Kyle Reinhardt Highlights Challenging Ohio Speedweek with Top 10 at Sharon

On night one of the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions 2022 Ohio Sprint Speedweek at Attica Raceway Park, Kyle Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade No.91 team battled engine issues and missed the main event.  

Then came night two at Fremont Speedway.  A subpar qualifying effort left the team with an uphill climb just to make the show.  Reinhardt managed to wheel his way into the show through the B-main and came home 20th in the A-main.

It wasn’t the confidence-building start to the series that Reinhardt and his team wanted, but in the sport of sprint car racing there will be nights like those.  The only answer is to keep working, keep digging.

Back at Fremont Speedway again for night three, things got off to a good start.  Reinhardt timed quickest in his group and transferred to the feature event through his heat, giving him a spot in the dash.  After earning the 4th starting spot for the 30-lap feature A-main, the Neptune City, NJ native wheeled his way into 3rd on the opening lap and appeared poised for a podium finish to turn his week around.

Unfortunately, just after Reinhardt navigated his way into 2nd during lap seven, the opportunity slipped away when he got over the top edge of the racetrack.  He found himself in the work area soon after.  He rejoined the field but had to settle for 23rd place finish.

Reinhardt got night four off on the right foot at Wayne County Speedway by timing second quick in his group and grabbing the victory in his heat race.  Things changed at that point.  The team battled a tight race car the remainder of the night, sliding from 5th to 9th in the 6-lap dash and from 9th to 18th in the 25-lap A-main, resulting in a disappointing end to what started out as a promising night.

The halfway point of the week, night five, brought the traveling caravan to Sharon Speedway in eastern Ohio.  Reinhardt missed the transfer in his heat race by one spot and was relegated to the B-main but was able to make his way into the A-main with a 2nd place finish in the last chance race.

One of the highlights of the week was Reinhardt’s charge from 22nd to 10th during the 30-lap main event.  The effort earned Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade team the Hard Charger award for the night.

Night six at Atomic Speedway started off with Reinhardt looking strong out of the gate.  He recorded the quickest time in his group for the second time during Speedweek.  The lap was good enough for third best of the entire 43 car field.  Things didn’t go quite according to plan after that.  He was unable to transfer through his heat, losing a spot in the dash and ending up in the B-main instead.  Reinhardt put his No.91 in the main event at Atomic with a second place finish in the B-main, then raced from 22nd to 15th in the 30-lap finale.

Waynesfield Raceway Park was the site of the seventh consecutive night of racing during Ohio Speedweek.  While running in 3rd during his heat race, Kyle Reinhardt and another competitor made contact on the home stretch, sending the No.91 spinning and changing the course of the Capitol Renegade team’s night.  Reinhardt restarted at the back and recovered to a 5th place finish to get into the A-main but was only able to climb to a 15th place finish in the 30-lap finale.

Reinhardt was behind the eight ball after qualifying on night eight at Limaland Motorsports Park.  His eighth best time in his group placed him outside row four for his heat race.  A strong run in that 8-lap heat race turned his night around.  He wheeled his J&J Auto Racing No.91 around the high side of the quarter-mile bullring, charging from 8th to 3rd on the slick, dusty surface.  In the 25-lap A-main, Reinhardt came home 13th and earned the All Stars’ Perseverance Award for the effort of the entire Capitol Renegade team.

The 9-night Ohio Speedweek finale took place in southern Ohio at Portsmouth Raceway Park, a high-banked, fast 3/8-mile track.  Reinhardt registered the 3rd best lap in his group and 10th quickest in the entire 45 car field.  He proceeded to wheel his Champion Hi-Tech Lubricants No.91 to a 3rd place finish in heat number one and a 12th place finish in the final A-main of the series.

“We just couldn’t seem to catch a break.  We were really good a few nights but couldn’t capitalize.  Other nights we were off a little and had to fight just to run mid-pack.“, Reinhardt commented.

While the results of their Speedweek didn’t meet the Capitol Renegade team’s expectations and goals, there were bright spots to build on, including a consistent stretch of five top 15 finishes over the final five night.  In 2021, the team only managed two top-15’s and didn’t crack the top ten, so there was progress.  A couple missed opportunities kept the stats from looking better during the 2022 edition of the summer tradition.

“We only missed one show and that was due to an engine issue.  The fields are big at these shows and it’s not easy to qualify, so it’s a positive to make 8 of 9, but we just aren’t running as well as we know we can.  We are going to regroup and be ready when the All Star schedule resumes.”

Reinhardt was alluding to the fact that the Capitol Renegade team has changed their original plan to run at least part of Pennsylvania Speedweek.  Instead, the No.91 will sit out due to engine issues and prepare for the second half of the tour schedule.

Up Next

The 31st Annual Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway will be the next event on the schedule for Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade team.  The July 7th event will pay an attractive sum of $25,000 to the victor.

Reinhardt will get a little seat time during PA Speedweek though.  He will fill the seat of John Westbrook’s 1W for four events.  He will race both stops at Williams Grove Speedway, plus BAPS Motor Speedway and Hagerstown Speedway.  Reinhardt wheeled Westbrook’s 360 sprint car a few years ago and the pair had a lot of success, winning numerous races and claiming the Selinsgrove Speedway championship.

Season Stats

33 races, 0 wins, 4 top 5’s, 7 top 10’s, 20 top 15’s