Driver of the Big Machine Vodka/Bigg Golf #14r Sean Rayhall will trek south across Wisconsin to Wilmot Raceway to continue his pursuit of the Sage Fruit Rookie of the Year Award with the IRA Sprints!
Looking to bounce back after a tough couple of nights last weekend, Rayhall will return to a track he last raced at on July 19th with the IRA Sprints, grabbing his second career Quick Time award (one night after securing his first Quick Time at Plymouth) and piloting the #14r to 10th place finish in the feature. Rayhall will look to improve on that already impressive night this Saturday, and also try to put the past weekend behind him.
On 7/30 with the IRA/All Star Circuit of Champions at Plymouth, Rayhall had a poor qualifying which put him on the back foot in the heat race, finishing 2 spots out of the transfer positions and landing the Big Machine #14r in the C Main. “Top Shelf”, would live up to his nickname in the C Main, using the top side to drive up to 3rd, but still missed the transfer by just 1 spot.
The Sippel Racin’ team then loaded up and headed north to Antigo, WI for a night of pure IRA competition. After starting and finishing 5th in his heat, Rayhall found himself starting 19th in the feature. However, as the support series heat races ran, the team found an issue with the engine in the main car, so the crew immediately moved essential parts to the backup car to get it ready in time for the A Main. Rayhall would make the call and quickly start to work up through the pack. The #14r was up into the 12th position when coming out of turn 4 the hood pins started to loosen and while entering turn 1 they came off completely and the hood flew up, blocking Rayhall’s view of the track. Sean immediately came off of the throttle, turned toward the infield, but the car struck an infield tractor tire at a huge amount of speed. The car flipped violently multiple times and finally came to rest in the middle of the track in turn 1, upside down and on fire. Safety crews were on the scene immediately to put the fire out and gingerly turn the car back over to allow Rayhall to climb out, shaken but largely unhurt. The team wrote off the backup car as totaled and a new X-1 chassis arrived this week at the Sippel Racin’ camp along with the primary car, whose engine issues are now fixed, and the team is ready to race this weekend to try to keep Rayhall’s advantage in Rookie of the Year points.
Racing at Wilmot this Saturday will get underway at 6:00 PM, and will be broadcast LIVE on FloRacing. You can follow #TeamMAS driver Sean Rayhall at Sean Rayhall on Facebook and @seanrayhall on Twitter and Instagram. You can follow #TeamMAS on Facebook at MAS AutoSports and on Twitter @mas_autosports.
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