Ryan Litt Runner-Up at Salem

Courtesy Tommy Goudge

The evening began well as Ryan ran the 5th fastest lap in time trials, guaranteeing him a spot in the feature starting grid inversion. Next was heat race action, with Ryan starting on the 2nd row and leading by the time the first lap was complete. Eventual feature winner Kevin Feeney slipped by halfway through the heat and Ryan was able to bring the car home in 2nd.

After driver introductions and the traditional AVSS 3-wide parade lap, it was time to go racing, with Ryan once again starting on the 2nd row on the outside. On the first lap, Ryan put his car right up against the outside wall in turn 3 and made the pass for the lead in turn 4. On the 8th lap, Feeney once again slipped by to put Ryan into the 2nd position where he rode comfortably for most of the rest of the race. Near the end of the race, points leader Tommy Fedewa began to put pressure on Litt for the 2nd position but was not able to get past as Ryan came home with his 3rd top 5 finish of the AVSS season.

”We had a pretty good night”, said Ryan afterwards, “In both the heat and feature we started on the 2nd row and had the lead by the time we came around to complete the first lap. Feeney just had the car to beat and could make his way up front – he was flying.””I felt comfortable out there, which was nice (since it was my first visit), and the (new) engine ran great. The highlight of my of my day was bumping the right rear off the wall between (turns) 3 & 4 as I made the pass for the lead - it felt like a cushion on a dirt track. I was actually the only one to put a tire mark on the wall during the whole night. Salem is probably one of my favourite tracks now and I can’t wait to run Winchester!”

Before Winchester however, there are 2 other AVSS events in between, including 1 coming up this weekend as the AVSS tour makes it’s 3rd and final stop of the season at the Auto City Speedway near Flint, Michigan on Saturday night, July 15. With 10th and 7th place finishes in his first two visits there, Ryan is confident that he can bring home another good finish at the tricky, odd shaped 7/16’s mile oval.