Story By: A2DPR / KYLE REINHARDT RACING – PORT ROYAL, PA – Coming into the final four nights of the 2023 Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek, Kyle Reinhardt was sitting 6th in series points with his goal of an overall top five finish alive and well.
Reinhardt had positioned himself there by logging feature finishes of 12th, 6th, 7th, and 10th in the four A-mains that had been completed out of the first six scheduled nights.
Mother Nature appeared poised to rob Reinhardt of some or all of his final four chances to improve his points position. Despite her best efforts, he got his chances and got it done.
The 35th annual Mitch Smith Memorial at Williams Grove Speedway, sporting a total purse of $50,000, attracted a field of 29 cars Friday night, June 30th.
Reinhardt, who had four top-ten finishes in his first four starts at the famed facility this season, logged the 12th fastest lap in qualifying in a highly competitive field. To demonstrate just how competitive, a mere 0.075 seconds better would have put the Neptune City, NJ native 8th in the results.
Reinhardt ‘held serve’ in his heat race, starting and finishing 3rd, which put him 10th on the starting grid for the night’s 30-lap finale. He wasted no time, surging to 8th on the opening lap. He held that spot for the opening ten trips around, slipped back to 9th briefly, then regained his momentum.
As the race entered the final ten laps, Reinhardt’s No.91 came alive. He moved into 7th on lap twenty, then took possession of 6th on lap twenty-six and held down that spot to the finish.
It was a typical humidity-filled, late-afternoon, summer thunderstorms kind of weekend in Central Pennsylvania. The active weather pattern claimed two victims. Saturday’s Greg Hodnett Classic at Port Royal Speedway and Sunday’s Opperman-Bogar-Heinztelman Memorial at Selinsgrove both were wiped off the Speedweek schedule by the weather. The latter was rescheduled to the following weekend but would not carry Speedweek points.
Monday’s Speedweek finale at Port Royal Speedway almost survived but the rains hit as time trials were nearing completion. Fortunately, Tuesday was available as a rain date for that event.
Speed Palace Finale
Thirty five team returned to Port Royal Speedway on Independence Day for the Keith Kauffman Classic, which would pay $15,000 to the victor.
Reinhardt has had his share of struggles at The Speed Palace in recent years but on this night, he went out 23rd for qualifying and turned in the 5th quickest lap in the field, his best time trial result of speedweek in the Capitol Renegade, Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers, Coors Banquet Beer, Henry’s Wrecker Service No.91.
Going from the pole of the first heat of the night, Reinhardt needed to win to make the redraw. He dominated the first seven laps before a late caution. The ensuing restart had Lance Dewease on his tail and the veteran took his shot at Reinhardt, getting by in turn one to briefly claim the top spot.
Reinhardt crossed over and drove back under Dewease coming to the checkered flag, winning the heat race by a slim 0.025 seconds.
The redraw didn’t go Reinhardt’s way as he pulled the number eight from the bag, putting him outside the fourth row for the 30-lap main event. One the opening lap he charged to 6th and remained there for a handful of circuits before slipping to 7th.
In the closing laps, Reinhardt was battling a tight racecar and fighting hard in the back half of the top ten. He slipped back one spot in the final lap to a 9th place finish.
Reinhardt’s efforts on the closing night of the 2023 edition of Pennsylvania Speedweek moved him into 5th in the final series standings.
“Overall, it was a very solid week for us. I’m super happy with our consistency and the speed we have. Need to keep chipping away to get better track position and race for some podiums. I want to thank all my guys for their efforts all week.“, Reinhardt commented.
Final PA Speedweek Points:
- 39M Anthony Macri 989
- 19 Brent Marks 826
- 13 Justin Peck 739
- 51/8 Freddie Rahmer 698
- 91 Kyle Reinhardt 637
- 44 Dylan Norris 575
- 58 Tanner Thorson 573
- 48 Danny Dietrich 543
- 69K Lance Dewease 515
- 11 TJ Stutts 499
“I am also really looking forward to working with Chris (Shuttlesworth) moving forward. Since he joined our team at Hagerstown, I feel a lot more confident in my car and some weight has been lifted off my shoulders with the decision making during the night so I can focus on driving.“
Reinhardt has had good speed all year, has one win and has shown he is on the doorstep of consistently competing for podium finishes and wins. The addition of Shuttlesworth could be the key to accomplishing that.
Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade, Coors Banquet Beer, Ace Distributing, Henry’s Wrecker Service team will be one to keep an eye on over the second half of the 2023 season.
Reinhardt will return to Selinsgrove Speedway this Sunday, July 9th, for the makeup of the $10,000 to win Opperman-Bogar-Heinzelman Memorial that was rained out during speedweek.
A couple days later the team will load up and head west for Eldora Speedway to compete in the Eldora Million and the King’s Royal July 12th-15th.