HEAVNER EIGHTH IN CAROLINA INTERNATIONAL TRUCKS
Written By: DLP Marketing Inc.
LINCOLNTON, NC (May 1st, 2011) Ryan Heavner earned a hard-fought eighth place finish in the Carolina International Trucks 250 at Dillon Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 30th. It marked the first top-ten finish for Heavner and the Matt Lofton Motorsports team in 2011. The 250-lap race was postponed due to weather issues from the originally scheduled date of April 16th.
After two practice sessions on the .4-mile Dillon track, Heavner would be the first driver to qualify. The Lincolnton, North Carolina driver posted a fast lap of 16.642 seconds to earn the eighth starting position.
Heavner quickly settled into a competitive race pace in the early laps of the 250-lap event. However, on the restart after an early caution, Heavner felt a vibration in the right front and was forced to pit. After changing the right front tire, Heavner rejoined the race. But, he was too fast leaving pit road and had to make a “stop and go” penalty. As a result of both issues, Heavner was running 16th, four laps behind the leader on lap 31.
“I knew when we went to green (flag) after the early caution that I had a problem on the right front,” Heavner said. “Fortunately, I got to pit road and the problem solved before it became a bigger issue. Then, the pit road penalty made things worse.” And, to make matters worse, Heavner had a problem with his radio and could not hear his spotter or crew chief. But, a determined Heavner kept racing competitive laps and moving up the running order. By lap 125, Heavner had moved inside the top ten.
On lap 142, Heavner would pit under caution for right side tires. He would restart in the ninth position with 100 laps remaining. With fourteen laps to go, Heavner passed Ronnie Souders to move into eighth. Heavner would take the checkered flag in eighth, his first top ten finish of the 2011 USAR Pro Cup season.
“It certainly makes for a long evening when you have problems early in the race,” Heavner added after the race. “But, we made the best of a tough night by racing back to eighth (position). Thanks to Bob (Crew Chief Schacht) and the guys for all their hard work today. I really believe that I had a strong top-five car tonight. I’m really looking forward to our next race at Rockingham.”
The next race on the 2011 USAR Pro Cup Series schedule is the Rockingham 200 at Rockingham Speedway on May 14th. Practice and qualifying will be on Friday, May 13th, with the 150-lap Rockingham event set for Saturday afternoon, May 14th. The USAR Pro Cup Series race will start thirty minutes after the conclusion of the 75-lap UARA race which begins at noon.
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