Author Archive for: MrAddicted2Dirt

To set the field for the lucrative event, the 32 cars on hand were divided into four groups.  Drivers qualified against the cars in their group using time trials followed by heat races.

Reinhardt was the third car to hit the track in group two qualifying.  He laid down the 3rd quickest lap in the group, which put him on the front row for his heat race.

In the 10-lap qualifying race, Freddie Rahmer slipped under Reinhardt in turn one on the opening lap, dropping the No.91 to 3rd.   

Reinhardt had an opportunity to return the favor on a restart with eight laps remaining but couldn’t find an opening to reclaim the runner-up spot.  He held a firm grasp on 3rd the rest of the way.

From his starting spot outside row six in the 40-lap finale, Reinhardt raced his way into the top ten by lap three.  Late in the first half of the race, he briefly slipped out of the top ten but using a lap eighteen restart to his advantage, he battled all the way back to the 9th spot as the race reached the halfway mark.

Over the final twenty laps, Reinhardt pursued 8th place Devon Borden using the low side of the speedway.  A restart with seven laps remaining gave Reinhardt another chance to go on the attack.  He pressured Borden for 8th but he could not wrestle it away and settled for the 9th place finish.

“I’m happy with the progress. We made some good changes and had a better car than 9th but that’s racing sometimes.”, Reinhard commented.

Reinhardt’s night kicked off with group, timed hot laps.  His lap of 18.274 was only good enough for 7th best in the ten-car group.  The Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers, Capitol Renegade, Coors Banquet Beer, E-Z-GO Golf Cars, Henry’s Wrecker Service No.91 wasn’t far off though.  He was only 0.103 seconds out of a top-five effort, which would have put him in a transfer spot to start his heat.  

Instead, Reinhardt took the green from the 7th starting spot in his heat race.  He wasn’t able to climb into a top-five transfer spot and was relegated to the B-main for another shot at making the show.

Reinhardt began to turn his night around quickly in the B-main.  After starting 8th, he charged into the top five by lap two.  He continued to reel in the leaders, claiming 4th on lap three and 3rd on lap seven of the 15-lap last-chance qualifier.  The Neptune City, NJ native nearly wrestled 2nd away from Nash Ely but settled for a 3rd place finish and a starting spot in the A-main.

From his 23rd starting spot in the A-main, Reinhardt continued to rally, taking over the 13th spot at the midpoint of the race.  

The forward progress came to a halt after Reinhardt suffered front wing damage as the result of contact.  He managed to hold on for a 14th-place finish, turning a potentially bad night into a positive one.

Reinhardt will return to BAPS Motor Speedway on April 28th looking to restart his string of top-ten finishes.