ron.brown11 Posted February 12, 2023 Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 Ryan led the first 17 laps in his first main event at New Smyrna. He got passed on lap 18, then blew a right front tire a couple of laps later. He did a great job of not pounding the turn 2 wall. It looks like he doesn't have too much damage, and should be ok for the next night of racing. I'm not sure who's car he is driving, and will try and find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rails Posted February 12, 2023 Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 42 minutes ago, ron.brown11 said: Ryan led the first 17 laps in his first main event at New Smyrna. He got passed on lap 18, then blew a right front tire a couple of laps later. He did a great job of not pounding the turn 2 wall. It looks like he doesn't have too much damage, and should be ok for the next night of racing. I'm not sure who's car he is driving, and will try and find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 I know that's who he ran for before, I just hadn't seen a complete entry list to see the team owner for this year. It's a shame that he cut down that tire, as he was looking good even though he had dropped back to 2nd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rails Posted February 12, 2023 Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 He’s pretty good for sure. Lives in the same neighborhood here in Cypress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 13, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2023 Ryan was fast qualifier tonight. With the invert he started 7th. He only made it up to 5th though by the end. The car didn't look as hooked up tonight as it did last night before the flat. John Armendiawas in this race, but went a lap down about lap 18. He finished in the mid 20s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2023 Again, Ryan was fast qualifier for tonight's 50 lapper. Started 8th due to the invert. He made his way uptown 2nd. The car definitely looked better then last night. John Aramendia's car looked like last night.He finished in the mid 20s I think. The scoring crawl wasn't working very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rails Posted February 14, 2023 Report Share Posted February 14, 2023 Appreciate the updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Well Ryan had a bad qualifying lap today. He only qualified 2nd. He started 5th due to the invert. It has taken 30 minutes just to get the first 5 laps completed. After 18 laps, there have been 6 cautions. The good news is that Ryan is up to 2nd, and was beside the leader on the front stretch when the yellow came out. We'll see how the rest of the race goes, but Ryan is looking race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Ryan took the lead on the restart, and ran away with it. His lead at the end was almost a straightaway. Nice run!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Except for the young lady I that interviewed Ryan, 3rd place finisher Connor Jones the was first person to Ryan's car. He genuinely seemed happy for Ryan. It was those 2 that were racing each other on the first night, when Ryan cut a tire down. Nothing that Jones did, as it appeared that Ryan ran over something. Jones has a big lead in the championship in the Pro Latemodels. Good to see Ryan get another podium finish, and the win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rails Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 That’s excellent news, once again thanks for the update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 It took almost an hour to get that 35 lap feature completed. I could tell that Ryan had a fast car, they just couldn't get more then 3-4 laps without a yellow. At halfway Ryan had a great restart, and the rest was caution free. That should put him in good shape for tomorrow's main. I think tomorrow's race is longer, but no sure on that. Ryan has been fast all week though. Hopefully he can keep it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rails Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 One of his old sponsors from his HMP days just sent me these 2 deals. https://m.facebook.com/JudsonO/videos/flyin-ryan-luza-racing-wins-his-first-world-series-of-asphalt-race-tonight-at-ne/718158026511852/ IMG_9927.MOV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rails Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 3 minutes ago, ron.brown11 said: Nice! Mr. Ron, I really don’t know him personally, I have talked to his dad some back in the neighborhood. But the kid can wheel a race car. He has been fun to watch over the years. The last time I saw him race was out at HMP last season in a modified. He had the field covered and won. Got DQ’ed on a ride height issue I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 I haven't seen him race in person. I can't remember if it was last year at NS, that he simply smoked the field. As I have said numerous times on here, I try to highlight TX racers that are racing out of the area. When I posted how well he did, I got some posts questioning his abilities. Asking if it was an I Racing race. Every time I've seen him race, if the car stayed under him, he finished well or