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| Triumph and tribulation meets up with Kittleson in Georgia | by Jeremy Troiano
CONCORD, N.C. (April 29, 2003) – Travis Kittleson has preached this season that his early season consistency and success would come back to help him in his quest for the ASA National Championship and Rookie of the Year honors. Even at such a young age, he knew he would experience one of those road bumps that come along in racing. Lanier National Speedway in Braselton (GA) proved to be one of those road bumps. Kittleson was involved in an early accident with a lapped car while running third in the Georgia 250 Saturday night. The incident put his Bob Steele Chevrolet behind the wall for much of the first half of the event.
The R/T Racing crew feverishly worked on the car and got it back out in the race, some 100 laps down, thanks to a damaged radiator. Their perseverance paid off, though, as the rookie picked up one more position in the final tally. Kittleson knows every point counts. He finished the race 32nd after starting fourth.
“We were trying to be patient early in the race and just ride around for a while,” said a dejected Kittleson after the race. “I followed (Greg) Stewart and we were making a move around (Chris) Wimmer. We drove it down there hard into turn one trying to get by Wimmer and I never saw the car sitting sideways until it was too late. I had enough time to lock up the front tires, but there was nothing I could do. It is unfortunate. All you can do it come back during the next race and get over it. We knew we would have a few bad weeks, which is why we need to take advantage of the good weeks.
“It is real disappointing because we finally got to qualify up front. The times we have qualified in the back, we haven’t gotten into any trouble. We actually got to qualify fourth and then we got into some trouble with the back-markers. I know it wasn’t the guy’s fault that I hit.
“I can’t complain, though. I know we have a good team and it is hard to be too disappointed because I know that we can come back from this. It is just a bump in our season.
“The guys on this Bob Steele Chevrolet team were thrashing to get this car back in this race. We were still fast once we go it fixed. I was so proud of these guys. That’s what builds a winning team.”
Despite the early accident, Kittleson remains fifth in the ASA point’s standings and is still atop the Rookie of the Year chase, leading Reed Sorenson and Boris Jurkovic.
Kittleson and the team will now enjoy a nice three-week break before heading to Toledo Speedway on May 18th. The Sunday afternoon event will be televised live on SPEED Channel beginning at 3 pm (ET).
Despite the team’s top-five position in the point standings, they are still looking for sponsorship to help them in their run for the 2003 ASA National Championship and Rookie of the Year title. For inquiries, call the team at 321-693-6700 and be sure to visit traviskittleson.com for more information.
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