Story By: A2DPR / KYLE REINHARDT RACING – PORT ROYAL, PA – Kyle Reinhardt rolled into Port Royal Speedway for a three-race weekend fresh off a top-five finish with the High Limit Series at Bridgeport Motorsports Park in the Capitol Renegade, Coors Banquet Beer, Henry’s Wrecker Service No.91.
He was looking to build on that effort to put together a strong weekend at ‘The Speed Palace’, the track where he picked up his first career 410 sprint car win in 2019.
With 54 of the best sprint cars in the country on hand, Reinhardt’s Tuscarora 50 night didn’t start quite the way he had hoped. His qualifying lap was only good enough for 16th quickest in Group A but his night took a turn in the right direction in the heat race.
Only the top three finishers would go directly to the Tuscarora 50 A-main, so Reinhardt had his work cut out for him starting on the outside of the third row. Two laps in and running 5th, the Neptune City, NJ driver got a break when Logan Wagner’s 69k lost a motor while running 3rd.
Reinhardt restarted 4th and immediately began to pressure Dylan Cisney for the final transfer spot. It only took two laps to wrestle the spot away from Cisney with a power move on the low side of the speedway.
The battle continued to the checkered flag but Reinhardt held on to the spot, completing the task at hand and earning the 17th starting spot in the 50-lap crown jewel event.
Early on in the A-main, Reinhardt held his ground and eventually gained a couple of spots before engine issues arose. He slid backward but kept battling, hoping his team could remedy the issue at the halfway break. Shortly after the break with the issue still plaguing him, Reinhardt retired from the race and was officially recorded as 23rd in the final rundown.
“We battled engine issues in the feature tonight. It’s a shame because we had a good car and good balance for that race.”, Reinhardt commented. “We will put a fresh bullet in for tomorrow night.“
Friday night’s World of Outlaws preliminary for the Nittany Showdown proved to be a tough pill to swallow for Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade team.
Reinhardt’s qualifying lap was 11th quick in group B but it was only 0.037 seconds short of 7th and an entirely different heat race scenario.
The qualifying result put Reinhardt 6th on the grid for his heat race with the top five finishers moving directly to the A-main, but he was unable to gain any ground.
Reinhardt started 4th in the B-main and was in position early to make the show, but lost track position on a restart after getting crossed up with another car. He wasn’t able to make up the lost ground and ended up with a 6th-place finish.
Reinhardt got right to work at Saturday night’s Nittany Showdown finale. He clicked off the 5th quickest lap in Group A, his best qualifying effort of the weekend.
The lap put Reinhardt in row two to take the green in his heat race. The start didn’t go his way and he settled into the 5th and final transfer spot. He was unable to advance but held the spot for the duration of the 8-lap race to transfer to the A-main.
The 30-lap finale was paused by a red flag on lap seven. Following that, the remaining twenty-three laps remained green. Reinhardt moved forward steadily during the event but the nonstop action didn’t work in his favor as he attempted to climb toward the front of the field.
Reinhardt finished 14th, ending the weekend on a positive note.
“We improved a lot for Saturday and I think we had a top ten car if the yellows fell a little different, so that’s a good improvement for us at Port (Royal) because we have been struggling here lately.“, Reinhardt commented.
Weather permitting, Reinhardt will bring the Capitol Renegade, Coors Banquet Beer, Henry’s Wrecker Service No.91 to Lincoln Speedway this Saturday, October 14th, for the 20th Annual Weldon Sterner Memorial.