Archive for month: October, 2024

After posting four top-ten finishes in a five-race stretch at Lincoln Speedway, Reinhardt didn’t get the result he was looking for in the track’s season finale on October 19th.  A respectable qualifying run and heat race effort put him mid pack for the main event but he wasn’t able to make forward progress and settled for a 17th place finish.

A week later at BAPS Motor Speedway, Reinhardt again showed the good speed the team has had in recent months, posting the 2nd quickest lap in his group, transferring through his heat, and earning the 3rd starting spot for the 30-lap Finkenbinder Memorial.  Unfortunately, while passing in a top five spot, he got into the marbles and caught the fence, bringing an early end to what would have otherwise been another solid outing.

This weekend Reinhardt will have a great opportunity to hit reset at a track that has been to his liking since the 4-tenths mile, high banked configuration opened a few years ago in Swedesboro, NJ.

Reinhardt’s 2023 stats at Bridgeport Motorsports Park were as solid as they come.  Three races, three top five finishes, including a $15,000 victory in the Oktoberfest event.  The other outings were a 2nd with the All Star Circuit of Champions and a 5th with High Limit Racing.

“I’m really looking forward to going back home to race.”, Reinhardt commented.

“We have been really consistent there (at Bridgeport) on the new configuration and I love racing there.  The place is so badass fast.  I got my first 410 win in my home state there last year, which was great with so many family and friends there.”

“We’ve had really good speed lately, so I think we can put on a good show this weekend.”

Because of a rainout earlier this year, this weekend’s event will be Reinhardt’s first opportunity to compete at Bridgeport this year.

“We’re due for a Coors victory lane beer shower.”, Reinhardt said.

The month of October opened with one of the most anticipated weekends of the year, the National Open at Williams Grove Speedway on October 4th and 5th.  After showing good speed at the legendary oval in recent outings, Reinhardt came into the weekend feeling good about his chances to make the shows and post good finishes.  The weekend didn’t unfold as hoped though, and both shows ended in the B-main, short of the goal.

Reinhardt and team didn’t dwell on the National Open results.  They got back to work and turned their focus toward their next opportunity, which would come one week later at Lincoln Speedway, another track where he has displayed good speed recently.  In his last two outings at the Pigeon Hills oval, he posted finishes of 4th and 6th to add to two other top-ten finishes there earlier in the season.

The night got off to a positive start when Reinhardt turned in the 3rd quickest lap in Group B qualifying, a 13.964-second effort on his first of two laps.  

The qualifying effort put the Neptune City, NJ native on the front row of the third heat race of the night.  Reinhardt brought home a runner-up finish behind winner Chase Dietz.  The qualifying run put him into the Dash.

Reinhardt drew the third starting spot for the 8-lap dash.  The finishing order would establish the front four rows of the main event lineup.  At the drop of the green, he grabbed the 2nd spot behind leader Sheldon Haudenchild.  He held that position until lap five and ultimately finished 4th to claim the outside row two starting spot for the A-main.

In the 35-lap finale, the opening laps shuffled Reinhardt back to 6th, and by lap ten he had dropped to 9th.  During the middle third of the race, he briefly found himself outside of the top ten looking in but he battled his way back to 9th as the race entered the final ten circuits.

David Gravel wrestled the 9th spot away from Reinhardt with five laps remaining, relegating him to a hard-fought 10th-place finish.

“It was a great night for us.  Disappointed with our feature effort.  We slipped pretty bad at the drop of the green but overall it was a great night making the dash and finishing top-ten at an Outlaw event.”, Reinhardt commented.  

“We have been solid the last few months.  We have about eight dates remaining on our 2024 schedule and we are working hard to put ourselves in position to win races.”