RYAN LAWLER HEADED FOR NASHVILLE READY FOR ANY AND ALL CHALLENGES

Source: mk
Date: 03/26/2007

In 2007, the challenge that he set forth for himself is a series that is all about toughness and challenges – so much so that the series is called the ASA Late Model Challenge Series. So far, the name “challenge” has been fitting for Lawler, who had a strong car ruined by an early incident in the season-opening race at San Antonio Raceway last month.

Now, Lawler looks to meet the next Challenge Series challenge head-on March 31st at Music City Motorplex in Nashville. Lawler has run at the historic half-mile twice in the past, in the NASCAR Southeast Series and the ASA Late Models, both in 2006. Now, he’ll be out to conquer the challenge at Nashville like the challenges he has triumphed over before.

“I like the place a bunch,” said Lawler of Nashville’s historic fairgrounds track. “It’s a fast, high-banked racetrack with multiple grooves that usually puts on a good show. The last time we were there we were bad fast in practice, and we had a shock go bad either before qualifying or before the race. I think we would’ve had the car to beat if it wasn’t for the mechanical failure, so I’m really excited about going back.

“We’ve got to get back on a roll here. We’ve got to get the monkey off our backs.”

The Challenge Series race at Nashville will be Lawler’s first ASA race since the season opener at San Antonio, but he hasn’t been taking the time off away from the track. Lawler’s cars are maintained by legendary short track chassis builder Robert Hamke, and Hamke’s son Robby is a noted racecar builder in his own right. The younger Hamke owns a Late Model Stock car that has been piloted to plenty of success at Hickory Motor Speedway in the past, but he found himself without a driver going into the 2007 Hickory season.

That’s when he tabbed his dad’s driver, Lawler, to run the LMSC events that did not conflict with Lawler’s ASA and Super Late Model starts this year, adding yet another challenge for the young racer to face. Lawler made his Late Model Stock debut on Saturday, March 24th, at Hickory and found that even though it’s a Late Model, it poses a different kind of threat than anything he’s driven in the past.

“There’s such a difference,” said Lawler. “These things are one of the hardest things I’ve ever driven. The main thing is that the cars are much heavier and have a lot less horsepower than the Super Late Models. They’ve got a steering column instead of a steering rack, too. The steering in the car I drove at Hickory and the one in my Super Late Model is completely different.

“The Late Model Stock is like driving an 18-wheeler. It’s a battle tank.”

Lawler plans to run the Late Model Stock car several more times this year, but will be focusing his efforts on the ASA Late Model Challenge Series championship and wins in various Super Late Model series throughout the country. His next start comes at Music City Motorplex on March 31st in the Spring Clash 200.

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