[Task Force]

KYLE HAMILTON HAS BAD LUCK BUG BITE AT TOLEDO
By Zach Tasker

Friday night May 1 saw the opening night for the 2015 campaign of the USAC Silver Crown Series. A full field of 18 stout competitors from across the nation descended onto the ½ mile paved oval of Toledo Speedway in Northern Ohio. Driver Kyle Hamilton was looking forward to a strong run in the Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness Rollie Beale Classic.

The night started with practice and the Danville, Indiana native was quick rolling off of the truck with the 6th fastest time in the 45-minute session despite having a car that was a little tight. Next up was qualifying and the driver nicknamed as “The Professor” once again wound up in 6th position with a lap time 15.316 seconds.

Rolling off for the 100 lap feature on the outside of row 3, it appeared Hamilton would have a great shot at a top 5 finish. However, things started to quickly unravel as just 7 laps in he slowed dramatically coming off of turn 2. A fuel pump failure would be to blame as he was relegated to a DNF and a 17th place finish to open the USAC Silver Crown season.

The driver of the #33 6R Racing/Jet Star/Curtis Motor Sales/Simpson Racing/Advanced Racing Suspensions Beast/TRD Toyota was still upbeat about the pace the team showed before the mechanical failure. “When you thrash all week to get a car ready you kind of have to have in the back of your mind that there could be a small issue with it. We got through practice and qualifying so we thought we were good, but a fuel pump cable got us in the feature. It’s disappointing, but at least we know what we are working with now and we will get that fixed for the next race. There were actually some really good cars here and I’m a pavement guy so I was hoping to adjust really quick but yeah we thrashed all week, we had a small issue in the first practice session but we fixed it and we were quick. I think it shows that I have it and the car has it, it’s just a matter of getting everything to last.”

The multiple time USAC Honda National Midget Series feature winner was quick to point out that many people helped make the Toledo race possible. “The Wilsons stepped up and helped us get that car ready. Clint, Jacob, and their parents worked their butt off for us all week and if it wasn’t for guys like that in the sport there would be a lot of guys that wouldn’t be racing and they got to go out and get a P2 finish and I am happy to see that for them.”

Up next for the USAC Silver Crown Series is a Memorial Day weekend doubleheader as the prestigious Hoosier Hundred will be run at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Thursday May 21 then the 70th Annual Night before the 500 at Lucas Oil Raceway gets underway on Saturday May 23. However, Kyle will take the next two Silver Crown races off before getting back in the swing of the schedule with the 4th race of the season at Iowa Speedway on June 20. This is because the 5th place finisher in the 2014 Pay Less Little 500 as a rookie will be racing in the biggest and most challenging pavement sprint car race in the world at Anderson Speedway on May 23 and qualifying for pole day on May 21. “The Little 500 takes first priority over anything this year. I’m really looking forward to it. Working with Bob East and Terry Klatt and the whole organization is top notch and to get that call from them again this year is really exciting. I think we can have a really good run there this year and I think we have a shot at the win.”
For updates during all of the Pay Less Little 500 festivities, which is the only non-wing event on the 2015 Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Series Schedule, like Kyle Hamilton Racing on Facebook.

[Task Force]

Here is Kyle's latest driver blog entry for www.open-wheels.com


http://open-wheels.com/?p=1377