Tag Archive for: #TeamA2D

Tyler Ross has finished in the top ten in nearly fifty percent of the races he has entered in 2025, a statistic that many teams would be happy to own. 

For Ross, though, there is unfinished business.  He has yet to crack victory lane this year, something he knows his team is capable of.  They have proven it multiple times in recent years.

No matter how good your team is, winning is never guaranteed in 410 sprint car racing, but Ross and his team have been working hard all season to overcome hurdles that they are confident are standing between Ross Racing and their next checkered flag.

CUT SHORT IN JERSEY

To close out the month of September, Ross made the trip to Bridgeport Motorsports Park in Swedesboro, NJ, to take on the High Limit Racing series.  The one-hour tow was the shortest of the season for the Lincoln University, PA, driver who is accustomed to traveling anywhere from ninety minutes to nearly three hours to race.

“We have always been pretty solid at Bridgeport,” Ross commented.

“We brought our white car here for one final shakedown before the National Open at Williams Grove.  That’s really the event we have been preparing this car for all along.  We’ve been battling a brake issue with this car since we first rolled it out of the shop this year, so we want to get that resolved.”

The car was brand new from chassis to engine earlier this year and has shown promise in limited action, but the team has been working to resolve a brake issue on the car.  They have replaced the master brake cylinder, calipers, and other components, with no luck thus far. 

“People wonder how it can so long to resolve an issue like we’re having with the brakes.  There’s a lot of trial and error involved.  These systems are expensive, so you can’t just toss them aside and buy a new one.  You can come up with ideas and make changes in the shop, but troubleshooting really only happens when you are on the track.  If you figure three laps for hot laps, a couple laps for qualifying, ten more for a heat, and a 25-lap feature, our max for a night is about 40 laps…and those are almost all competitive laps.  Something is at stake every time we are trying to figure out the issue,” Ross explained.

Ross turned in a decent performance at Bridgeport, but was still dealing with some brake issues throughout the night.  He qualified 11th overall, finished 4th in his heat, and started 12th in the A-main.  A top-ten finish was certainly within reach.

The brake issue worked against Ross at the start of the A-main, and he fell to 15th in traffic.  Before he could rebound and regain the spots, the rains came and stopped the race after just ten laps.

CAN’T CATCH A ‘BRAKE’

To add to their challenges, upon returning to their shop and performing maintenance on the car to prepare for the coming weekend at Williams Grove, the team discovered a broken valve spring in the engine.  Likely another reason for the slow start in Bridgeport’s finale.

Fortunately, the engine builder was able to make the repairs quickly.  Ross and his team had the powerplant back in the car Thursday night, less than twenty-four hours before the National Open kicked off.

While that was good news, Ross was still fighting brake issues.  The team went over the entire system again and made some changes in hopes of finally eliminating the issue.

Friday night at Williams Grove, Ross timed 9th in his flight and started 5th in his heat.  The top five finishers would transfer directly to the A-main; however, the brake issue hindered Ross, and he slipped to an 8th-place finish.

Ross started on the pole of the B-main and only needed to maintain a top-four spot to advance to the feature, but the struggles continued.  He faded to a 6th-place finish.

“After the heat race, we went back to work on the brakes, but unfortunately, what we did made it worse.  I basically had no brakes at all in the B-main.  It may sound odd, but you can’t get around this place fast without brakes,” Ross explained.

“I knew the car was good, though.  It has a lot of speed in it.  I told my team if we got the brakes figured out, this thing (the white car) was going to be really, really good.”

UNEXPECTED FAVOR

“Leaving the track Friday night, Tyler Esh stopped me.  He recognized that we were having brake issues, so he told me he was going home and taking his Smith Titanium system off of his car to bring to our shop Saturday morning for us to put on our car,” Ross shared.

“I told him I appreciated that a ton.  We had tried everything and just couldn’t figure out the issue with our system.”

The brake system change was completed Saturday, along with the usual maintenance and race day prep, then it was back on the road to Williams Grove once again.

The loaned brake system did the trick.

Ross timed 5th quickest in a stacked flight that included names like Gravel, Kofoid, Dewease, Macedo, Wagaman, Dietrich, Rahmer, Dietz, Scelzi, Pursley, Peck, and more.  He went on to transfer through his heat race and earn the 13th starting spot in the National Open main event.

With 56 quality race teams on hand Saturday, it was no small accomplishment just to make the show, but he held his ground and brought the Bush Auto Group, Fastrak Express Inc., Stateline Truck and Trailer, Stoltzfus Farm Service No.5 home 13th at the end of the 40-lap event.

“Saturday was huge for us.  We haven’t been great at Williams Grove this year.  We put it in the show and had a shot at a top ten finish against this field.  I’m feeling pretty good about what our team accomplished,” a very happy Ross said.

“With the brake issues resolved, I was kinda learning the car all over again in the heat.  Obviously, it has had speed all along, but I can drive it differently with brakes, so we had to make some adjustments after the heat.” 

“I can’t thank Tyler Esh enough for loaning us his Smith Titanium brake system.  It solved our problem and gave us a chance tonight.”

“Rick Ciarrocchi bought this new motor for us this year, specifically because he had a goal of making the National Open.  I’m proud that we checked off that goal for him.”

It was especially satisfying for Ross and his team, not only because of overcoming the brake issue, but because they have been through so much other adversity in 2025 as well.

