11/11/2013
Sprint Source
Smith and Rob Warko Racing happy with first out
For Immediate Release- 10-10-13
Smith and Rob Warko Racing happy with World Final performance of the #94 team!
Photo Credit -Bob Armbruster Racing Photos.
Akron, Ohio/ Charlotte NC-Ryan Smith headed to Charlotte with a lot to look forward to. A new team, a new car, a new owner, a new outlook and a bright new future. Taking that new car feel to one of the biggest STP-World of Outlaw races of the year may not have been the ideal shake down for a lot of drivers. Smith however, looked forward to the challenge with renewed vigor. In only his second full season as a 410 driver, Smith is happy with the progress he has made in a short period of time. “Every race, as a team we will get better. I’m proud of how this weekend went for us. Many of the crew has been with me all year and they really worked hard to put a car out there on the dirt that was a contender, and we had that.” says Smith.
Smith qualified well Thursday night, in the 25th spot for Friday and was 3rd fastest for Saturday. After his qualifying laps for Saturday, Smith sat at the top of the speed charts for most of the session. Only to be knocked down to 3rd by Paul McMahan grabbing his second fast qualifier of the year and Donnie Schatz, who made his way into the 2nd spot, of the 55 car field. The Rob Warko Racing #94 Team made a strong first showing for themselves. Smith, who raced at this event last year, failed to qualify well and wasn’t able to transfer to the feature, certainly improved with this year’s performance.
Friday night, the #94 was able to Transfer into the Feature by finishing 4th in the heat race. However in the feature, Smith said he “took a gamble with the set up and tried something that didn’t work for the feature.” The #94 was retired, saving the car for Saturday night’s races. The crew got after the set up and readied themselves for the next night’s event.
Saturday night, Smith rolled into strong 4th place finish in the heat race to transfer once again into the nights feature event. Starting from the lucky number 13th spot on the grid, Smith would quickly find a mechanical issue a few laps into the night with a shock failure. Smith’s final comments on the night,“It’s a tough break I know, very disappointing. The car felt great in the heat. But, it is what it is. The car was strong and I really feel we were set up to make a great showing here tonight and the crew delivered a great package. We made an improvement over our performance here last year and that’s all we can ask for at the end of the day. As long as we keep doing that and keep pushing forward we will be right there for 2014.”
Submitted By: Christy Cottrell
