Fowler Has Career Day in GAS Race at Lanier National Speedway

Kyle Fowler has proven this year that he has what it takes to be a successful Late Model driver. In his rookie season with the Georgia Asphalt Series, Fowler has gotten better and better every week. Coming into this past weekend’s Saturday of Speed at Lanier National Speedway, Fowler found himself leading the Rookie of the Year point standings and seventh in overall points. He’s also become a consistent threat to run up front every single race.

But on Saturday night, Fowler bettered everything he’d done all year long to this point. Fowler turned the fastest time in qualifying, earning his first-career Atlanta Freightliner Pole Award. Fowler then followed that up with a third-place finish in the 100-lap event, the best finish to date for the 14-year-old Smyrna, Georgia-native.

“It was good to run well after the first GAS race here at Lanier earlier this season,” said Fowler, who started on the front row of the GAS race at Lanier back in April, only to miss a shift and fall back. “It feels good to get some redemption and that I did everything I could to have a good run. We are definitely improving each and every week.”

Fowler started the race in fourth after the post-qualifying redraw and tried to bide his time over the course of the 100-lap event. As early race leader Jimmy Garmon set a torrid pace up front, Fowler found himself one of the few drivers that could keep pace with the early leader. However, just past halfway, Fowler found himself slipped back to third, but still faster than the rest of the field.

Fowler wasn’t able to make up any ground, and finished the single-caution event in third. With two previous fourth-place finishes, the third marked Fowler’s best GAS run to date.

“Everybody was just hustling as hard as they could around this place” added Fowler. “We were just a little bit too loose to keep up with the leaders. That was a real strong pace that they set. I thought by us winning the pole, we could be okay. But they sure did kick it up a notch and pulled away from us there.

“We gave it all we had, and we’ll know what to do next time. Early on, I could run with the leaders and I just thought they would burn up their stuff. But they just got too far out front after that and we couldn’t catch up.

“It was a good day. I’m really excited to get the pole and beat some of these guys out here. We’re really learning the ropes of the GAS Series and getting more and more used to these cars. I think we can continue to get better, but this is a very competitive series, so it’s going to take a lot of work. I’m pretty excited to get to the next race now.”

Fowler will be back in action in a few weeks at Peachstate Speedway. Fowler’s chances of besting this past weekend’s third-place finish are good, as Fowler has finished fourth twice at Peachstate this season.

The event at Peachstate Speedway is set for Saturday, August 18th, at the Georgia half-mile.