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Kyle Reinhardt has been doing his best to use the month of March to prepare for the upcoming battle.  His second season traveling with the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions will begin soon, so he and the Capitol Renegade team have been working hard to be ready.  Mother Nature hasn’t exactly cooperated, eliminating three of seven planned races.  His finishes have ranged from the podium to mid-pack, but every outing has been a winner in terms of learning and preparation.

Williams Grove Speedway was Reinhardt’s planned destination on April Fool’s Day, but that show fell victim to Mother Nature, leaving the Capitol Renegade team with a trip to Port Royal Speedway as their only opportunity of the weekend to hit the track.

April 2:  Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

      (30 cars, qualifying 1st, heat 6th, A-main 14th)

The Capitol Renegade / Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers / Champion Hi-Tech Lubricants / J&J Auto Racing No.91 of Reinhardt was one of thirty 410 sprint cars to enter competition Saturday afternoon.  A group time trial format was in place for the event.  The field was split into three groups by random draw for laps under the clock and heat races.

Reinhardt got his day off to a promising start by turning in the fastest qualifying lap in his group.  A four car inversion for heat races put him on the outside of row two for his 8-lap heat race.  The top six finishers would transfer to the feature, but only the top two would earn their place in the redraw for one of the top six starting spots for the finale.

On the initial start Reinhardt charged into second spot by the time the field reached the backstretch.  Moments later the red lights flashed on for a crash in turn three.  With no laps complete, the field lined up for a complete restart after the cleanup was complete.  Take number two didn’t play out as well for Reinhardt.  Instead of gaining two spots, he lost one.  A few laps later, he lost another and ended up finishing 6th.

Next up was the 25-lap A-main.  To demonstrate how every spot matters, consider how different Reinhardt’s day might have been if not for the red flag in his heat race.  If he holds on to 2nd, he’s guaranteed to start in the top six.  Instead, he found himself starting 17th.  From there, Reinhardt managed to get to 14th by the time the checkered flag fell on the day.

“I think our track time around home preparing for our regular season has gone well.   It’s been productive.  We definitely know our car better.  We just need to keep racing and continue building on what we’ve started“, Reinhardt said.

Reinhardt has had solid outings at Williams Grove thus far in 2022, but Port Royal has been a little more challenging.  After struggling at ‘The Speed Palace’ in 2021, the Neptune City, NJ native has shown improvement.  They have been fast early in the show but haven’t quite put the entire day together there yet.

“We still have a lot to figure out there (at Port Royal).  We’re gonna keep chipping away at it“, Reinhardt commented.

Up Next

With the All Stars delaying their season opener due to weather, Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade team will spend one more weekend in Pennsylvania preparing for the All Star season.  This weekend, weather permitting, they will race at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, Lincoln Speedway on Saturday, and BAPS Motor Speedway on Sunday.  It’s an unexpected opportunity they will capitalize on to get track time at Lincoln, where Reinhardt will compete in All Star shows later this season.

The following week they will finally hit the road to Attica Raceway Park in Ohio to kick off their Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions season.  The season launches with a 2-day show on April 15th & 16th.

Kyle Reinhardt patiently waited to launch his 2022 campaign in an effort to wisely manage the resources of the Capitol Renegade team.  Friday night, March 18th, he finally strapped in at Williams Grove Speedway, and it was worth the wait.  

The Capitol Renegade / Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers / Champion Hi-Tech Lubricants / J&J Auto Racing No.91 had good balance and speed all night on the way to a 5th place finish in the season opener at ‘The Grove’.  Reinhardt and team then moved on to Port Royal Speedway to round out their first weekend of the season.

March 18:  Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA

     (34 cars, Heat 3rd, A-main 5th)

A quality field of 34 sprint car teams representing several regions of the country came together to kick off Williams Grove’s 2022 season on an unseasonably warm mid-March evening in Central PA.

A random draw set the lineups for the four 10-lap heat races that would establish the lineup for the night’s feature event.  The top five from each heat race would transfer to the main event, but only the top three finishers would participate in the redraw with a chance to start up front.

Reinhardt’s draw placed him 3rd on the grid, which he was able to maintain throughout the event, holding off Lance Dewease to claim the final redraw spot.

The redraw can work in a driver’s favor, so being a part of it is always the goal.  However, being in the redraw doesn’t always guarantee a driver will be happy.  On this night a total of 12 drivers were in the redraw.

Reinhardt pulled the #10, putting him on the outside of row five to start the season’s first A-main at Williams Grove.  He would have to get to the front the hard way on a surface that was making passing challenging.

The engineer-turned-professional racer went to work at the drop of the green, steadily chasing down a competitor periodically throughout the event.  Reinhardt got smoother and quicker as the laps went by, turning his fastest lap on lap 12 just after he had climbed into the 4th position.  Kyle held strong there until late in the race when he slipped to 5th, which is where he ended his night.  It was a solid first night out for Reinhardt.

“The car had really good balance.  Probably the best I’ve ever had here.  We were able to pass cars and came out of it with a top five, so we’ll definitely take that”, Reinhardt commented.

March 20:  Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

     (25 cars, Qualifying 1st in Group 3 , Heat 4th, A-main 11th)

Sunday afternoon, Reinhardt and the Capitol Renegade team made the haul to Port Royal Speedway.  The 410 sprint car portion of Saturday’s show at Port Royal had been added to the track’s Sunday super late model and big block modified event.

The show used group time trials to set the heat lineups for the 25 sprint cars in attendance.  Reinhardt laid down a lap of 16.021 and claimed quick time in his group, giving him the fourth starting spot in the third heat.   While all cars would qualify from each of four 8-lap heat races, only the top two finishers would make the redraw for a chance at one of the top eight starting spots for the A-main.

Reinhardt was able to hold his ground but not advance in his heat race, crossing the line in 4th, which meant he would start 12th in the 25-lap feature event.  The main event turned out to be another story of holding his ground.  The New Oxford, PA resident did not fade but was unable to mount any charge toward the front either and rode home in 11th.

“We weren’t great tonight, but we were definitely better than we were here last year.  We had really good speed early but…when it gets slick…well, we need to work on that.  We learned some things today for next time“, Reinhardt shared.

The two surfaces that Reinhardt encountered over the weekend were quite different.  Even though not much translates from one track to the other, both provided good feedback that Reinhardt and his team can leverage.

“I’m really happy to get the year off on the right foot.  We struggled a lot last year, so this was a positive weekend for us.  You have to race to figure out how to get better.  I would love to pick up a win over the next few weeks, and I believe we can, but the main thing is to build our notebook on this car and be in a good place going into the All Star schedule in April“, Reinhardt shared.

Up Next

Reinhardt will take on his first 3-race weekend of the 2022 season with trips to Williams Grove Speedway (PA) on 3/25, Bridgeport Motorsports Park (NJ) on 3/26, and Selinsgrove Speedway (PA) on 3/27.

The Saturday event in NJ is a 360 sprint car show with the URC.  The Neptune City, NJ native always takes advantage of opportunities to race in his home state, plus the team is hoping to compete in a handful of other 360 races this season in addition to his full time tour on the All Star Circuit of Champions circuit.

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