Story By: A2DPR / KYLE REINHARDT RACING – ABBOTTSTOWN, PA – Kyle Reinhardt came into Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek with a little bit of momentum from his Ohio Sprint Speedweek stint.
With ten races on the horizon at Pennsylvania tracks where he has significantly more laps than he does on the Ohio ovals, hopefully he could maintain that momentum and keep his solid 2023 season rolling.
Opening night of the 2023 Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek was washed away by rain, forcing teams to wait 24 hours to kick off the festivities at Lincoln Speedway.
Kyle Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade, Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers, Coors Banquet Beer, Henry’s Wrecker Service No.91 was among a strong field of 37 teams ready to get the annual summer tradition started.
Reinhardt’s night got off to a solid start, clicking off the 11th best lap overall in time trials. The only minor bump in the road for Reinhardt was a 3rd place finish in his heat race after starting 2nd. The one position cost him a few starting spots in the feature event.
From his 14th starting spot in the 30-lap A-main, Reinhardt was able to climb two spots to finish out the night with a 12th place finish.
Sunday night the series moved on to BAPS Motor speedway where 34 drivers registered. Reinhardt timed 9th quickest overall, once again putting himself on the front row of his heat race. He slipped one spot to a 3rd place finish.
In the 30-lap A-main, Reinhardt took the green from outside row five. In the early going he struggled and fell back to 12th for a few laps, then 11th.
At the halfway point, Reinhardt started to find his rhythm and make forward progress. He surged into 7th on lap sixteen, then into sixth two circuits later. He held a firm grip on the spot the rest of the way for a 6th place finish.
With severe weather forecast for the area all afternoon and evening, Monday night’s event at Lincoln Speedway was rescheduled to the off day, Thursday.
Tuesday night’s show at Grandview Speedway also fell victim to the weather, with no makeup date available.
The series resumed under sunny skies just across the Mason-Dixon Line at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland. Thirty teams made the trek for the Wednesday night race.
Early on Reinhardt was having a tough time dialing his ride in. He turned in the 14th best lap overall, then rode to a 5th place finish in his heat race.
From his 14th starting spot in the 30-lap main event, Reinhardt showed he had finally hit on a good combination as he marched his way steadily forward throughout the race, crossing the finish line with a 7th place finish.
Following the completion of this third event of the week, Reinhardt sat 7th in overall PA Speedweek points.
Thursday night’s rescheduled event at Lincoln Speedway attracted a field of 34 cars to take a shot at the $10,000 winner’s share of the purse.
Reinhardt’s lap of 13.463 put him 16th overall in a very competitive round of time trials. It was so tight in fact, that had he been just 0.063 quicker, he would have ranked 10th quickest.
In an uneventful heat race, Reinhardt started and finished 3rd, locking the Capitol Renegade, Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers, Coors Banquet Beer, Henry’s Wrecker Service No.91 into the A-main.
Reinhardt started 13th in the 30-lap feature. At the midpoint of the race, he was 12th but soon after, his Maxim came alive. He cracked the top ten on lap 24, moved to 9th two laps later and was running down his next target when the first caution of the event appeared on lap 27.
The restart did not work in Reinhardt’s favor as he slipped back one spot. Another caution appeared one lap later and once again the ensuing restart cost him a spot. In the closing two laps he grabbed 9th momentarily but flashed under the checkered flag in 10th.
“The car just wouldn’t take off on those late restarts. We have to figure out what happened there. We were really good before the caution. I felt like we had a top five car if it had stayed green.”, Reinhardt said.
“Overall, we have been solid so far in (PA) Speedweek. We need to work on the early part of our night to get in a better starting position.“, Reinhardt commented.
“We are sitting 7th in points right now with four races remaining. Our goal is to finish in the top five in points. Hopefully the rain stays away, and we get to race all four nights.“
Unofficial Speedweek points after Lincoln:
1) 39M Anthony Macri 659
2) 8/51 Freddie Rahmer 553
3) 13 Justin Peck 537
4) 19 Brent Marks 516
5) 48 Danny Dietrich 467
6) 58 Tanner Thorson 435
7) 91 Kyle Reinhardt 407
8) 44 Dylan Norris 384
9) 11 TJ Stutts 338
10) 5w Lucas Wolfe 333
Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek continues Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway with the Mitch Smith Memorial and concludes on Monday night at Port Royal Speedway with the Keith Kauffman Classic. Here is the remaining schedule.
Fri 6/30 Williams Grove Speedway – Mitch Smith Memorial
Sat 7/1 Port Royal Speedway – Greg Hodnett Classic
Sun 7/2 Selinsgrove Speedway – Opperman/Bogar/Heintzelman Memorial
Mon 7/3 Port Royal Speedway – Keith Kauffman Classic