The team struggled early in the season and made the decision to change shocks mid-season.  They have also had multiple truck issues, making it a challenge to find a way to get to the track at times.

“Everything combined to put a lot of pressure on me and the entire team.  Moral has been down.  Honestly, it was affecting the team to the point we weren’t sure what we were going to do in 2026,” Ross admitted.

“When we thank all the people who support us, it’s not just words.  We are talking about people like Tyler (Esh), Rick (Ciarrocchi), and all the other people who contribute to our program.  If they don’t do what they do for us, we literally would not be here.”

“Saturday night took a huge weight off everyone’s shoulders.  I can’t tell you how much that run meant to all of us.”

One race really can make all the difference.

Fans can follow Ross Racing on Facebook for the latest schedule updates and other news.

RECENT RESULTS: (starting position in parentheses)

• Date/Location:  September 27, 2025 / Bridgeport Motorsports Park, Swedesboro, NJ
  • Event:  High Limit Racing
  • Results:  Qualifying 11th, Heat 4th (3), A-main 15th (12)

• ---

  Date/Location:  October 3, 2025 / Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA

  • Event:  National Open Prelim / World of Outlaws
  • Results:  Group Qualifying 9th, Heat 8th (5), B-main 6th (1)

• ---

  Date/Location:  October 4, 2025 / Williams Grove Speedway, Abbottstown, PA

  • Event: National Open Finale / World of Outlaws
  • Results:  Group Qualifying 5th, Heat 4th (3), A-main 13th (13)

Tyler Ross knows very well that for a sprint car team to be successful, they can never stand still.  A team can never assume that what worked yesterday will work tomorrow.  

The Lincoln University, PA driver closed out August with positive momentum in his Bush Auto Group, Fastrak Express Inc., Stateline Truck and Trailer, Stoltzfus Farm Service/Kubota ™️, Betts Garage No.5 program, but when the team returned in mid-September, they were prepared to implement changes to keep their program moving forward.

SHOCKING 

At Lincoln Speedway’s Weldon Sterner Memorial, Ross rolled out a new shock package.

While there is always a learning curve for any equipment change, this one was certainly good right out of the box.  Ross logged the 6th quickest lap in Flight 2 qualifying and a runner-up finish in his heat race.

Ross started 12th in the A-main and was looking to move forward as he has done so often this season; however, a close encounter with another competitor on the start dropped him back a few positions.  He was never able to fully recover the track position and came home 14th.

“We weren’t as bad as the finish looks,” a positive Ross said.  “I got chopped on the start, and that cost me a few spots.  Everyone is so close, so starts are really important.  When you lose momentum like that, it’s just hard to make up those positions.”

BLACK AND WHITE

The following weekend, Ross unloaded his white-bodied car, a chassis and engine combination better suited for the demands of Williams Grove’s long straightaways.  The car was brand new for 2025 and had only logged a few races earlier this summer.

Ross’s night got rolling with another solid qualifying effort, 6th overall.  He backed it up with another 2nd-place run in his heat race, putting him 9th on the grid for the 25-lap feature.  He moved forward early in the A-main and held the 8th spot at the halfway mark.  In the closing laps, he slipped outside the top ten briefly but was able to battle back to secure a top-ten finish.

“We’re still battling brake issues with this car, so I’ll take 10th.  Anxious to see what we can do with this car when we can get past that issue,” Ross shared.

“We are planning to run this car with High Limit at Bridgeport this weekend, as well as here at the National Open.”

Ross closed out this past weekend with a stop at BAPS Motor Speedway for the Kevin Gobrecht Classic.  This time, he was strapped into his black-bodied No.5. 

The night got off to a rough start with a poor qualifying lap, putting Ross deep in the starting lineup for his heat race.  An 8th-place finish in that qualifying race translated to starting 20th in the A-main.

Ross saved his best for last.  He charged from his 10th-row starting spot to finish 12th and earn the Hard Charger Award for the event.

“We knew changing our shock program was going to be a learning curve, but we still felt the need to make a change to try to be a bit better,” Ross explained.

“It might not have been the ideal time to do it this late in the season with a lot of big races happening,  but I’m confident we will figure it out. It’s only been a few races with them, and there are things we have done well and not so well. We just have to keep digging.”

Fans can follow Ross Racing on Facebook for the latest schedule updates and other news.

RECENT RESULTS: (starting position in parentheses)

• Date/Location:  September 12, 2025 / Williams Grove Speedway, Abbottstown, PA
  • Event:  Billy Kimmel Memorial
  • Results:  Qualifying 14th, Heat 7th (5), A-main 17th (20)

• ---

  Date/Location:  September 13, 2025 / Lincoln Speedway, Abbottstown, PA

  • Event:  Weldon Sterner Memorial
  • Results:  Flight 2 Qualifying 6th, Heat 2nd (2), A-main 14th (12)

• ---

  Date/Location:  September 19, 2025 / Williams Grove Speedway, Abbottstown, PA

  • Event: Kevin Gobrecht Challenge
  • Results:  Qualifying 6th, Heat 2nd (1), A-main 10th (9)

• ---

  Date/Location:  September 20, 2025 / BAPS Motor Speedway, Abbottstown, PA

  • Event:  Kevin Gobrecht Classic
  • Results:  Group Qualifying 9th, Heat 8th (9), A-main 12th (20)