June 8, 2005: Ryan Litt surpassed all expectations, including his own, by finishing in 7th place in his very first Little 500, which was held on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The 18 year old from Lyons, Ontario, Canada narrowly missed taking home Rookie of the Year honours as Mat Neely was the recipient of that award, but he completed 485 grueling laps on the high banked pavement ¼ mile that is Indiana’s Anderson Speedway.
The event, which is the world’s longest and richest pavement sprint car race, is usually a battle of attrition and this year’s 57th edition was no different as only 12 of the 33 starters were running at the end, and only the winner – Eric Gordon – finished all 500 laps. The week did not start off on the right foot for Ryan as he missed the feature in Wednesday’s USAC National Sprint Car event at Anderson, but he didn’t let that get him down and bounced back by qualifying solidly into the Little 500 field and subsequently finishing 7th. Ryan’s finish is even more impressive when considering the fact that the team did not have the necessary tools in place to make pit stops and were much slower in the pits than most of the other teams, which resulted in some lost laps.
This coming weekend finds Ryan back in Indiana for two more events on the USAC National Sprint Car slate. Thursday June 9 will find Ryan and the #07 BRR Media BS&B Radiator Beast/Claxton Sprint Car at the Indianapolis Raceway Park for “Thursday Night Thunder”. After that, it’s off to the famous Winchester Speedway for the “Kenny Irwin Classic” on Sunday afternoon, June 12. Following those two events, tentative plans are in place to put the wing back over Ryan’s head for the “World’s Fastest Short Track Show” at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway on Friday, June 17. For more information, results, and photos, please visit www.ryanlitt.com.
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