Archive for category: Kyle Reinhardt

Following a weekend off, Kyle Reinhardt couldn’t pass up an opportunity to race just two miles from the Capitol Renegade team’s race shop, before hitting the road for the next three stops on the All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) tour.

Not only did Wednesday’s Outlaw show at Lincoln Speedway offer a potentially good payday, it meant valuable track time before Reinhardt returns to the Pigeon Hills oval two more times later this season with the ASCoC for races paying $7,300 and $20,000 to win.

May 11:  Gettysburg Clash / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA

      (55 cars, Qualifying 17th, Heat 10th, C-main 1st, B-main 17th)

An unfavorable draw placed Reinhardt near the end of Flight A qualifying for the first 28 of 55 cars on hand at Lincoln Speedway.  He recorded the 17th quickest time in the group, placing him 9th to start heat number one.  Only the top five from the 8-lap qualifying race would move directly to the A-main.

Reinhardt came home 10th in the heat race, placing him on the pole of the C-main.  He went on to capture the win in the 10-lap ‘C’, then finished 17th in the 12-lap ‘B’.  

May 13:  Mace Thomas Classic / I-96 Speedway / Lake Odessa, MI

      (29 cars, Qualifying 17th, Heat 6th, A-main 7th)

With 29 teams signed in at I-96 Speedway for the Mace Thomas Classic, the single-group qualifying, and three heat format was in effect per the All Star rule for 30 cars or less.

Kyle Reinhardt was 21st in line to go under the clock.  The late slot wasn’t ideal for qualifying against the entire field.  Reinhardt managed to record the 17th best time overall, slotting him 6th in heat number two.

In the three heat format, the top six finishers from each 8-lap qualifying event transfer directly to the A-main.  Reinhardt ‘held serve’ and came home 6th to lock into the 30-lap feature event, but he would have his work cut out for him from the 17th starting spot.

Piloting the Capitol Renegade / Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers / Champion Hi-Tech Lubricants / J&J Auto Racing No.91, Reinhardt saved his best for last. From the drop of the green in the A-main he surged forward, entering the top ten by lap nine, then steadily working his way further up the leaderboard, reaching the 8th position by lap 19.

A few laps later, a flat right rear tire appeared to ruin a terrific run by Reinhardt.  His team was able to replace the tire and get him back out in time to rejoin the rear of the field.  

With just seven laps remaining at the restart, Reinhardt wasted no time charging back into the top ten, ultimately reaching 7th by the time he flashed under the checkered flag.  It was an impressive recovery from a dose of bad luck.

May 14:  Wayne County Speedway / Orrville, OH

      (27 cars, Qualifying 7th, Heat 4th, A-main 15th)

The series rolled into Wayne County Speedway on Saturday night with a contingent of 27 teams in tow.  Once again, the single group qualifying, three heat format was in effect.

Reinhardt turned in a solid lap, making himself 7th quick in the field and snagging the outside front row starting spot for heat number one.  It was a good opportunity to claim a spot in the dash by winning the qualifying race, but it wasn’t to be.  Reinhardt finished 4th and transferred to the feature event.

Rolling off from his 12th starting spot in the 30-lap A-main, Reinhardt had his sights set on a second consecutive top-10 finish.  The opening laps of the finale saw him struggle with an ill-handling car and drop through the running order.  

After falling as far back as 18th two laps before the halfway point of the race, the Neptune City, NJ native began his resurgence.  By lap 26, Reinhardt had climbed all the way back to 12th.  A solid recovery, but he was still challenging for more when the caution came out on lap 28.

“We got better as the fuel load burned off and I was able to get back everything I lost early on.  My right rear started going down with a handful of laps to go but we were about to get into the top-10 when the caution came out with two laps to go.  The tire was almost completely flat by the time we went back to green, and I lost a couple spots.“, Reinhard explained.

He crossed the finish line in 15th when all was said and done.

May 15:  Waynesfield Raceway Park / Waynesfield, OH

      (23 cars, Qualifying 6th, Heat 1st, Dash 4th, A-main 13th)

The final stop of the weekend for the All Stars was Waynesfield Raceway Park in western Ohio.  Kyle Reinhardt’s night started off well, registering the 6th quickest lap in the field of 23.

The momentum continued with a dominating win in heat number three.  Reinhardt led all eight laps and held a 2.061 second advantage at the finish line.

