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| Kittleson Goes Home for a Podium Finish at New Smyrna | by Mike Twist, Travis Kittleson Racing
CONCORD, N.C. -- Travis Kittleson hails from Merritt Island, Florida, but in pursuit of his racing dream, he has relocated to the Charlotte, North Carolina area. That doesn’t mean that he has forgotten his roots however. The young racer returned to the Sunshine State this past weekend and finish third in the Clyde Hart Memorial 200 Super Late Model event at New Smyrna Speedway.
“It’s good to come back home,” said Kittleson. “Seven years ago, when I got started racing, I used to run Friday nights at Orlando and Saturdays at New Smyrna.”
That prior experience, which includes this year’s Florida Speedweeks Super Late Model title at NSS, did not translate to much of advantage though when practice began.
“It’s been a long time since I raced at New Smyrna in the summertime,” said Kittleson. “The track changes all of the time and it was totally different from Speedweeks. When we first unloaded and went out for practice, we were off in left field.”
The R/T Racing team did not give up on making their Bob Steele Chevrolet Monte Carlo better though. The team went to work to give Kittleson a better handling machine – and even though the road there wasn’t easy, they were rewarded with a podium finish.
“By the end of practice, we had the best car out of everyone on a long run,” said Kittleson. “With 100 lap tires, we were as quick as the guys who were on stickers. But we fought being right all weekend and tried to make some changes to help that. In the race, it started off good. We were loose, but expected it to tighten up and it didn’t. The car stayed loose and I ended up hitting the fence and that knocked the toe out. We pitted and made the car tighter, but it still wasn’t right. Luckily, we hung on to finish third.”
The most fun of the weekend might have involved the chance to race against some old friends however.
“Most of the guys that I used to race against were there – David Rogers, Justin Drawdy, Wayne Anderson and B.J. McLeod. It’s fun to go back and race with those guys. You can race hard and lean on each other without wrecking each other. It’s nice to know that you can do that and come out okay.”
Travis Kittleson and R/T Racing is looking for marketing partners for their motorsports program. For inquiries, call the team at (321) 693-6700 and be sure to visit traviskittleson.com for more information
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