"Mission Accomplished for Ryan Litt at Auto City; Little 500 Next"

By Tommy Goudge (May 13, 2008) – The ultimate goal of any racer is to win each and every time he or she hits the track, but for Ryan Litt consistency and top 5 finishes are the main goal this season.  The Lyons, Ontario resident got the results he was looking for to start his Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints season on Saturday night at Auto City Speedway with a 4th place finish in the 30 lap Feature.

Practice earlier in the day ended with the #07 BS&B Radiator/OTC Tools Beast/Claxton Sprinter in the top 5 on the speed charts, but the team missed the setup in time trials and Ryan was only able to muster the 10th fastest time of the qualifying session.  This meant a 10th starting spot in the feature race, but first there was a heat race to be contested, which Ryan was able to win handily.

From his starting spot on the outside of row 5, Ryan was able to take advantage of a traffic jam ahead of him and was into 5th before the completion of the first lap.  A good battle ensued for the first 10 laps of the race among the top 5 cars, but Ryan was also battling with a minor misfire in the engine and spun coming out of turn 2 to bring out a caution flag.  Starting on the tail, Ryan drove through the field at a torrid pace over the last 20 laps, passing Troy Underwood in the last corner of the last lap to finish in 4th place.

"The car was hooked and it was getting better the further we went (in the feature)," said Ryan afterwards, "The only problem was the sputter but it wasn't costing me too much speed - just a bit coming out (of the corners). I'm really proud of my team for all the hard work they did over the off season - it really seemed to pay off.  <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Auto City is usually one of my toughest tracks, but the car was on rails at the end.

"I'm really looking forward to Delaware and Toledo (the next two stops on the AVSS schedule), but first we have to concentrate on the Little 500," said Ryan, looking ahead to the next events on his schedule, "I want to have a real strong showing there. We're always good at Anderson and we just always run into bad luck. This year I think with a little luck we're going to do great. It's one of the big races I look forward to each year. That whole week is just amazing and there is so much happening around Indy…it's incredible.  Anyways I'm really happy to start the year off with a top 5. It's definitely something to build off of."

The next stop for Ryan and the team is Anderson Speedway, where they will compete in the 60th Annual Little 500.  Scheduled for Saturday night, May 24, the week leading up to the big 500 lap race is filled with fun and excitement, especially on Thursday when first round qualifying for the race takes place.  The #07 team's best finish thus far in the event – which features the largest purse in pavement sprint car racing – is a 7th place, which they accomplished in their first Little 500 in 2005.  With 3 years of experience in the event now, Ryan and the team are looking for good results this time around in the special USAC event.

What: 60th Annual Pay Less Supermarkets Little 500. 
www.andersonspeedway.com/little_500.htm

Where: Anderson Speedway,
1311 Martin Luther King Boulevard,
Anderson Indiana 46016-3964
www.andersonspeedway.com

When: Saturday, May 24th. Pre-race festivities @ 7:00 p.m., command to start engines @ 8:00 p.m.

Ryan and the team would like to thank all their sponsors for their continued support during Ryan and the #07 Beast/Claxton Sprinter's 2008 season, including OTC Tools, BS&B Radiator, Linton Media, Linde Gases, Leaf Racewear, and Huron Produce Ltd.

For more information on Ryan, the car, and the team, including schedules, photos, merchandise, and contact information, please visit Ryan's official website at www.RyanLitt.com .