A Weekend of Ups and Downs for Ryan Litt

Courtesy Tommy Goudge

The high hopes of the Litt Racing team for this past weekend were temporarily dashed when a broken crankshaft spoiled the party on Friday night at the Toledo Speedway. Heading into the weekend 3rd in AVSS points and riding a streak of 3 straight top 10 finishes in AVSS events, including a feature win, Ryan Litt and the #07 BS&B Radiator/OTC-SPX Tools crew were fairly confident going into the weekend.

The evening at Toledo began rather typically with Ryan laying down the 11th fastest lap in time trials out of 27 cars on hand, then finishing 3rd in his heat. Starting 11th on the grid in the feature, Ryan appeared to have a good chance of keeping his string of Top 10 finishes alive before the aforementioned engine problems ended Ryan’s race prematurely. Amazingly, due to heavy attrition at the tough high banked Toledo track, a 13th place finish was salvaged as the #07 was one of the last to drop out of the event.

After an engine change in the parking lot of their hotel on Saturday morning, it was on to Baer Field Speedway in Fort Wayne, Indiana that night. The evening did not begin very well as Ryan fought handling woes in warm ups and qualifying, managing to run only the 13th fastest lap out of the 18 cars on hand. However, the team had things figured out come heat race and feature time as Ryan won his heat, then started 13th in the feature and moved up 6 positions to finish 7th by the time the checkered flag fell.

Consistency has become the hallmark of the #07 team this season as they have qualified 12th, 6th, 13th, 11th, and 13th in the 5 AVSS races run so far, along with 4 top 10 finishes out of the 5 races as Ryan and the team are able to adjust the car well enough to move up through the field come feature time. With some more time trial experience, and just track time in general, the team is confident that they will be able to start further up in the features and perhaps get some good finishes as the season progresses.

Ryan and the #07 both managed to come out of the weekend still 3rd in both driver points and owner points standings, although the gap between them and the leader Tommy Fedewa grew ever so slightly. Ryan and the team will be in action for a 5th straight weekend this coming Saturday night at the Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan just outside of Grand Rapids. Berlin was the site of one of Ryan’s best races in a sprint car as he finished 2nd in this very same event one year ago, and led his first sprint car feature laps that night as well.

What:
2006 Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints Series Round # 6
www.SuperSprints.com.

Where:
Berlin Raceway,
2060 Berlin Fair Drive,
Marne, MI 49435
www.BerlinRaceway.com.

When:
Saturday, June 24th, 2006. Pit and Spectator Gates open at 12:15 p.m., Practice at 2:30 p.m., Time Trials at 5:30 p.m., and Racing at 7:00 p.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 full time campaign on the AVSS tour and their quest for the Rookie of the Year title this season, including OTC/SPX Tools, BS&B Radiator, Velocity Wings, BRR Media, BOC Gases, and Leaf Racewear.

For more information on Ryan, the car, and the team, including schedules, photos, merchandise, and contact information, please visit Ryan’s official website at www.RyanLitt.com.