Lucas Ransone has struggled so far in the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Super Late Model Tour, finishing outside the top-10 in all three races. However, Ransone feels he and his team can turn the season around next Saturday when the series returns to Southern National Motorsports Park.
Ransone finished 12th in the March 28th race at Southern National and followed that up with another 12th place finish at Orange County Speedway. However, Ransone’s team is working hard to be even more competitive after a wreck at Hickory Motor Speedway.
“We’re just trying to get a handle on the racecar itself,” Ransone said. “I’ve never really driven these cars. I had an issue with my finger at Hickory. That’s probably our best track. Got that fixed, had surgery so I couldn’t test all week. Struggled there for a little bit. I think we had a really good test at Southern National. I think, when they come back, they’ll know we’re here to stay.”
Prior to the 2015 season, Ransone had never raced in a Super Late Model. While Ransone would like to be more competitive, he knows he is in the middle of a learning curve.
“It just takes a little bit of time,” Ransone remarked. “I’m used to those heavy cars. With the Late Model, there’s no power. With the Pro Cup car, it had power but it was heavy. Everything about this car is different, the way it drives. We’re talking about the best of the best here. You’ve got Kyle Busch’s team, you’ve got Cole Timm. They race every week and it’s hard to beat that when you’ve been out for a couple years but we’re getting our stuff together. We wrecked at Hickory and had to fix a couple things. When we come back to Southern National, I believe we’ll have a good outing.”
Ransone’s still got his sights set on victory lane in the CARS Tour. He knows he has work to do though in a series where being just a tick too loose or tight has been the difference between a top-five and being in the middle of the pack.
“We’re definitely shooting for a win,” Ransone explained. “You know, just consistency. We wrecked on lap three at Hickory. A couple guys got together and I had nowhere to go. Just getting better all year long and getting more laps and understanding the car. We’re only off a couple tenths. I think we found it and we’ll see how it goes. We’re definitely shooting for a win. You know, just consistency.
“We wrecked on lap three at Hickory. A couple guys got together and I had nowhere to go. Just getting better all year long and getting more laps and understanding the car. We’re only off a couple tenths. I think we found it and we’ll see how it goes. We’re just trying to get better. Where we’re lacking is, we’re off just a couple tenths in qualifying and the race. Crew chief Darren Shaw’s been working really hard and I think we’re going to get it.”
Ransone will be back behind the wheel of his Super Late Model when the CARS Tour returns to Southern National Motorsports Park on Saturday, May 30th. RACE22.com will have live, up to the minute coverage on Twitter during the race and RACEFEEDX.com will have live, pay-per-view coverage of the race.
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