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| Kittleson Proves Championship-Style Character at Lanier | By: Jeremy Troiano
Sports51
Championships are created out of character-building experiences. That’s something 24-year-old Travis Kittleson is beginning to learn. At the end of the ASA Racing Lanier 250 at Lanier National Speedway on Saturday night, Kittleson compared his car’s appearance to that of a “Mini Stock on its worst night.” Kittleson had just endured one of the toughest races, both physically and mentally, of his blossoming career. Yet, all things considered, Kittleson was surprisingly upbeat after the race.
Despite all of the problems the team encountered during the second race of the ASA season, Kittleson was able to remain on the lead lap and come home with a 12th-place finish. Due to the hard work of his team, Kittleson is still very much a favorite for the 2004 ASA National Tour championship.
“Somebody told me this is a championship-style finish. We made the best out of a bad situation and that proves how strong this team is even with limited funding,” commented Kittleson, who held the ASA point lead entering the event.
“Even though we got caught up and damaged in a bunch of stuff early, we never lost a lap, even though it looks like there is 1,500 lbs of duct tape on the car,” stated Kittleson. “The crew did a great job,” he added. “I mean, I can't say enough about them. Because of Johnny Killen, Dan Walker, Tim Mooney, Bob Howard, Randy ‘Tank’ Young and Gary Crooks busting their butts like they did, we will still be in the points hunt when we head to Kentucky.
“If we have an off night, we want to be able to make the most of it and get all the points we can, and we did that tonight. Our goal is this championship this year,” Kittleson explained.
The team now heads to Kentucky Speedway this weekend for the first of six speedway events on the 2004 schedule. Kittleson was one of the fastest cars in testing at Kentucky, and was the fastest at Atlanta Motor Speedway last week. To say things are looking up for the second-year ASA driver would be an understatement.
“I really enjoyed the tests and enjoyed running on the big tracks,” said Kittleson. These cars handle great there. It is like being in a big go-kart. I think we should have a great race there and put on a hell of a show for the fans.
“I don’t think the race will turn out to be like a Talladega or Daytona deal,” added Kittleson. “There are so many grooves for these cars at the big tracks. You can pass a guy easier, as compared to a short track, where, if you are faster, you’ve still really got to work to pass.”
The BFGoodrich Tires 125 at Kentucky Speedway will be televised live on SPEED Channel this Friday night, May 7 at 8 p.m. EDT.
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