Kyle Fowler had a lot to overcome at Lanier National Speedway (GA) on Saturday. The Matt Hawkins Memorial proved to be emotional for everyone, especially Fowler, who ran out of the same shop as Hawkins. With that already on his plate, he also had to deal with an unlucky tire leak that left him with a 23rd-place finish.
“We were doing the four-wide salute for the Matt Hawkins Memorial and I was up on the outside groove and I think I ran something over,” said Fowler. “I had a slow leak the entire race. The car just didn’t handle the way it did in practice. It was tight center and loose all the way around.”
Fowler was in contention during the first part of the race. He was running in the top 10 and was starting to reel in the leader until his tire became a factor.
“We qualified 10th and made our way up to eighth on lap 70 or so,” said Fowler. “The slow leak let a lot of the air out of the tire and we weren’t building enough pressure to keep up with it. When I came up for the restart I just slid up sideways and kept it out of the wall going through turns one and two.
