Flyin Ryan Luza gets first late model win at CTS

[dayfan17]

Luza takes first career win at Central Texas Speedway

 

KYLE, TX — It seems in 2013, the only fashion that Ryan Luza has finished his races in has been spectacular. And Saturday night at Central Texas Speedway, the teenager made it pay dividends, notching his first career Late Model triumph in NASCAR Whelen All-American competition.

 

After starting 3rd and quickly jumping out to an early lead, Luza had to weather a caution on Lap 3 and an early race restart. Unfazed, the 16-year-old stormed to 10 car-length lead over the next 15 laps before disaster struck.

 

The #14 inexplicably shut off coming across the start-finish line at Lap 20, and Luza was immediately passed by the two cars behind him. After resetting the systems by flipping the ignition switch, Luza was able to keep the car rolling, solidify his position in 3rd and regroup.

 

And then, the comeback trail began.

 

Arguably the fastest car on the racetrack over the final 55 laps, the young rookie started gaining on the leaders more than a tenth a lap over the next 8 laps, before snagging both positions in consecutive laps coming off Turn 2. Once he took the lead at Lap 28, it was smooth sailing as Luza established a 10-12 car length advantage over the field and never let that advantage waver for the remainder of the 75-lap event, winning by 1.049 seconds.

 

Casey Smith, a Late Model regular at Central Texas and one of the heavy-hitters in the Texas NWAAS field, finished in the runner-up position after winning three straight in the Pro Late Model division. George Hagy finished third and was the final car on the lead lap at the finish.

 

After a long wait through technical inspection, the win was made official, and “Flyin’ Ryan” was finally able to let it all sink in.

 

“It’s sunk in finally, but it’s still huge to finally pull it off,” Luza said following the race. “The car was fast all night. Don’t know why it died, but we battled back.”

 

“Flyin” Ryan Luza has been selected as a 2013 Speed77 Radio Rising Star, identified as a racer 25 or under who is rapidly rising up the ranks of motorsports towards the top echelon of racing excellence.

 

For more information on Ryan, contact the team by visiting flyinryanluzaracing.com for more information, or by following the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FlyinRyanLuzaRacing.

 

Jacob Seelman