Reinhardt Earns First Career Tuscarora 50 Start

Kyle Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade team rolled into Port Royal Speedway last week for the three-night, All Star sanctioned, Tuscarora 50 that has become the centerpiece of the season schedule at “The Speed Palace”.  The team had struggled on the tricky surface in earlier season appearances and was aiming to show the strides they had made since then, plus hopefully take home a chunk of the cash that was up for grabs at the lucrative event.

9/9:  Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, PA 

        (45 cars, Qualifying 4th in group B/12th overall, Heat 2nd,A-main 22nd)

With 45 teams singed in to compete, the “41 or more” All Star format was in use, dividing teams into 5 equal groups of nine cars for hot laps, qualifying and heat races.  

Reinhardt qualified 4th quickest in Group B, giving him the pole for the second 8-lap heat race, with Bill Balog lined up beside him.  Balog used the preferred outside line to beat Kyle to turn one at the drop of the green.  Reinhardt chased Balog but was unable to run him down and settled for the runner-up finish and a spot in the A-main.

Rolling to the green for the 30-lap feature from his 12th starting spot, Reinhardt looked racy at the start.  He held his ground, briefly claimed 11th, and threatened to move into the top 10 during the first half of the A-main.  The handling of the Capitol Renegade No.91 went away as the race moved into the later stages, causing the All Star Rookie of the Year candidate to slip back a handful of positions.  With about five laps remaining, Reinhardt quickly lifted and pulled down out of the groove when it seemed the motor had gone sour.  The issue ended his night and left him with a 22nd place finish officially.  Fortunately, the team later determined it was a header issue and nothing terminal.

9/10:  Night Before the 50 at Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, PA 

          (55 cars, Qualifying 5th in group B/21st overall, Heat 6th, B-main 8th, A-main 22nd)

Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade team made repairs and returned to “The Speed Palace”
Friday for The Night Before the 50, along with 54 other teams, to go after the $10,000 winner’s share.  Given the hefty car count, the same format was in play as the previous night.

The qualifying effort by Reinhardt left him 5th fastest in Group B, which meant he would need to climb his way into one of the four transfer spots in the second 8-lap heat.  It wasn’t in the cards on this night, and the Neptune City, NJ native found himself on the outside looking in, crossing the line 6th at the finish.

Relegated to an 8^th place start in the 12-lap B-main, Reinhardt once again needed to climb into the top four to make the A-main.  Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t make it happen and again found himself on the outside looking in.  He settled for an 8th place finish and opted to use a provisional to start the feature event.  Reinhardt started 27th in the 30-lap A-main and came home in 22nd.  

“This was just one of those nights.  If you miss it early in qualifying, you spend the rest of the night trying to recover.  We’ll come back tomorrow and try to get out of the gate a little stronger“, Reinhardt shared.

9/11:  Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, PA 

          (57 cars, Qualifying 11th in flight B, Heat 2nd, A-main 23rd)

Saturday night’s goal for Kyle Reinhardt was very simple:  Make the starting field for the 54th Annual Tuscarora 50.  It would be no easy task with a stout field of 57 cars in the pits.  Reinhardt had tried a few times in the past but had come up short, including 2020 when he blew a right rear tire while leading the B-main by a large margin.

The Tuscarora 50 uses its own unique format.  The field was divided into two flights for qualifying.  Within each flight, the field would then be divided into three heat races based on lap times.  A 4-car invert meant the fastest car in each heat started 4th, while the 4^th fastest qualifier started on the pole.  The remainder of the field lined up by qualifying time behind those four.  Only the top three finishers would advance to the A-main, with each of the winners drawing for one of the top six starting spots.  Meanwhile, 4th-6th would move to the B-main and everyone from 7th back would fall to the C-main.

Reinhardt was the 9th of 28 cars to hit the track for Flight 2 time trials.  His lap of 18.640 was good enough for 11th in his flight and it kept him inside the inversion for the heat
race.  It was the first step to a good night.  It put Reinhardt on the pole of heat number five, giving him the best opportunity he could ask for to claim one of those top three spots and put himself into his first Tuscarora 50.

When the green flag dropped on the 8-lap heat race, Reinhardt surged to the point and took control of the race.  As the laps clicked off, 2nd place Dylan Cisney found his groove and began to reel in the Capitol Renegade No.91 of Reinhardt.  As the pair received the two to
go sign, Cisney took his shot.  He not only took the lead away from Reinhardt, along with it he claimed one of the top six starting spots in the feature.  It was a minor disappointment, but Reinhardt knew he didn’t give it away.  Cisney was just better than him in that event.  

The bottom line.  He would be in the starting field for his first Tuscarora 50.

Reinhardt took the green for the 50-lap finale from a very respectable 12th starting spot.  While the long distance race can be about tire conservation and pace, Kyle wasted no time
grabbing some track position by jumping into the top ten on the opening circuit.  During the opening segment, Reinhardt hovered around the 10th position, then slipping a couple spots by lap 15.  

That’s when the handle seemed to go away significantly.  By the time the field reached lap 20, Reinhardt was struggling and had faded to 22nd.  He restarted in that spot after the
halfway break, then slipped further back to 25th for a bit before recovering to 23rd at the checkered flag.  It certainly wasn’t the finish he or the team wanted or expected given how their night had gone.  They simply missed the setup that they needed to be competitive in the second half of the event.

The week did however end on a positive note for the Capitol Renegade team.  Jim and Sandy Kline regularly offer bonus money to a randomly chosen finisher in the feature events at Port Royal Speedway.  For the Tuscarora 50, they set that amount as a generous $6,000.  The random draw turned up pill #23, handing the cash to 23rd place finisher, Reinhardt.

While the finishes were certainly not satisfying, the team did show their improvement by timing well and earning spots in two of the three main events.  Putting an entire night together and finishing as strong as they start has been the elusive holy grail in recent weeks.  

“We made our first Tuscarora 50, so we’re definitely happy about that.  We continued to show speed early too.  We just need to keep working hard to put it all together and be more consistent throughout the night“, Reinhardt commented.

Thanks to Our Partners!

RQM Enterprises would like to express their appreciation to all of their partners for the continued support!  Thanks to Capitol Renegade, Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers, Champion Brands, Fibreworks Composites, Henry’s Wrecker Service, J&J Auto Racing, FK Rod Ends, Kinsler Fuel Injection, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Kelly Racing Fuel, B.C. Walter Trucking, Arai Americas, Auto Meter, KSE Racing Products, InTech Trailers, Fel-Pro, Taylor Ignition Wires, Miller Welders, K&N Filters, Mettec, AL Driveline, Jesel Valvetrain, DMI, All-Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads, ISC Racers Tape, HMS Motorsports, Ultra Lite Brakes & Components, Rider Racing Engines, Saldana Racing Products and HP Engines for their support during the 2021 racing season.