Story by: Andy Marquis ~ [email protected]
Ridgeway, VA(October 22, 2012) – Ryan Wilson caught everybody’s attention in Sunday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 at Martinsville Speedway by gaining 24 positions en route to a top-five finish. Wilson said after the race that his car was really good during short runs, allowing him to gain positions on restarts.
Wilson started 10th and finished sixth in the fourth heat race, locking him in to a 24th place starting position for the feature. From there, he began to gain ground methodically on the restarts.
“This is the second time I’ve ever been in the race and the first time I’ve ever finished it,” Wilson said. “To be able to finish fourth is awesome. We started 24th today and steadily made our way up. Every caution, we felt like we could gain a couple positions. We weren’t that great on the long run but we were really good on the short run. To be able to wind up fourth is awesome.”
Wilson was able to gain more ground in the second half of the race, saying the car was good at the end of the race.
“The car was really good at the end,” Wilson said. “I thought it was a little tight which hurt us a little bit on the long run but it was really good on the short run. I’ll take that.
“It’s really cool. I told my guys at the end that we were racing with the best of the best right now. I told them on the last restart, ‘wherever (BJ Mackey goes), I’m staying right on his bumper.’ That’s what I did. I was able to make all the passes he did.
“We had some good racing with Brandon Butler at the end. I know he’s one of the best of the best the few times he does race. It’s the third time we’ve been here and the first time we’ve left with both clips on the car so it was a pretty good day for us.
Wilson’s fourth place finish was the best finish the 19 year-old has posted at Martinsville Speedway
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