GRUNDY, VA ::Rockin’ Ryan Stiltner impressed all weekend at Martinsville Speedway with a top five qualifying effort and a top five finish in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300.
“This weekend was just amazing,” Stiltner said. “We came up here and practice last week and we were pretty good. We made some changes in the garage when we unloaded. It was really fast all day on Saturday. We qualified fourth. That was incredible in itself. Today, I finished third in the heat race behind two of the best and that’s like a win in Late Models. I drove my heart out today. I’m worn out. This is my first time ever at this place. I can’t complain. This is amazing.”
Stiltner set the fourth fastest lap in qualifying on Saturday with a 20.656 second lap, which was only seven one-hundredths of a second off the fastest lap in qualifying. That lap put him on the pole in the fourth heat race. Stiltner ended up finishing third in that heat race, starting the race in the 12th position.
Stiltner spent the entire first half of the race inside the top 20. At the halfway break, Stiltner was running in the 10th position and was continuing to gain positions. He survived a series of late race incidents ahead of him and worked his way up to fifth in the closing laps. Stiltner ended up finishing in fifth.
“To come out of here with a top five my first time here is awesome,” Stiltner exclaimed. “It’s amazing. There are a lot of people over a lot of years who don’t even make the race. I was just hoping for a top 20. Coming away with a top five, I can’t even put that in words. I drove all day, came out with the best finish possible and fifth was amazing.”
Stiltner won seven races in the 2013 regular season and won the Lonesome Pine Raceway track championship. Stiltner also competed at Kingsport Speedway. He will be back in action on October 19th in the Kingsport Speedway 125-lap invitational Late Model Stock Car event.