The dash draw handed Reinhardt the fourth starting spot in the 6-lap dash.  He grabbed 3rd on the start but eventually Justin Peck worked his way back into the spot, relegating the Capitol Renegade No.91 of Reinhardt to a 4th place finish.  

The 30-lap A-main shaped up to be a season best for Reinhardt.  He took the green from the 4th starting spot and worked his way into 3rd by lap ten.  His J&J Auto Racing machine was good, and he was clearly on offense.  

Reinhardt was poised to take a shot at 2nd place on lap 25 when he made slight contact with the No.7 of Scott Bogucki as the pair exited turn four.  It was enough to spin Reinhardt, sending him to the back of the field for the restart.  He managed to fight back to 13th at the final flag.

“I totally blew that one.  The 7 crossed over more than I thought he was going to, and I got my left side in the slop and just plowed into him.  Feel terrible for my guys because we needed that one.  We were racing hard for a win. Not much else to say.“, a disappointed Reinhardt tweeted after the event.

There was one more note from Waynesfield.  Reinhardt had yet another right rear tire go down during the final five laps, making it three in three nights.

Wrap-Up

“I’m definitely a lot more comfortable on the smaller, slicker tracks than I was last year.  We’re a lot better this year…a lot closer to where we need to be.“, Reinhardt commented.

“We put ourselves in position for three top-10 finishes this weekend.  It’s disappointing to have a couple of them slip away, but we have to shake it off.  We know we’re getting better.  Three right rear flats in three nights…that’s just tough luck and out of our control.  We have to work on the things we can control and hope the things we can’t, start to go our way.“

Up Next

Reinhardt will kick off his race week Tuesday night, May 17th, with a trip to his home state of NJ to take on the World of Outlaws at Bridgeport Motorsports Park.

Later in the week, the Capitol Renegade team will head north to Wisconsin for stops with the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions at Wilmot Raceway, Plymouth Dirt Track, and Angell Park Speedway on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Season Stats

17 races, 0 wins, 3 top 5’s, 5 top 10’s, 11 top 15’s, 7 top 20’s

Kyle Reinhardt wrapped up his ‘preseason’ outings with a top-10 run at Lincoln Speedway Saturday night in the Weldon Sterner Memorial aboard his familiar Capitol Renegade / Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers / Champion Hi-Tech Lubricants / J&J Auto Racing No.91.

It’s not really fair to refer to a string of tough races in Central PA as ‘preseason’.  Given the level of competition present, every race is a dogfight.  It was preseason in a sense though for Reinhardt, as he and his team have been working for the past few weeks to sharpen themselves and their equipment for their regular season with the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions, which kicks off Friday, April 15th at Attica Raceway Park in Ohio.

April 9:  Weldon Sterner Memorial / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA

      (43 cars, qualifying 2nd, heat 3rd, A-main 10th)

The lucrative Weldon Sterner Memorial event at Lincoln Speedway drew a quality field of 43 cars to compete for the $6,900 winner’s take.  Kyle Reinhardt was slotted 17th overall, part of group 1, for time trials.  He ripped off a lap of 13.851 to take the top spot on the chart.  Five cars later, Danny Dietrich knocked him from his perch, taking quick time by a mere 0.084 seconds.

The PA Speedweek format was in place for the night’s action, so four 10-lap heats were lined up with the four best times in each inverted for the start.  The top five from each race would transfer to the A-main, with two cars from each heat going to the redraw:  the winner and the fastest timer who transferred.

Reinhardt was able to advance from his number four starting spot to a 3rd place finish, thus transferring and putting himself in the redraw.  The results of the redraw made Reinhardt’s night a little tougher when he pulled the 8th starting spot.  

In the 35-lap feature event, Reinhardt moved into 7th at the drop of the green, but he slid backwards to 9th by the time the race had reached the halfway point.  He held his ground there until the final lap when Matt Campbell slipped by, relegating the Neptune City, NJ native to a 10th place finish.

“Time trials were something we definitely wanted to improve on from last year, so I feel like we’ve done that so far.  We’ve been timing really well and have had good speed early in the night.  Now we need to work on making the right decisions later in the night, so we can finish as well as we start“, Reinhardt explained.

Lincoln Speedway has been a challenging venue for Reinhardt in the past, so while the finish may have been a few spots shy of the goal Saturday night, it was a solid step forward for him and his team.  It also establishes a trend in the right direction when coupled with his 6th place finish there last August in the Kramer Klash with the All Stars.

