A weekend full of promise for Sean Rayhall and the Sippel Racin’ #14r Team delivered on some of that promise, but failed to do so in some areas as well.
The weekend began on Friday at Wilmot Raceway with the All Star Circuit of Champions co-sanctioning the event with the IRA Sprints. Rayhall started the night off on an extremely strong note, Qualifying 5th quick in his group (behind Ian Madsen, Cory Eliason, Justin Peck and Blake Nimee), and 15th overall (6th among IRA regular drivers). However, that 5th place in his group meant Rayhall missed the heat race invert (Top 4 inverted, 4th place qualifier starts on the pole), and would have to start in the 5th and final transfer spot. On the initial start, Rayhall was chopped into turn 1 by the #99 of Skyler Gee, losing the final transfer spot. Rayhall would lose further momentum off of Turn 2 and eventually surrender 6th to the #20r of Robbie Pribnow and come home 7th. The upside was that the cars that don’t make the A Main get their qualifying times back to lineup the B Main, and Rayhall’s 15th place time would be good enough to lineup on the outside of the front row for the Last Chance race.
After one false start attempt, Rayhall used the high groove to rocket out to the point of the race ahead of polesitter Dave Uttech in the #68. However, “Top Shelf” would, for a few laps at least, rescind that nickname and utilize the bottom of the track to grow a hefty advantage over the rest of the field. The Woodstock, GA native survived 2 mid race restarts to continue to lead the event, each time blasting to the point off the bottom of the speedway ahead of now 2nd place Todd Daun in the #19 machine. However, Rayhall would be denied his first career ASCoC race win, after a late race caution with 2 to go allowed the 19 of Daun to hook his car up on the now built up cushion and power around Rayhall to the point. Daun then chopped Rayhall’s slider attempt into turn 1 and the #14r slid up the track, yielding 2nd to the #20r of Robbie Pribnow. Rayhall would do well in the last circuit to hold onto 3rd over the #10v of Matt Vandervere, and transfer into the Main event along with Daun, Pribnow and Vandervere.
The Main event started off promising for the Big Machine Vodka/Bigg Golf #14r, as Rayhall made up 3 places early on from his 23rd starting spot. However, after being lapped by the leaders and accidentally holding up the #79 of Blake Nimee, Rayhall backed off his charge and settled into the 21st position. Choosing to be cautious for the rest of the feature given the furious pace of the leaders, Rayhall stayed out of trouble and brought the #14r home in his first career ASCoC feature start in that same 23rd place. Not exactly what Sean or the team wanted for sure, but still a positive result to take into Saturday’s events.
On Saturday it was back to normal IRA competition. Rayhall timed in 2nd in his hot lap group, but would go out early to qualify on a late evolving track and clock a time good enough for 11th overall. That effort along with the heat race invert meant Rayhall would line up on the pole of heat race #2.
On lap 1, turn 1, an absolutely flying #79 of Blake Nimee tore through the middle of Rayhall and outside front row starter Jordan Goldesberry in the #65. Goldesberry caught the cushion, however Rayhall had further to slide up the track, and allowed the #5j of Jeremy Schultz to squeeze by on the bottom. Rayhall would hold down the 4th spot for 9 laps out of the 10 lap heat, while keeping pace with the top 3. However, on the last lap, the #4b of Scott Biertzer would sneak by Rayhall to take 4th. The 5th place finish did transfer Rayhall into the Feature, however, a 4th place finish would have put the #14r into one of the dashes to set the top 10 Feature starters, so there was a lot of “what could have been” flowing around the Sippel Racin’ camp.
Rayhall pushed off 14th for the 36 Lap Roger Iles Tribute feature event, and started fighting with the outside top 10 cars almost immediately. However, shortly into the race Sean realized the engine was down almost 1000 RPM’s, and that his brakes were fading fast. Then, while fighting with the #55 of Austin Deblauw and the #77 of Wayne Modjeski, Rayhall looped the #14r on the outside of turn 4. After minimal contact with the #4k of Kris Spitz, Rayhall would restart in 23rd position. After a couple laps adjusting to the ailing car, Rayhall would start to make a charge. Reeling off 7 positions in the last 10 laps, “Top Shelf” would run the high line to perfection, bringing the Big MAchine Vodka/Bigg Golf #14r home in 16th place, narrowly missing out on 15th at the line to Modjeski.
“I’m really proud of our team for performing the way we did with the All Stars on Friday.” Rayhall said. “Everyone knows this 410 game is tough and to make one of those races in our first year is huge for the team and where we are going. As for Saturday night, some issues got in our way from performing how I thought we should have, but the main thing is that we are making gains every week. I can’t thank my partners at Big Machine Vodka, Bigg Golf, Able Roofing, 1st Action Services, Star Pharmaceuticals, SU Group, and Roin Realty enough for their support and commitment to where we’re going with this program.”
Rayhall put more distance between himself and fellow Rookie of the Year contender Jack Routson this weekend, as the other #14 in the pits struggled with mechanical issues both nights. After Friday, it looked as if 6th place Rayhall would make more gains on 5th place Jake Blackhurst, after the #73 retired from the feature early on. However Blackhurst pushed on Saturday and came home 5th in the feature, edging slightly farther ahead of the #14r in the standings.
The Rayhall Motorsports/Sippel Racin’ team did have plans to race at Knoxville’s weekly show this Friday, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, Knoxville has closed its doors for the season. As of right now, the only confirmed race for the #14r this weekend is Saturday at Beaver Dam Raceway with the IRA Sprints. Other races on Friday and Sunday are being looked at, but nothing is set in stone at this point. Rayhall has two previous results at Beaver Dam this season, an 18th place finish on 7/25 with the IRA, and an 8th place result with the MSA 360’s on 6/27. This Saturday’s race is Round 3 of the Hopf Farms Bullring Showdown, as well as the Jim Wipperfurth Memorial, with an increased purse and other special bonuses throughout the night. The race will broadcast LIVE on FloRacing if you can’t make it to the track.
Sean Rayhall Race Results
8/21 Wilmot w/All Star Circuit of Champions
Qualifying: 15th/35 Cars
Heat: S/5, F/7
B Main: S/2, F/3
A Main: S/23, F/23
8/22 Wilmot w/IRA Sprints
Qualifying: 11th/26 Cars
Heat: S/1, F/5
A Main: S/14, F/16
NEXT RACE:
August 29th, Beaver Dam Raceway, Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints
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