Dupo, IL (May 3, 2016) Between managing college classes, college finals, and working in the race shop, it’s been a busy few weeks for Kyle Schuett. With the all-important college finals coming up this week, it means that by Saturday night, Kyle will be able to begin focusing 100% on his racing efforts for the summer months; right now they are shared with his studies at Eastern Illinois University. A return to the shop full-time after this week will help the team continue learning its new setup and will ensure that the team gets back to the front of the racing field. This past weekend, the team planned to return to POWRi Racing on Friday and Saturday nights, however, Mother Nature had other plans and caused Saturday to be canceled.
On Friday night, the team returned to Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Illinois. Known as the home track for POWRi Racing, Belle-Clair is a track where Kyle has a lot of laps in both his midget and a winged micro sprint. This past Friday, Kyle would compete solely in his midget, racing against 34 of the best midget racers in the Midwest. In heat race action, Kyle started fourth in the fifth and final heat race. Unfortunately he was not able to maintain his position and he ended with a fifth place finish, placing him in the second B-main of the evening. In the B-main, Kyle raced hard with Jake Neuman and Austin Prock, before beating them both to the line for a second place finish and a transfer into the A-feature. In a tough A-main that saw NASCAR truck racer, Christopher Bell lapping cars a few laps in, Kyle got stuck a lap down and after being able to maintain the speed of the fast cars in the front of the field, Kyle dropped back so as to not affect the leader’s race. After being trapped in a position where he could no longer gain any finishing positions, Kyle pulled to the infield and ended his night with a 21st place finish.
While the team is still working hard to get the handle on their new car, new parts, and team setup, they remain positive that once Kyle is back in the shop after this week that they will be back where they were in no time. In the first few races of the season, the team has been trying various new ideas and are learning which ones help Kyle and which ones do not. This is a key part to the success of any race team and as the team grows together, the #9K will be a podium contender each night. Up next for the team will be another trip to Montpelier Speedway, this Saturday, May 7th. Coming off a third place finish his last visit to this track, Kyle looks forward to building on what he learned last time and once again racing up front.
Schuett Racing would like to thank all its sponsors for their support during this 2016 racing season - Health Alliance, Safety Kleen (The Official Environmental Service Company of Schuett Racing, Inc), Diversified Machine Incorporated (DMI), Smith Titanium, Max Pappis, DRC Chassis, Progressive Propane, AMSOIL, Hoosier Tire Midwest, Hooker Harness, Rod End Supply, Steve Thomas Racing, FK Indy, Keizer Wheels,Bergfield Farms, R & B Powdercoating J & K Property Rentals, LLC, and Illiana Insurance, a division of First Mid Insurance Group.