Up Next

Reinhardt finally gets to hit the road this week.  The team will travel to Attica Raceway Park in Ohio to begin their Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions campaign.  The season launches there with shows on both Friday and Saturday, April 15th-16th.

“We struggled at Attica last year but I’m looking forward to kicking off our All Star season there.  I’d like to get a top-10 there.  We’re capable of it.  We just need to get a good lap down to start the night and we’ll be ok.  It’s a different type of track than we have been running so far this year, but a lot of the things we’ve improved will translate“, Reinhardt explained.

Following the 2-day All Star opener, Reinhardt will have the opportunity to return to his home state of NJ to compete in the special ‘Invasion of the Posse’ 410 sprint car show at Bridgeport Motorsports Park on Tuesday, April 19th.

Season Stats

5 races, 0 wins, 2 top 5’s, 3 top 10’s, 5 top 15’s

“Now is the time to figure out how to get better.  How to find speed.  To learn what I can do to the car and what I can’t“, Kyle Reinhardt said recently on the Sprint Car Unlimited podcast.

That is Reinhardt’s objective for March 2022 as he prepares for the upcoming Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions season.  Every choice, every decision since the end of last season has been aimed at being the absolute most-prepared he can be for the series’ tour.  Sometimes that meant being smart, staying home and saving his resources.   When mid-March arrived, it was time to get started.

For the second consecutive Friday night, Reinhardt and team rolled the Capitol Renegade / Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers / Champion Hi-Tech Lubricants / J&J Auto Racing No.91 into the pit area at Williams Grove Speedway for another night of homework, so to speak.  The first outing was deemed a success when the team logged a top-5 finish.  Now they were back looking to continue building their notebook and their momentum.

March 25:  Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA

     (27 cars, Heat 1st, A-main 2nd)

The format for the 27 car field on week two at ‘The Grove’ called for three 10-lap heats, lined up by random draw.  The top six finishers of each would transfer to the night’s feature event, but only the top four would make the redraw.

Kyle Reinhardt lined up on the pole of heat number three and quickly showed strength, jumping out to a ten-car-length lead on the opening lap.  By lap nine he had built up a 3.5 second lead over Ryan Smith, but the caution lights flashed on for a slowing car.  The Neptune City, NJ native withstood a good restart by Smith and held on to win the heat race by 0.815 seconds.

The redraw put Reinhardt in the middle of the top ten to start the 25-lap A-main.  He looked strong, holding onto his 6th starting spot throughout the first ten laps.  In the middle of the event, Reinhardt picked up a couple spots on subsequent restarts and found himself in 3rd when the race entered the last ten laps.

At that stage, the Capitol Renegade No.91 got even quicker.  Reinhardt was rolling the bottom in turns 1 & 2 better than anyone else.  Not only was he gaining ground, he was staying out of trouble while the higher side of that end of the track was reaching out and biting some of the competition.  With 6 laps remaining, Reinhardt ripped off his fastest lap of the race, breaking into the 17 second bracket.  On the final lap, Reinhardt ran down Ryan Smith and wrestled 2nd away, capturing his first podium finish of 2022 and his second consecutive top-5 at Williams Grove.

“If it had gone without a caution and we could’ve raced in lapped traffic, I think we had a chance to get to the front, but it didn’t play out that way“, Reinhardt said.

After two solid outings at the Mechanicsburg, PA oval, Reinhardt sits 3rd in the season points close behind Dylan Norris and Justin Peck.  It could be a preview for the upcoming All Star season, where Peck and Reinhardt will be two of the top contenders this year.

“I feel really good after our first three races.  The car has really good balance.  We have a really good baseline for anywhere we go.  We know where we can make adjustments.  I’m making the calls myself this year and my guys are working really hard.  Can’t thank them enough.  We’re off to a good start”, Reinhardt shared.

Saturday’s planned trip to Reinhardt’s home state of NJ was scrapped when Bridgeport Motorsports Park cancelled due to weather, then ‘plan B’ at Port Royal Speedway fell victim to Mother Nature as well.  Sunday’s trip to Selinsgrove was also lost as a result of unseasonably cold weather.

“We have a couple more races remaining before the All Star schedule starts.  Our goal is to continue to run up front at The Grove and to go back to Port (Royal) and get up front by applying what we learned a few weeks ago up there.  If we can accomplish both, it will be a good weekend”, Reinhardt concluded.

