Krachun Set for Busy Weekend at Ace, Hickory
NEMA Lites Rookie on Verge of Championship
Ryan Krachun of Neshanic Station, NJ, went NEMA Lites racing this season due to car count and a new challenge. The desire to race against 20-22 cars weekly compared to 8-12 at some USAC events brought the 16-year-old driver to race across New England this season for his father Mike Krachun.
“Our experience with NEMA has been great,” Krachun said. “They welcomed us with open arms. I was lucky enough to meet some great people. … The cars are a lot of fun and the racing is really good too. In NEMA we can go three, even four wide at some tracks where in other sanctions you really can’t do that and that’s what makes the NEMA Midget so much fun.
“And what’s also been great was how the full NEMA Midget drivers have mentored me like Randy Cabral. He’s taken me under his wing and he’s helped me a lot at some of the different tracks and he’s just been a great guy to me.”
Krachun has a virtually insurmountable lead over Dan Cugini entering the 25 lap Finale Weekend feature at Waterford Speedbowl October 4. (Krachun leads by 110 points, the most a driver can gain in one race). Krachun has held the points lead since a victory at Star Speedway last month.
Krachun entered the Race of Champions weekend at Oswego with an 82 point lead over PJ Stergios. Rain postponed the feature to Sunday at Oswego (NY) Speedway. Krachun finished sixth, while Cugini was 11th after breaking the rear end and did not finish. Stergios did not attend.
“The weekend went okay, not as well as I would have liked,” Krachun said. “…We got one round of practice. My car felt okay and then we went out for the race. I started eighth, got up to fourth I think and then I dropped back to sixth and I finished sixth.”
Krachun led in his first two appearances at Waterford, finishing second in both events. Although he crashed out of the July 26 Shane Hammond race (17th) in his last drive at Waterford, Krachun is confident going into the Finale Weekend.
“I hope that we can win that race and we’ve done pretty well at Waterford,” Krachun said. ” … Hopefully I can pull one off at Waterford. That would be great. It’s a fun racetrack.
Long considered a popular track for Midget pilots, add Krachun to the list of drivers calling the 3/8 mile oval his favorite new track from this season.
“That track is so much fun,” Krachun said. “It’s fast and it’s very racy. The competition’s great there.”
“From the beginning our goal was to win a championship in NEMA with the Midget,” Krachun said. “I love that we’re doing as well as we have been doing this year. …. I’m just happy that I’m leading the points and hopefully after Waterford I’ll still be leading the points and win the NEMA championship. It would be a great accomplishment.”
Krachun has a busy weekend ahead, like many on his schedule. He will test his Late Model on Friday before going to Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, NC for twin 25 wingless USAC Midget races. Saturday will see a USAC Midget race at Hickory in his own No. 29.and drive in the PASS Pro Late Model race.
Krachun will make his Pro Late Model debut for Bobby Batten. Krachun will also enter the upcoming races at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC October 18 and Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, NC November 15.
He will race twice in North Carolina next week before racing at Waterford. He has three races for his SpeedSTR dirt Midget: American Racer Cup Weekend at Five Mile Point Speedway in Kirkwood, NY October 11, Octoberfast 2014 at Mahoning Valley Speedway in Lehighton, PA (paved oval) October 25-26, and Fall Jamboree at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, PA November 1-2.
Krachun began his career in quarter midgets from Wisconsin to North Carolina. Some of his competitors included Ernie Irvan’s son Jared and Jeff Burton’s son Harrison. At the age of 13, he raced in the wingless USAC Ignite Midget tour across the country 25-30 times a year in Illionis, Ohio and North Carolina.
“Racing with NEMA at all these different tracks and racing all these different types of cars has what helped make me a better race car driver,” Krachun said.
Krachun owns a pair of USAC Midget victories at Hickory in as many starts, including his first wingless win. Krachun called Hickory his favorite racetrack, pointing to the history of the facility where Ralph Earnhardt and Junior Johnson are among track champions.
While he hopes his experience at Hickory will be useful, Krachun called the Late Model “a whole different ballgame than the Midget.” He described the challenge of learning the line and braking/throttle points for the full bodied car. “It might be confusing sometimes, but hopefully I’ll be able to work past that and do well,” Krachun said. “That’s what the best drivers do and hopefully I could be one of them.”
Next season will be a change of pace for Krachun as he will drive the full PASS Pro Late Model schedule for Batten. The Ryan Krachun Racing team is working on fielding a 358 (small block) Modified at New Egypt (NJ) Speedway. Krachun is excited to race New Egypt next season citing the speed of the cars, despite it will only be his second race in a dirt car.
“I just think it’s going to be fun because that’s where my dad came up in racing,” Krachun said. “That’s what he raced his whole life was the dirt Modifieds and our is just all of the people that we know and all the people that I went to the races as a kid watching the people that I look up to like Billy Pauch and Ryan Godown.”
If the team keeps the Midget, they may enter big races like the Boston Louie at Seekonk (MA) Speedway.
Krachun is supported by The Würth Group, Amwell Auto Body of Hillsborough, NJ, Nerium International, Flemington Car & Truck Country, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Lentini Auto Salvage of Ringoes, NJ, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Metal Fab Pro Race Shop, TheRaceDepot.com, Radical Race Gear, Spy Optic, Bell Helmets, Fuel Clothing, Globe Shoes, Lucas Oil Products, Inc., Pit Posse Motorsports of St. Petersburg, FL, and Replay XD.
For more information on Ryan Krachun, visit his official web site: http://RyanKrachun.com/. For more information on NEMA Midgets and NEMA Lites racing, visit NEMARacing.com. For more information on Waterford Speedbowl, visit Speedbowl.com.
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com