Venturini Motorsports along with rookie driver Ryan Fischer were excited about returning to high speed racing action in the Irish Hills of Michigan International Speedway (MIS) this past weekend.
Although MIS was a track Fischer had seen no racing action, the team was well prepared. Fischer was heading into the race with high hopes after earning his career best finishes two races in a row at the high-speed tracks of Kansas Speedway and Kentucky Speedway respectively.
Fischer started the event strong, racing his way through the top-10 until the clutch on his car gave way midway through the event leaving him with a car that could no longer outperform the competition.
The Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet team arrived at the track Wednesday afternoon to prepare for the upcoming event by unloading the team’s transporter and taking the car through technical inspection.
Fischer found himself being one of the first cars out to begin practice the following day, trying to garner as much seat time as possible during the short practice session. The team found themselves sending Fischer back on the track several times throughout the two-hour session. They made several changes, and got the car dialed in to Fischer’s liking.
The team laid down a fast lap of 40.359 Secs at 178.399 MPH during their practice runs. Fischer would later qualify the No. 25 Happy Father’s Day, Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet in the 10th position.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series found there scheduled race date of Friday being interfered by a horrible weather system rolling through the area and were forced to postpone the race to Saturday afternoon.
Fischer was set to start the Racing for Wildlife 200 in the 10th position, and took the green flag, along with 40 other ARCA RE/MAX Series competitors. He quickly found himself taking to his competition, and working his way through the top-10. Fischer was racing hard with his competition, and found himself sitting in the sixth position waiting for his late race charge to the front.
Fischer then reported his clutch going softer and softer throughout the run and a slight vibration in the car. During the next yellow flag, veteran crew chief Billy Venturini brought the No. 25 Happy Father’s Day Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet down pit road, where the team quickly learned of the failing clutch.
With the foul clutch, Fischer found it hard exiting pit road, as well as getting up to speed on the restarts. It was also increasingly difficult to keep up the fast pace of the leaders. But being a team player, Fischer told his team, “We worked our butts off preparing this car, and it was a rocket all day, if it weren’t for this clutch problem, we would be contending for the lead. I am proud of you guys and the work you’ve done; let’s finish this race with a race car in one piece and no DNF’s.”
The No. 25 Happy Father’s Day Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet lost the fast race pace after loosing the clutch but Fischer along with his team did not quit, and brought home their car in one piece, and made sure they did not receive a did not finish (DNF). They ended their hard fought day in the 26th position.
“We had a superb race car all day long today, and we definitely had something for the leaders. I hate it that our great run was marred by our clutch problem, but I am proud of my team for standing behind me throughout the whole race, and helping us accomplish our goal of no DNF’s. MIS was a fun, fast track, and I learned a lot from racing here. Venturini Motorsports prepared me another stellar car, and it was very fast, with little handling issues. I want to wish father’s everywhere a happy father’s day, and I would like to thank my dad for everything. I would also like to thank my Venturini Motorsports crew, as well as CJM Racing, and all of my fans,” Fischer commented after finishing the Racing for Wildlife 200.
Crew Chief Billy Venturini’s comments following the race, “Ryan had one of the top cars to beat here today and I believe if we didn’t have that clutch issue, we would have been dueling for the lead during the closing laps of this event. I am proud of Ryan for staying calm and racing his heart out every lap, and our crew they worked hard throughout this whole weekend, and did an excellent job on pit road.”
Make sure to catch Ryan Fischer and the No. 25 Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet in two weeks at the Cayuga Motorsports Park, in ARCA’s first trip back to Canada in several years.
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