Bob Schacht made the call for Heavner to stay on the track and gain track position.
When the race restarted on lap 77, Heavner stretched his lead to several car lengths as the early leaders were working their way through traffic. Keeping a comfortable advantage on the field, Heavner was turning laps faster than he qualified. Early race leader J.P. Morgan began to gain on Heavner from his second position. On lap 83, Heavner slid entering the first turn and made contact with the turn two retaining wall. The result was a broken track bar and suspension, ending Heavner’s night on lap 83. Heavner led ten laps and was credited with a 16th-place finish.
“I’m really disappointed,” a dejected Heavner said after the race. “Bob (Crew Chief Schacht) and the team gave me a good car that was getting better lap-by-lap. I don’t know what happened, the car just slid up the track as I entered turn one. I had a top two or three car, that’s why being out (of the race) hurts so much.”
Ryan Heavner and the Matt Lofton Motorsports Team will have a weekend off before the next race. The USAR Pro Cup 250 at the .4-mile egg-shaped oval Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, South Carolina on Saturday, April 16th.
To learn more about sponsorship opportunities with Ryan Heavner and Matt Lofton Motorsports, please visit the teams contact page. They would be happy to go in to detail with you about how motorsports marketing can help to grow your business.
Ryan Heavner would like to thank all of the team partners for the 2010 racing season. These include; Strutmasters.com, Lawing Marble, DLP Marketing, LJ DeZigns, W.D. Enterprises and WaltersWebDesign.com.
For information about Ryan Heavner, visit www.RyanHeavner.com