Ross Earns Hard Charger, Fights Through Tough Stretch Ahead of Nace Memorial

Tyler Ross has had a stretch of racing that tested the team’s patience. A hard charger award at Williams Grove Speedway was the high point, and a broken part on the biggest night of the National Open weekend was the low. Through it all, the team is staying focused on getting its motor and setup working together, and Tyler is not giving up.

From Start-and-Park Plan to Hard Charger

The best night of the stretch came September 25th at Williams Grove Speedway, and it almost didn’t happen. Tyler qualified 22nd, finished 8th in his heat, and had to run the B-main to advance to the A-main, where he started 23rd. He drove from there to a 15th-place finish and earned hard charger honors.

“We struggled all night until the feature, and things just went our way,” Tyler said.  

“I was actually planning to start and park, but we passed a few cars early and decided to stay out.“

Trying Something Different

The two races before that were quiet nights. At Williams Grove on September 18th, Tyler started 15th in the A-main and finished 16th. At BAPS Motor Speedway on September 19th, he started 17th and moved up to 12th.

“Williams Grove has been a struggle all season for us,” Tyler said.

“At BAPS (Motor Speedway) we buried ourselves early, and the track was fast and around the top, so it was hard to pass a lot of cars after the first few laps.”

On September 30th at Lincoln Speedway, the team took a different approach. Looking to learn something and shake up a run of tough luck, they brought out the black car, an older car the team hadn’t raced since the first half of the 2025 season and one with a different motor than the primary car. 

Tyler qualified 11th of 31 cars, started 3rd and finished 4th in his heat, and was running well early in the night. By feature time, though, the setup wasn’t where it needed to be.

“It was a different car, and the track was different, so we just misjudged it,” Tyler said. He pulled off the track and was scored 19th after starting 12th.

Tough Break at the National Open

The Williams Grove National Open weekend began with the team digging out of a hole on October 2nd. With 56 cars signed in, Tyler timed in 21st of 28 cars in Flight B, which meant he had to run the non-qualifiers race just to earn a spot in a heat race. He did his part, starting 2nd and winning it, but the rough qualifying run had already put him behind. He finished 10th in his heat, then started 17th in the B-main and finished 18th, short of a transfer to the A-main.

Saturday, October 3rd, ended before it began. Tyler didn’t make a lap in qualifying after a U-joint broke as the car came to the green for time trials.  The failure ended the night early for Ross Racing.  The team would not have been able to make repairs in time to qualify. 

“When the car breaks as it did on Saturday, you can’t learn anything,” Tyler said. 

“Every lost opportunity like that just stretches the timeline ever longer for us to get back to what we know our team is capable of.“

Working Toward the Right Combination

Tyler is candid that the team is still searching. Qualifying remains the weak spot, but he believes the team is heading in the right direction.

“We’re still struggling, but I think we’re on the right track with qualifying,” he said.

“We need to get the confidence back, knowing we can time better.“

The team is finding little things and taking the time to get them figured out, including working to dial in a motor and setup combination that works well together. The team is also considering bringing out a new car before the end of the year.

“Stretches like these are part of racing.  Everyone struggles at times,” Tyler said. 

“We’re not going to give up.”  

Looking Ahead

Tyler and the team will head to Selinsgrove Speedway this weekend for the Jim Nace Memorial National Open on October 9th and 10th.

It’s a track Tyler enjoys racing and a place where he finished 3rd on August 30th. Tyler said afterward that he now knew what the car needed to be really good there, and this weekend gives the team a chance to show it.