Up Next

For their final tune-ups before kicking off the All Star Circuit of Champions season, Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade team will make return trips to Williams Grove Speedway (PA) on Friday, April 1st and Port Royal Speedway (PA) the following night.  

Follow along at all the outlets listed below to keep up with Kyle’s season!

Kyle Reinhardt achieved a career objective in 2021 by putting a full season with a traveling sprint car series on his resume.  That certainly was not the end-goal though.  The Neptune City, NJ native has much more to do.

Considering the challenges of life on the road, his first season with the All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) was a good one by most measures.  Despite the difficult learning curve that comes with keeping a team prepared and competitive, while logging mile after mile on the road, he captured his first All Star victory and finished 8th in driver points.

It wasn’t good enough by Reinhardt’s measure though.  He is a driven young man with a passion for the sport.  It is well-documented that he gave up an engineering job to go full time sprint car racing a few years ago.  He hasn’t stopped working on the cars or his partnerships ever since, and it shows.

The Capitol Renegade / Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers / Champion Hi-Tech Lubricants / J&J Auto Racing No.91 team has steadily improved, both on and off the track, during that time.  The team continues to position itself to achieve the goals Reinhardt and company have set for themselves.  

The new season will find Reinhardt back out on the road for his sophomore season with the ASCoC.  He is ready to apply the lessons learned in his freshman year and use that knowledge to reach his 2022 goals.

“We learned a lot last year.  Not just on the track but off, including several things that will help us be better organized for the grind of maintaining our equipment while on the road.  Being with Capitol (Custom Coaches & Trailers), our trailer is sold at the end of each season.  It’s a lot of work to start fresh with a new trailer every year, but it gives us the opportunity to change the layout to be better organized.  This year especially, we took advantage of that so hopefully things are easier, and we are more efficient this year“, Reinhardt commented.

There are little things that will make the second time around with the All Stars easier for the Capitol Renegade team too.  The logistics of getting up and down the road, knowing where to stop, where the team can work on their equipment, and where they can get some rest, will collectively make the season at least a little bit easier too.

Reinhardt went on to mention that the team’s decision to not travel to GA and FL in February was also part of the equation to be better prepared for the points races.  The post-pandemic supply chain issues that have affected everyday life are also impacting racing.  

“It’s taking a lot longer than normal these days to get certain parts, so the last thing we wanted to do was travel south to race, have issues, break things, and dig ourselves a hole that’s tough to recover from in terms of resources.  I’m just trying to be smart and make the most of what we have“, Reinhardt said.

All of the careful preparation by Reinhardt and team is aimed at successfully achieving their goals for 2022.  The number one goal:  multiple wins.  Last season, Reinhardt parked the Capitol Renegade / Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers / Champion Hi-Tech Lubricants / J&J Auto Racing No.91 in victory lane one time.  It was at The Dirt Oval at Route 66 in Joliet, IL.  He felt the team was capable of more than that but struggled with consistency.  

The second part of Reinhardt’s goal is to finish in the top five of the season’s point standings.  Improved consistency is the key element that can lead to achieving both goals:  more wins and a top five in points.  It sounds like a simple formula, but Reinhardt knows they have to put in the work and apply what they learned to get there.

Another key element for a successful team is having good relationships with great marketing partners.  Reinhardt and team have a solid foundation on that front.

“We wouldn’t be able to this at the level we do it without all the people who are behind this 91 car.  Jeff McCall is a huge part of our deal and of course Wayne Quackenbush with Capitol Renegade.  I’m very excited and happy to say that all of our partners are returning to support our second season with the All Stars and a couple have stepped up to provide a little more and do more with us.  These relationships are a two way street.  Our partners support us because it makes sense for them and we do everything we can to promote them.“, Kyle shared.

In addition to the All Star Circuit of Champions schedule, which consists of 53 points-paying races across 9 states, Reinhardt’s schedule will likely look similar to 2021.  Major national events and competition near the team’s home base of New Oxford, PA will be tacked on when the opportunity presents itself.

Up Next

Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade team will make their 2022 debut this weekend at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night, March 18th and Port Royal Speedway the following night.  The team will make a few appearances in Central Pennsylvania over the next few weeks to prepare for the All Star Circuit of Champions season, which officially begins Friday, April 8th at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, OH.