Kyle Fowler knew that racing at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, FL on Saturday was going to be an extreme departure from anything he’s ever done before. The RC Cola / MoonPie ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour event at the .75-mile high-speed track was the 15-year-old’s largest racetrack he had ever competed on. Also, the crate motor in his #51 was potent, but the team wasn’t sure how it would stack up with the big-horsepower built engines that several others in the field were running.
Even though the speed and the prowess of the competition was something he had not seen before, Fowler handled the pressure well, qualifying up front and finishing a strong 15th.
“The built motors had a little bit on us there tonight, we just did the best we could with the car that we had,” said Fowler, who entered into a partnership with SPEED television broadcaster Bob Dillner and his BDI Racing team for a second time at Lakeland. “I am a little disappointed with the finish because we qualified so good, we actually ran better in qualifying then we had all weekend. We fell back on the start just trying to save our tires and we made our final push to the front with 25 laps to go and I think we got by like seven cars to finish 15th. I think we got by two in the final ten laps.”
Most of the tracks that Fowler had competed on in the past, between his Bandolero, Legends Car and Late Model careers, had been only a half-mile in size or less. The big-track atmosphere at USA International Speedway did not faze Fowler one bit, however.
“This is a big, fast track. “The straight-aways are so long you can eat a MoonPie on one end and get yourself an RC Cola on the other end. I leaned a lot because this was hands down the biggest track I have ever raced on. It’s good to get the seat time and if we come back next year we will be better.
“You really don’t realize how fast you going until something happens in front of you then your like, wow we are going really fast. I have to thank Bob Dillner for his support, too. We would have struggled trying to get tires but Bob helped us out so we could run each of the last few weeks.”
The next few weeks will be busy for Fowler, but not at the racetrack as much as in the classroom. Racing will be taking a backseat for at least a few days to schoolwork.
“I have to take some time off away from racing. I have finals at my school, so I have to hit the books before we can race again.”