won. So other than what I've seen online, I have no idea what those posters were talking about. I don't recall ever seeing him out of control, racing over his head, or tearing up his equipment. Seems to be a pretty smart racer. It took me a bit to reply, I was watching the Tour Modifieds run the John Blewett III Memorial. Matt Hirshman has won 3 of the 4 shows. The qualifying got rained out for Sat's race, and he isn't a Tour competitor all season. So the started using last year's points standings. I think he started like 19th. Finished 3rd. That guy is a wheelman! John Aramendia ran the Pro Latemodel feature earlier tonight. He finished way back near 20th. He's driving Ben Kennedy's car. I really expected better, because Kennedy usually has good stuff. But he has looked awful all week. I'm hoping that it's been the car. Ben is Lisa France's son. I'm sure that he isn't short on cash. Hopefully it will get better for him this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 It was the Governor's Cup race that Ryan smoked the field. But I can't remember if it was last season or the year before. It was a 150 lap event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rails Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 I think he did a fair amount of that iracing stuff as well. Not real sure how successful he was at it because it’s something I really have no interest in. I think when he was running the full seasons over at 5flags the car may have stayed in Florida, or perhaps some other shop. Once in awhile you would see a late model back there in the driveway being tuned on but not too much. But all of his bandolero days his dad did all the wrenching at the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 One of these days, God Willing, I'm going to FL for the derby, and stick around FL for a couple of months to see the 9 days of nightly races at New Smyrna. Just think, 4 days in Pensacola , the 9 days at NS. We shall see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rails Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 17, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2023 Ryan started 4th, and finished 2nd. If he had 5-7 laps more, I think he could have won. The winner was Katie Hettinger. She's 14 or 15, and runs for the Anthony Campi race team, and teammates with Casey Roderick. Casey won last night in the super late models. Katie is from Michigan, but races at Hickory Motor Speedway in NC. She's already has the most wins for a female there in the Pro LateModels. She just might be a female driver that has a future in say the Craftsman Truck series, or possibly the Xfinity series. And I'm not talking the other failed female drivers we've seen, A la Danica and that chick in the truck series. Hettinger looks like a pretty good wheelman.At the start of Monday's feature, she ended going airborne over the nose of another car do to a stack up. Pitted, fixed it, and started in the back. Finished 8th, but was running 3rd and got turned. She ran I believe 2nd last night. John Aramendia finished 18th, but it was a short field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 17, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2023 I don't know if Jett Motorsports has changed all of their cars, but the car that Ryan has raced all week is a Mustang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 What a shame that Ryan had that flat from second place, in the opening race at New Smyrna. He started 3rd for the 100 lapper, took the lead on lap 4, and lead the rest of the race. They had 6 restarts, mostly during the middle laps. Conner Jones was very strong on a couple of them, but wasn't ever able to complete the pass. Jones ended up winning the championship, and was strong all week. He won 2 and Ryan won 2. The difference for the championship was that opening race. Great week Ryan!! It looks like John Aramendia finished 16th, but I'm not positive on that. They pulled the leaderboard off the screen with 2 to go. If that stands, then this was his best finish all week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rails Posted February 18, 2023 Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 Heard he had a 3 second lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron.brown11 Posted February 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 Yeah he drove away on every restart, and after a couple of laps, he'd be between 2-3 seconds ahead. He should be running those Jett cars all the time. They're fast and he can wheel them. Like I said above, if not for that flat tire, he would have won the championship.Jones' first win of the week was the one that Ryan was running 2nd, then cut that tire, Ryan out pointed Jones in all other races. And I never saw him rough anybody up. I was amazed at how consistant he could keep his lap times when he wasn't stuck behind slower traffic. He's very smooth. Also, he was in the top 3 in lap times to set the grid for every race, 2 of which were pole wins. I was very impressed with how clean he races. Jones on 3 of those restarts tried using Ryan up a bit. I was expecting him to return the favor. He did not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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