Inside Line Promotions - ALGER, Wash. (June 24, 2013) - Travis Rilat is very happy with his performance during the 42nd annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup last weekend in Richard Saumure's car at Skagit Speedway.
"It was a pretty good weekend all in all," Rilat said after placing fourth overall. "We had two top fives and a top 10. (Jonathan) Allard's got that track figured out. We've got a little bit of work to do to fine-tune the car and driver."
After Thursday's preliminary night was postponed to Saturday afternoon because of rain, Rilat initially hit the 3/10-mile track on Friday. He qualified 17 th quickest to earn the pole of a heat race, which he won. That locked Rilat into the feature, which he started third after the inversion.
"Dirt Cup is one of those places where I'm horrible at timing in and they almost reward you for that," he said. "If they started straight up by time I'd have been in the back."
Rilat quickly advanced to second place and he chased Shane Stewart for most of the feature until a late-race incident nearly stalled Rilat's bid for the win.
"Coming through (turns) three and four I could see the crash happen," he said. "I got the car slowed down as best as I could. They were yelling red flag on the RaceCeiver. There was no way to get through the wreck. I got the car stopped and fortunately I didn't get anything tore up. The red flag was already out and they were calling for the red flag over the RaceCeiver before I even stopped. I just pitched it sideways trying to miss the crash. There was probably six cars involved in that deal."
Rilat restarted second and finished a close runner up to Stewart during the first of two preliminary events.
"He might have been a tad better than us," Rilat said. "I think if we had really got into lapped traffic I might have had something."
Rilat qualified 13th and finished second in his heat race during Saturday's preliminary event to advance to the feature, which he started on the inside of the fifth row.
"I moved up a few spots," he said. "I believe we were running sixth. I made a couple of bad lane choices in that race. I moved around a couple of times trying to get around lapped cars and some guys were able to pass me."
Rilat finished 10th, which gave him the sixth-most points during preliminary action. The top six drivers competed in a scramble to determine the lineup for the first three rows of the 40-lap, $20,000-to-win feature.
"We had the car tuned up pretty good for that, just didn't get it quite right for the feature," he said. "I'd say we needed a little more forward drive. The car was a little bit free."
After placing third in the scramble and starting on the inside of the second row for the finale, Rilat maintained a top-five for the entire race and finished fourth.
He will return to the Northwest this weekend for an ASCS Northwest Region doubleheader on Friday and Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
QUICK RESULTS -
June 21 - Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. - Qualifying: 17; Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 2 (3).
June 22 - Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. - Qualifying: 13; Heat race: 2 (2); Feature: 10 (9).
June 22 - Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. - Scramble: 3 (6); Feature: 4 (3).
SEASON STATS -
13 races, 0 wins, 5 top fives, 9 top 10s, 10 top 15s, 13 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Friday and Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., with the ASCS Northwest Region
MEDIA LINKS -
Twitter: www.twitter.com/TravisRilat29
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Xtreme Oilfield Technology
Located in St. Paul, Alberta, Canada, Xtreme Oilfield Technology began in 2000 by providing general and specialized tank cleaning (door pulls), fluid transfers, well loads and rig work. Xtreme Oilfield Technology has expanded to include body vac units, flushby units, combinations units (vacuum/steamer), water trucks and hydro vac units, and offers equipment rental. For more information, visit XtremeOilfield.ca.
"The people with Xtreme Oilfield Technology are very cool people to hang out with it and we really appreciate their partnership," Rilat said.
Rilat would also like to thank Carlan Services, Northern Provincial Pipelines, Matt's Oilfield Services, Shark Racing Engines, TriJet Manufacturing Services, Northern Lights Welding, Camex VP, Rob Wright Building Supplies, Scott Safety, Max Fuel, Jaron Water Hauling, Maxim, Factory Kahne, HRP, Ti22, Weld Wheels, Ben Cook Racing and Smiley's Racing Products among others for their continued support on Richard Saumure's No. 39c Maxim.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS -
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations, media management and merchandising services for sprint car teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and your sponsors' return on investment.
To meet the media relations needs of your team, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or sprintcarreporter@yahoo.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit www.insidelinepromotions.com.